Immodesty of Egypt

It's impossible to deny: we are affected by our environment (at least to varying degrees). Living in an environment that projects sexuality almost everywhere and almost all the time, it's bound to affect us. It may even affect the quality of our relationship with our spouses, damaging -- even destroying -- the spiritual connection of our most intimate relationship (and generally doing the same to the physical relationship in the end.)

A spiritual commentary on the Torah suggests that there is an amazing lesson -- which is certainly far from the basic meaning of the text -- derived from Avraham and Sarah's trip to Egypt. Avraham was afraid that going to Egypt could mean his death. Not his physical death, but his spiritual one. Seeing all the incredibly immodestly dressed people and watching and surmising what must be their immodest behavior could trigger his relationship with Sarah to become tarnished with an overly physical component.

Therefore, Avraham said to Sarah, "Say that you are my sister," because the sister represents a wonderfully intense, loving relationship with a woman of marriageable age that is deeply platonic. Avraham wanted to preserve that component of his relationship with Sarah and think of her as his very best friend as well as his beloved, much like the husband in Song of Songs, who called his wife, "my sister, my bride."

". . . they will kill me . . . please, say you are my sister." Genesis 12:12-13