Introduction: A Chapter That Counts Miracles
The chapter before us continues the prophet's course: counting Elisha's miracles one after another. There is no binding historical sequence here, but rather one common thread connecting the passages: each of them is a miracle. From the miracle performed for one of the wives of the sons of the prophets, the text moves to an entirely new passage: the story of the Shunammite, the prophet's hospitality, her being remembered with a son, and the revival of the dead. We will proceed according to the order of the verses in light of the explanations of the Malbim and the commentators, and we will gather the words of Chazal and the ethical teachings established within them.
"And there was a great woman" - Who is she, and why did Elisha agree to eat at her home
וַיְהִי הַיּוֹם וַיַּעֲבֹר אֱלִישָׁע אֶל־שׁוּנֵם וְשָׁם אִשָּׁה גְדוֹלָה וַתַּחֲזֶק־בּוֹ לֶאֱכׇל־לָחֶם וַיְהִי מִדֵּי עׇבְרוֹ יָסֻר שָׁמָּה לֶאֱכׇל־לָחֶם׃ - And it happened one day that Elisha passed over to Shunem, and there was a great woman, and she urged him to eat bread; and so it was, whenever he passed by, he would turn in there to eat bread.
Elisha passes through Shunem, and a "great woman" dwells there. The intent is not the dimensions of her body. The Radak explains: great, meaning important, a woman of property and reputation, famous for her greatness. The Midrash adds that she was the sister of Avishag the Shunammite, that attendant of King David, and that she was the mother of Ido the prophet. And Targum Yonatan translates "a great woman" as one who fears sin, that is, God-fearing. The Malbim combines these: she was great both in her importance and in her good deeds, and therefore "she urged him to eat bread" - she pressed him to eat at her table.
Here we must understand: Chazal taught us, "One who wishes to benefit from others, let him benefit like Elisha." Elisha did not benefit from whatever came his way; only when very specific conditions were met would he benefit. As happened with Rabbi Pinchas ben Yair, who said: Israel are holy; there is one who has and does not want to give, and about him it is said, "Do not eat the bread of one with a stingy eye" - do not go to one who does not want to give and gives only because you placed him in an uncomfortable situation. And there is one who truly wants to give but does not have. And why would he not eat at Rebbi's table, even though Rebbi was a great tzaddik? Because he saw at his home a mule, and it is forbidden to breed mules. We see that great people do not eat at everyone's home and do not lodge with everyone. And even about Reish Lakish it is written that whoever greeted him in the marketplace was granted loans without guarantors. Merely a greeting in the marketplace! The tzaddikim did not fraternize with everyone, and they were very particular about from whom to benefit, what to benefit from, and how to benefit.
There was a story of a certain rabbi who was traveling with his attendant, and a man met them on the road and pressed them to come in and eat supper at his home. The rabbi entered, saw the poverty and want, and said to him: I cannot eat, the doctor has forbidden it to me. Against such an argument there is nothing to reply. He stayed there a few minutes, honored him, and took his leave in peace. The attendant asked: I understand that the rabbi did not want to eat because it was a meal that the host could not afford, but why did he lie to him? The rabbi is healthy, thank God, and does not consult doctors. The rabbi answered him: The great physician, the Rambam, wrote in halacha that it is forbidden to benefit from a meal that its host cannot afford. I told him the truth - the physician forbade it to me.
From here we see that when Elisha came to benefit, it was only when all the conditions were met. Therefore it says "a great woman" - first, that he knew she had means, so that he would not be benefiting from a meal the host could not afford. But there is one who is great in wealth and does not want to give; like that person into whose home guests entered, and while he says "come, welcome," in his heart he curses whoever left the door open. He begrudges the guests. Therefore it says "she urged him": he saw in her two things - a wealthy woman, and also one who has the desire to give, of those who have and want to give. And a third condition we learn from Rabbi Pinchas ben Yair: that the host should not have a deficiency in the service of God. And about this the Targum said "fearing sin" - a righteous woman, great in good deeds. In the home of such a person one may eat bread.
