The following is a brief summary of some of thoughts said over by R' Frand on the parsha this evening. I have attempted to reproduce these vorts to the best of my ability. Any perceived inconsistency is the result of my efforts to transcribe the shiur and should not be attributed to R' Frand.
R' Frand made reference to the first pasuk of the parsha in that the last words of the pasuk appear to be redundant as the Torah uses the words חַיֵּ֥י שָׂרָֽה in both the beginning and the end of the pasuk.
R' Frand addressed by quoting R' Mordechai Freindlich in the Sefer V'Lamedcha which tells a story of the Kotsker Rebbi who visited Minsk. There was a wealthy Jew who made a large fancy meal for the Rebbi. In the middle of the meal, a person brought the host a telegram which informed him that his warehouse which held all of his possessions had burned to the ground. The man fainted on the spot. They revived him and he looked at the telegram again and then fainted again. This happened 2-3x and when we was revived again, the Kotsker Rebbi whispered in his ear - "you are fine, its not your warehouse, this is a mistake." The Rebbi told him to send a telegram back to his workers in the warehouse to check on it. He followed through and sent the telegram and received a telegram in response which said there was a fire in the area, but not in your warehouse.
The people were amazed and asked the Rebbi if he had Ruach HaKodesh. The Rebbi denied that he had Ruach HaKodesh (although R' Frand opined that he probably did have it). The Rebbi explained that we have a principle that Hashem does not give a person a test that he cannot pass. The Rebbi said that this man could not handle the thought that he had lost everything that he owned, so I concluded that this could not be his warehouse.
So what does this have to do with Chaye Sarah? Rashi explains that Avraham was given a test of Akeidas Yitzchak and he passed it. People are of the belief that Sarah was tested too in that she heard about the Akeidah and that she must have failed it since she died, but R' Frand said that can't be true. If Sarah was given this test she would have been capable of handling it. So why did she die? Because she was supposed to die. And this is why the pasuk uses Chaye Sarah on the front and back end of the pasuk. Hashem had decided that this would be the time that she would die.
R' Frand also quoted a Rashi on the first pasuk which states that at 20 she was as beautiful as 7 and at 127 she was as pure as 20 and all her years were good. But this is hard to understand - Sarah seemingly had a tough life - she was captured over and over and mocked by Hagar. How was this a good life?
R' Frand answered by quoting R' Weinberger in Shemen HaTov. He said that there is a positive to being young because they have enthusiasm and feel that they can conquer the world. When a person gets older they lose ambition and are jaded. But the wisdom of the older person and the patience not to jump the gun is also positive. What Chazal is telling us about all for the good is that even at 127, she had the youthful enthusiasm, But at the same time she was old and thus had the best of both worlds. He said that we see this with gedolim where they have youthful enthusiasm but with great wisdom.
R' Frand quoted R' Wolbe on the pasuk in Tehilim - Od Yenuvun b'Sevah - one can be fruitful in old age and they will be fresh and excited. R' Frand said that he once went to hear R Elyashiv give a shiur that was a daf shiur. Not an intense Shiur Kllali, but a good daf shiur. R' Frand read a story about an American Psychologist who had visited the shiur and said that some people get crotchety when they get older and dont want to deal with questions, because they lose their patience. But R' Elyashiv sat there patiently and did not get flustered, even though he was well into his 90s. This is the meaning of the pasuk in Tehillim and this is what they pasuk means that Sarah had the youthful exuberance of a young person and the wisdom of an older person.
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