An endangered tortoise had a geriatric miracle birth — Sarah did it first
The nearly 100-year-old animals at the Philadelphia Zoo recall moments in Genesis

A Galápagos tortoise with her hatchling and Abraham and Sarah with baby Isaac. Photo by Fabrice Coffrini/AFP via Getty Images; Jim Padgett via Wikimedia Commons
If names are destiny, Mommy the Galápagos tortoise is finally fulfilling hers — just like another aged matriarch before her.
The longtime resident of the Philadelphia Zoo, and her partner, Abrazzo, became first-time parents in their 10th decade, recently birthing four hatchlings in an apparent record for the species. But did Mommy laugh when she found she was with child?
Millennia before Mommy earned her given name, Sarah was told, at the age of 90, that she would conceive against all odds.
“Now that I’ve lost the ability, am I to have enjoyment—with my husband so old,” Sarah said, after laughing to herself. (This was right after Abraham opened his tent to three mysterious guests, which, at the zoo, may just be zookeepers.)
Midrash has it that this geriatric pregnancy was made possible when her name was changed from Sarai — Hebrew for “my princess” — to Sarah.
As Rabbi Aaron Raskin explains in a video for Chabad.org, when the tiny letter yud in Sarai was transformed to a hey, she had the capacity to become a mother, not only to Isaac, but to all the Jewish people. She went from one person’s princess to the entire world’s.
Mommy the tortoise’s success, as an endangered and quite mature mother, is already heralded as miraculous. But if past is prologue, this monumental nativity could change everything.
Could it be that from the Philadelphia Zoo, and a small clutch of eggs, a new tortoise people will rise as a light onto the nations? Will Abrazzo wake one early morning to take his tortoise son, who he loves, to some drafty escarpment and attempt his sacrifice? Will the progeny of this small family be as numerous as the stars in the heavens?
The world holds its breath to witness this history, but there’s still time. Certain Galápagos tortoises, rivaling biblical life expectancy, live to be over 170 in captivity.
The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
Readers like you make it all possible. We’ve started our Passover Fundraising Drive, and we need 1,800 readers like you to step up to support the Forward by April 21. Members of the Forward board are even matching the first 1,000 gifts, up to $70,000.
This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism, because every dollar goes twice as far.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
2X match on all Passover gifts!
Most Popular
- 1
Fast Forward The NCAA men’s Final Four has 3 Jewish coaches
- 2
Fast Forward Cory Booker proclaims, ‘Hineni’ — I am here — 19 hours into anti-Trump Senate speech
- 3
Opinion Trump’s Israel tariffs are a BDS dream come true — can Netanyahu make him rethink them?
- 4
Fast Forward Cory Booker’s rabbi has notes on Booker’s 25-hour speech
In Case You Missed It
-
Fast Forward Trump says US has begun direct talks with Iran over its nuclear program
-
Fast Forward In new letter, Mahmoud Khalil downplays campus antisemitism and accuses some students of ‘participating in the genocide’
-
Fast Forward Play about Roald Dahl’s antisemitism wins 3 Olivier Awards
-
Opinion A legacy of defiance: Why I’m holding my Seder in one of the oldest Black churches in the country
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
Republish This Story
Please read before republishing
We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines.
You must comply with the following:
- Credit the Forward
- Retain our pixel
- Preserve our canonical link in Google search
- Add a noindex tag in Google search
See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.
To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.