The table of a tzaddik is like an altar - the eating of a Torah scholar as the atonement of a sacrifice
Chazal say: Whoever hosts a Torah scholar in his home and feeds him and gives him drink, it is as though he offered the daily sacrifices, as it is said, "He is a holy man of God who passes by us continually." And the Malbim explains the depth of the matter: the eating of a Torah scholar is like a sacrifice, and the table of the tzaddik is like an altar, as Chazal said that the table is called an altar. And just as through the sacrifice the Divine Presence would dwell among Israel, so too in the human body: the soul is spiritual, and by what power does it remain attached to the body and not leave it? By the power of eating. "Lechem" (bread) is from the root meaning to weld - it welds the soul to the body for us. The clear and pure part of the food is refined in the liver, and in the liver dwells the nefesh, for the blood is the nefesh. The finer part of the blood reaches the heart, and in the heart dwells the ruach. And the purest part reaches the brain, and in the brain the sparks of the neshama shine. For this reason, when a person receives, God forbid, a blood clot, he receives it in the brain: the brain needs the purest part of the blood, and what has already passed through the heart and other parts of the body can no longer pass there. And through the neshama dwelling in the brain, the Divine spirit comes and rests upon the person. It emerges that the resting of the Divine spirit begins from food, from the physical matter.
And so it is exactly in the matter of the sacrifices: the sacrifice is burned and consumed upon the altar, just as the stomach digests the food; and from there the spiritual part rises upon the incense altar, where the cloud dwells, this being the pleasant fragrance raised by the incense; and from there to the Ark of the Covenant, where, as it were, the place of the thought of the one bringing the offering is, corresponding to the Holy of Holies. And where is the Holy One, blessed be He? Between the cherubim. The line of the Infinite that descends from Adam Kadmon, for one who understands in the language of Kabbalah, descends down to between the two cherubim. And therefore when a person stands to pray, if he is outside the Land he says: Behold, I am praying facing the Holy Land; and in the Holy Land he continues: facing Jerusalem the holy city, facing the Temple, facing the Holy of Holies, and facing the Divine Presence that is upon the Ark between the cherubim. There is the place of the resting of the Divine Presence. It emerges that eating is precisely a model of the sacrifices, as we discussed at length in Nefesh HaChaim.
And since the prophet is a place for the resting of the Divine Presence, to what is he compared? To the Ark of the Covenant in the Holy of Holies, upon which the Divine Presence rests. It emerges that through the food that sustains the prophet's body, and through directing his eating for the sake of Heaven, he refines and elevates just as the altar would refine and elevate the soul of the sacrifice up to the Infinite, blessed be He, and through his eating he atones like a sacrifice. And therefore it is said regarding the eating of the priests: the priests eat and the owners attain atonement - he eats and the owners attain atonement! And about the Vilna Gaon it is written that he did not practice mortifications, and that through his eating he effected more rectification than what great and exalted tzaddikim rectified through their fasts and mortifications. There is a reality of effecting rectification through eating, like a sacrifice.
And Elisha, when he first learned that she was, as it were, offering "My food offering made by fire, a sweet savor unto Me" with the proper intention, with the highest thought, truly for the sake of Hashem, to feed and sustain the righteous man as an offering upon the altar - from then on "and it happened that whenever he passed by, he turned in there." He saw that she had all the proper and true intentions. And why did he always turn in there? First, in order to grant this righteous woman this great mitzvah; and second, because the righteous man does not go to just any place, but only to a place where all the conditions have been fulfilled, and there they were undoubtedly all fulfilled, in the sense of "whoever wishes to benefit, let him benefit as Elisha did."
"Behold now, I know that this is a holy man of God"
וַתֹּאמֶר אֶל־אִישָׁהּ הִנֵּה־נָא יָדַעְתִּי כִּי אִישׁ אֱלֹהִים קָדוֹשׁ הוּא עֹבֵר עָלֵינוּ תָּמִיד׃ - And she said to her husband: Behold now, I know that this is a holy man of God who passes by us continually.
According to the plain meaning of the verse, "behold now, I know" means: now it has become known to me. But the Radak finds this difficult, for Elisha was known and famous as a man of God, all the prophets knew and all the people knew. And everywhere "na" is translated as "now," at present. Therefore the Radak explains: "behold now, I know" - I have known this for a long time, but now the time has come to do something for him that will ease his stay with us. "Na" is an expression of "now": now is the time to act so that it will be more comfortable for him to come to us, and this is the upper chamber that she immediately proposes: a place with privacy.
And Chazal expound: how did she come to know it now? That she never saw a fly on his table nor a seminal emission on his sheet. And one must know that in their times they slept without clothing. Where would they get pajamas? They did not even have a nightgown. Who had a special garment for sleeping? They were destitute poor, and only the very wealthy could dream of such a thing. A simple garment, to weave and sew it from start to finish, is a month's work. Would a person spend five thousand shekels on a garment? An enormous sum, and not a pair of pajamas that one buys from China for twenty shekels. Therefore they could not sleep in their clothes, but rather one would take off his clothes and cover himself with a blanket. And so too in halacha: he takes off his clothes under the blanket and enters, so that his flesh will not be exposed. And since they slept unclothed, if, heaven forbid, a person had a seminal emission on his bed, the mark would be evident. And the one who always tidies his sheets and belongings - it is the hosting woman, she who arranges the prophet's place - and she sees that a seminal emission was never seen on his bed. And the novelty is: even though he came alone, without his wife. And a second reason: that she never saw a fly on his table. The whole house is full of flies, and the prophet's table is empty; she never sees him waving his hands to drive them away. From this she understands that the flies recognize the righteous, and that his table resembles the altar, for no fly was seen in the slaughterhouse of the Temple. And since here is a man of such great stature, that his eating is like an offering, there is not even one fly on his table.
And the Malbim explains: from the fact that the prophet comes of his own accord, and not like the first time when she had to press him, she learned. The first time I pressed him, and now he comes of his own accord and passes specifically by us continually - in order to grant us merit. And from this I understand that he is a holy man of God.
And there is a story about the Chida, who was a great traveler - not, heaven forbid, on vacations, but he was an emissary of the rabbis, and he would go and research books and study and grant merit to the many, and he was in many places in the world. He has a book called "Ma'agal Tov," in which he describes his travels: where he was, in which communities, what he saw, what customs they observed there. Once he came to Frankfurt, and there was the teacher of the Chatam Sofer, Rabbi Natan Adler, whom the Chatam Sofer called "the great eagle," an enormous genius, astonishing in his brilliance. Everyone knows the Chatam Sofer, but not many have heard the name of Rabbi Natan Adler. He even changed the version of his prayer from the Ashkenazic pronunciation to the Sephardic pronunciation, in the articulation of the letters, and went to learn this for several months; and the Chatam Sofer himself said that had he the strength he too would have changed, but it was difficult for him to change from his habit. And the Chida in his youth already gained a reputation as an enormous diligent scholar, who would sit and study until the small hours of the night with tremendous diligence. Once they prayed there in the synagogue, and they saw that Rabbi Natan Adler, who remained learning until four or five in the morning and slept an hour, instead of rising for sunrise rose at seven; and when everyone was leaving the synagogue - he was just arriving. The Chida applied to him: "Behold now, I know that this is a holy man of God who passes by us continually" - when does he arrive? When we are already at "Aleinu leshabe'ach"...
The upper chamber: a bed, a table, a chair, and a lamp
נַעֲשֶׂה־נָּא עֲלִיַּת־קִיר קְטַנָּה וְנָשִׂים לוֹ שָׁם מִטָּה וְשֻׁלְחָן וְכִסֵּא וּמְנוֹרָה וְהָיָה בְּבֹאוֹ אֵלֵינוּ יָסוּר שָׁמָּה׃ - Let us make, I pray, a small upper chamber with walls, and let us set for him there a bed, a table, a chair, and a lamp, and it shall be that when he comes to us, he will turn in there.
She says to her husband: I wish that the preparation we make for the prophet be in the most perfect manner. I want to make an aspect of a Mishkan for the Ark of the Covenant, of which the prophet is an aspect, and that our house be an abode for the Shechinah that rests upon the prophet. Therefore let us set for him there the four adornments of the Shechinah: a bed, a table, a chair, and a lamp. And then "when he comes to us, he will turn in there," and it will be a place where the Shechinah rests in our house. And these four things are the adornments of the Shechinah, and there are matters in them according to the hidden teachings: like the lamp in the Temple, in which there is a matter of drawing down from the supernal abundance; and likewise the table; and likewise the chair, as in the matter of "the footstool of His feet," a throne for the Shechinah. The adornments of the Shechinah mean things in which and through which the holy Shechinah bestows abundance down to the lower worlds.
וַיְהִי הַיּוֹם וַיָּבֹא שָׁמָּה וַיָּסַר אֶל־הָעֲלִיָּה וַיִּשְׁכַּב־שָׁמָּה׃ - And it happened one day that he came there, and he turned in to the upper chamber and lay down there.
"And it happened one day" - the day designated for the prophet, that particular day on which he would always arrive. "And he turned in to the upper chamber and lay down there" - it became for him a fixed place.
"What can be done for you" - the prophet's gratitude
וַיֹּאמֶר לוֹ אֱמׇר־נָא אֵלֶיהָ הִנֵּה חָרַדְתְּ אֵלֵינוּ אֶת־כׇּל־הַחֲרָדָה הַזֹּאת מֶה לַעֲשׂוֹת לָךְ הֲיֵשׁ לְדַבֶּר־לָךְ אֶל־הַמֶּלֶךְ אוֹ אֶל־שַׂר הַצָּבָא וַתֹּאמֶר בְּתוֹךְ עַמִּי אָנֹכִי יֹשָׁבֶת׃ - And he said to him, Say now to her, Behold, you have shown us all this care; what can be done for you? Would you have a word spoken for you to the king, or to the captain of the army? And she answered, I dwell among my own people.
Notice: the prophet calls to her through Geichazi his servant, and does not speak with her directly except when necessary, and here there is no necessity. Therefore he does not summon her to come and stand before him, but rather Geichazi stands in the doorway and conveys the message. "Behold, you have shown us all this care" - Rashi explains: you have taken pains for us. The word "charadt" means you were careful, as in the expression "one who trembles at my word," careful to keep my words and my commandments. The Radak explains "charadah" as an expression of effort: you exerted yourself greatly for my needs and bestirred yourself for me, as in "and the elders of the city trembled at his coming" regarding Shmuel, meaning they stirred and moved and made an effort to greet him. And the Ralbag explains "charadah" in its plain sense, as an expression of fear: a person who wishes to do something perfectly worries that he will not complete it in its proper form and in all its details; so too she was afraid that she would not do the thing perfectly, as befits the honor of the prophet.
Therefore the prophet wants to repay her in kind. The Malbim explains: Elisha was benefiting here from others, and a righteous person never wishes to benefit from others; and if he does benefit, he wishes to bestow upon them, so that his enjoyment will not be empty, and so that he will not, heaven forbid, be in the category of one who takes from this world, but rather in the category of one who gives and bestows. The righteous person is like the heart, which is nourished by all the limbs and bestows life upon all the limbs. And Chazal say: blessing follows close upon a Torah scholar. Even Lavan said, "I have divined that Hashem has blessed me because of you" - once Yaakov arrived, the goodness began to flow; Yaakov came to Mitzrayim, and the Nile rose to greet him, to greet Pharaoh. Blessing follows close upon a Torah scholar, and therefore he wishes to bless her.
And in his words, "Behold, you have shown us all this care" - this follows the way of Chazal who said: what does a good guest say? Everything the host did, he did only for me. What does a bad guest say? What did I really eat? After all, there were ten people there, and I am but a minor guest; in any case he slaughtered an animal, so he cut one more piece for me too; and the child did not want to eat, so he said: let us give it to the guest. A bad guest does not see at all the effort the host makes for him, and always says: what is this, two slices, come on. And a good guest says: did you see how much the host toiled for me, he slaughtered an animal, got up and exerted himself, opened a bottle of wine for me. He always observes the good that was done for him.
Therefore he asks: what can be done for you? I wish to do you a kindness, so that there will be gratitude in this and so that I will not be in the category of one who benefits from others. First he offers her something within the natural order: "Would you have a word spoken for you to the king." Elisha was esteemed in the eyes of the kings, as we have seen and as we will see further on, and he has connections with them. Do you have a request? Taxes, a discount on property taxes, a matter with the neighbors, whatever you want, I can help. "Or to the captain of the army" - to the appointed officers, through whom it is possible to obtain for you some economic relief or other material benefit.
And there is a homiletical teaching of Chazal: "to the king" - to the King of the world, is there a request for which I should pray on your behalf; "or to the captain of the army" - to the commander of Hashem's hosts, to the angels and to those who move the spheres and constellations, would you wish that I pray for you and perform a miracle for your needs. And why did she refuse? Chazal say that when a miracle is performed for someone, it is deducted from his merits. And furthermore: when something special is done for a person, he thereby separates himself from the community; and once he has separated from the community, they begin to examine him individually, and if they examine him individually, woe to him and woe to his soul: they begin to scrutinize each and every one of his deeds. Ask a business owner and he will tell you that the most frightening thing is to be selected for an audit by the income tax authority: they take him and check several years back, let us see exactly what is going on with the books in the year 2003. Therefore she says, "I dwell among my own people": do not take me out of the community. I wish to be a woman of the community, bound to the community and judged within the community, for whoever leaves the community is judged as one who has left the community.
"But she has no son, and her husband is old"
וַיֹּאמֶר וּמֶה לַעֲשׂוֹת לָהּ וַיֹּאמֶר גֵּיחֲזִי אֲבָל בֵּן אֵין־לָהּ וְאִישָׁהּ זָקֵן׃ - And he said, What then can be done for her? And Geichazi answered, Truly she has no son, and her husband is old.
Now he turns to Geichazi: what can be done for her after all? And Geichazi answers: "but" - that is, everything you offered she does not need at all, but one thing she truly lacks: she has no son. And should you say, she has none but she may yet have one - to this he says "and her husband is old," for soon a stage will arrive when he will not be able to have children at all, or when he will pass on to his eternal rest. And if you can bring it about that she be granted a child, this would be a very great kindness for her. The Malbim explains: "she has no son" - she is naturally barren and cannot give birth, and her husband too is old, and there is no readiness here either on the part of the active agent or on the part of the recipient. A very difficult situation, in which no child comes into being under such conditions except by way of a miracle.
"At this season, when the time comes round"
וַיֹּאמֶר קְרָא־לָהּ וַיִּקְרָא־לָהּ וַתַּעֲמֹד בַּפָּתַח׃ - And he said, Call her. And when he had called her, she stood in the doorway.
The first time he did not address her directly in the second person, and so she kept her distance; but now, when he wants to tell her a prophecy, he must speak to her directly in the second person. That is why she comes and stands at the doorway. And he does not tell Geichazi "say to her," but speaks to her himself, a prophecy directly to her.
וַיֹּאמֶר לַמּוֹעֵד הַזֶּה כָּעֵת חַיָּה אַתְּ חֹבֶקֶת בֵּן וַתֹּאמֶר אַל־אֲדֹנִי אִישׁ הָאֱלֹהִים אַל־תְּכַזֵּב בְּשִׁפְחָתֶךָ׃ - And he said: At this appointed time, at this living season, you will be embracing a son. And she said: No, my lord, man of God, do not deceive your maidservant.
"At this appointed time, at this living season" - in another year, at this very time, you will be embracing a son. And what is the meaning of "living season"? The Malbim brings in the name of the Ralbag: the past is no more, the future has not yet come, and the present is like the blink of an eye. What was is already finished, and what will be has not yet arrived; if so, what is it that exists? The present, the moment of each and every instant. That is why he says to her "at this living season": like this very moment in which I am speaking with you, which is the living instant, the one before which is already dead and after which has not yet come. That second is called the reality of being and of life, and like this living instant I promise you that you will bear a son.
And she says: "Do not deceive your maidservant." You told me "embracing a son," and you did not say "you will have a son." Had you said "you will have a son," I would have understood that I would have a son who endures; but "embracing" implies that I will merit only to embrace him, and that he will not live a long life. I believe in your prophecy and you do not lie, and I will surely bear a son; but if the promise turns out to be false, cutting off like a deceptive stream, like something that begins and ends in the middle, I have no desire for it. Better that I not bear a son at all, than that he be born and I have to bury him, God forbid, in the prime of his days.
וַתַּהַר הָאִשָּׁה וַתֵּלֶד בֵּן לַמּוֹעֵד הַזֶּה כָּעֵת חַיָּה אֲשֶׁר־דִּבֶּר אֵלֶיהָ אֱלִישָׁע׃ - And the woman conceived and bore a son at that appointed time, at the living season, of which Elisha had spoken to her.
The Malbim notes the precision: "of which Elisha had spoken to her," and not "for which Elisha had prayed on her behalf," for through his very statement and speech she was already remembered.
"My head, my head" - the child's illness and death
וַיִּגְדַּל הַיָּלֶד וַיְהִי הַיּוֹם וַיֵּצֵא אֶל־אָבִיו אֶל־הַקֹּצְרִים׃ - And the child grew, and it happened one day that he went out to his father, to the reapers.
"And the child grew" - the verse teaches us that the child was healthy in terms of his physical wellbeing and grew in the normal way. It is just that he went out to the reapers, and there the sun was beating down.
וַיֹּאמֶר אֶל־אָבִיו רֹאשִׁי רֹאשִׁי וַיֹּאמֶר אֶל־הַנַּעַר שָׂאֵהוּ אֶל־אִמּוֹ׃ - And he said to his father: My head, my head. And he said to the lad: Carry him to his mother.
Why the repetition "my head, my head"? The plain meaning: this is the way of those who weep and wail, that they repeat their words. And the Malbim brings in the name of the Abarbanel: when a person suffers in his head, it can stem from two conditions. It can stem from the stomach, from the digestive system, and if you ask people, they will tell you that when they eat a certain food they afterward suffer from migraines and headaches; there are effects that stem from the stomach and radiate to the head. And there are cases in which the illness stems from the head itself, an abscess or some other matter in the head that causes pain. And here he comes to say that this is not from the stomach but from the head: "my head, my head" - the illness is in the head without involvement of other organs, and for this reason the repetition.
וַיִּשָּׂאֵהוּ וַיְבִיאֵהוּ אֶל־אִמּוֹ וַיֵּשֶׁב עַל־בִּרְכֶּיהָ עַד־הַצׇּהֳרַיִם וַיָּמֹת׃ - And he carried him and brought him to his mother, and he sat on her knees until noon, and then he died.
The father asks the lad who was there with the reapers to carry the child to his mother. "He sat on her knees" - the illness grew stronger until he could no longer hold himself up, and she had to hold him. "And he died" - the Malbim says: from this you learn that this was a complete death. This is not fainting, nor clinical death, but complete death.
וַתַּעַל וַתַּשְׁכִּבֵהוּ עַל־מִטַּת אִישׁ הָאֱלֹהִים וַתִּסְגֹּר בַּעֲדוֹ וַתֵּצֵא׃ - She went up and laid him on the bed of the man of God, shut the door behind him, and went out.
Come and see the faith of the Shunamite woman: she was certain that if the prophet promised me a son, this son would endure. Therefore, even after he died she does not cry out, does not lament, and does not even reveal it to her husband. What does she do? She lays him on the prophet's bed. And why on the prophet's bed? The Ralbag says: she thought that in the merit of the prophet the child would be better preserved there. That is, the merit of the prophet and the merit of his bed to bestow holiness, until it could give life to the child.
The Road to Mount Carmel
וַתִּקְרָא אֶל־אִישָׁהּ וַתֹּאמֶר שִׁלְחָה נָא לִי אֶחָד מִן־הַנְּעָרִים וְאַחַת הָאֲתֹנוֹת וְאָרוּצָה עַד־אִישׁ הָאֱלֹהִים וְאָשׁוּבָה׃ - She called to her husband and said: Please send me one of the lads and one of the donkeys, and I will run to the man of God and return.
The husband is still unaware of what happened.
וַיֹּאמֶר מַדּוּעַ אַתְּ הֹלֶכֶת אֵלָיו הַיּוֹם לֹא־חֹדֶשׁ וְלֹא שַׁבָּת וַתֹּאמֶר שָׁלוֹם׃ - He said: Why are you going to him today? It is neither the New Moon nor the Sabbath. And she said: All is well.
From here Chazal learned that a person is obligated to greet his teacher on the Sabbath and on the festival, as it says "neither the New Moon nor the Sabbath." The Radak brings in the name of his father: "neither the New Moon nor the Sabbath" - a month has not passed, and not even a Sabbath, meaning a week, since the last time you met the prophet, so why should you go to him again now? The Malbim explains: their custom was to go to the man of God on the New Moon and on the Sabbath, as God commanded regarding the pilgrimage "And it shall be that from one New Moon to another and from one Sabbath to another all flesh shall come to bow down"; and since at that time they were far from the Temple, instead of going and receiving the abundance from the Temple they would go to the prophet. Now, since it is neither the New Moon nor the Sabbath, even this practice does not apply, so why would you go?
"And she said: All is well" - she did not want to reveal anything until she met the prophet. Sometimes the very statement "he is ill" or "he is dead" has the power to cause harm, and therefore she preferred not to utter anything negative about the child until she saw the prophet, so that if the prophet could heal him her words would cause no damage, for once she said "dead" it might cause him to remain dead - a covenant is made with the lips. This is why it is also written regarding a sick person that during the first three days one should not publicize it, for by publicizing his illness you may fix upon him the status of a sick person; only after three days, when he has already sunk deeper into his illness and is clearly ill, then one says that he is sick.
וַתַּחֲבֹשׁ הָאָתוֹן וַתֹּאמֶר אֶל־נַעֲרָהּ נְהַג וָלֵךְ אַל־תַּעֲצׇר־לִי לִרְכֹּב כִּי אִם־אָמַרְתִּי לָךְ׃ - She saddled the donkey and said to her lad: Drive on and go, do not hold back for me from riding unless I tell you.
Why does she saddle the donkey herself when she has a lad? The Malbim explains: the lad was young and did not have the strength to lift the saddle and saddle the donkey. And from where do we know this? It is a simple necessity: she goes with him in the field, and is it permitted to go with an older lad in the field? What about seclusion? Necessarily he was a young lad, under the age of nine, and therefore it is permitted to go with him in the field; and since he is young, there was no one to saddle the donkey, so she saddled it herself. "Drive on and go" - drive the animal and strike it so that it goes quickly. "Do not hold back for me from riding" - do not go slowly to make the ride comfortable, but swiftly. And some explain, and so the Malbim takes it, that she went on foot out of the great bitterness of her soul, and said to him: do not hold back the donkey for me so that I may ride it; I do not wish to ride but to go on foot until I come to Mount Carmel.
וַתֵּלֶךְ וַתָּבֹא אֶל־אִישׁ הָאֱלֹהִים אֶל־הַר הַכַּרְמֶל וַיְהִי כִּרְאוֹת אִישׁ־הָאֱלֹהִים אֹתָהּ מִנֶּגֶד וַיֹּאמֶר אֶל־גֵּיחֲזִי נַעֲרוֹ הִנֵּה הַשּׁוּנַמִּית הַלָּז׃ - She went and came to the man of God at Mount Carmel. And when the man of God saw her from afar, he said to Gechazi his lad: Behold, that Shunamite woman.
"הנה השונמית הלז" - he said this with surprise: why has this woman come, when it is neither the New Moon nor the Sabbath? Therefore he asks, "עתה רוץ נא לקראתה ואמור לה השלום לך השלום לאישך השלום לילד" - that he should run to her to see whether anything is amiss, for if she comes at a non standard time, there is presumably something behind it. "ותאמר שלום".
"And Hashem has hidden it from me and has not told me"
וַתָּבֹא אֶל־אִישׁ הָאֱלֹהִים אֶל־הָהָר וַתַּחֲזֵק בְּרַגְלָיו וַיִּגַּשׁ גֵּיחֲזִי לְהׇדְפָהּ וַיֹּאמֶר אִישׁ הָאֱלֹהִים הַרְפֵּה־לָהּ כִּי־נַפְשָׁהּ מָרָה־לָהּ וַיהֹוָה הֶעְלִים מִמֶּנִּי וְלֹא הִגִּיד לִי׃ - And she came to the man of God at the mountain and took hold of his feet, and Gehazi approached to push her away, but the man of God said, Let her be, for her soul is bitter within her, and Hashem has hidden it from me and has not told me.
"ותחזק ברגליו" - she came to hint to him: I will not let you go until you come on your own feet with me to see what has become of the child. Gehazi wanted to push her away, since it is not proper conduct for her to draw so close to the prophet and grasp his feet. Our Sages say that Gehazi was wicked: "להודפה" - that he took hold of the splendor of her beauty, which was a matter of immodesty. And the prophet tells him "הרפה לה": leave her be, for she is not, God forbid, doing this out of immodesty, but rather because of the bitterness of her soul, "כי נפשה מרה לה".
And what is the meaning of "וה' העלים ממני"? Is the Holy One, blessed be He, obligated to reveal every matter to him? The Malbim explains: Hashem reveals to His servants the prophets a harsh decree that is destined to come, so that they will plead for mercy and pray and entreat on behalf of the people, as it says, "Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do?" But an illness that comes of itself, Hashem does not reveal to the prophet; only an illness that comes as a punishment, which can be removed through prayers. From this the prophet concludes: "וה' העלים ממני ולא הגיד לי" - I understand that there was no sin here, there is no punishment for iniquity on account of which the child died. Therefore he intends to send the lad to revive the dead.
וַתֹּאמֶר הֲשָׁאַלְתִּי בֵן מֵאֵת אֲדֹנִי הֲלֹא אָמַרְתִּי לֹא תַשְׁלֶה אֹתִי׃ - And she said, Did I ask a son from my lord? Did I not say, Do not deceive me?
What does she mean? It is the way of the world that a person presses his fellow and his fellow refuses, and after much pressing he yields to him, but this is a temporary thing, only so that he will get off his back and stop pestering him. She says: had I asked a son of you, and nagged you until you gave me a son, and you had given it temporarily just so that I would leave you alone, I would have understood. But that is not how it was! "השאלתי בן מאת אדוני" - I did not ask you for a son; you yourself wanted to give it to me, and I stipulated and said "לא תשלה אותי" - do not give me something that will prove to be a delusion, something that will not endure. "תשלה" is from the language of illusion, and also from the language of error, as in "all who pass by the way are deceived," and also from the language of tranquility.
The Sending of Gehazi with the Staff
וַיֹּאמֶר לְגֵיחֲזִי חֲגֹר מׇתְנֶיךָ וְקַח מִשְׁעַנְתִּי בְיָדְךָ וָלֵךְ כִּי־תִמְצָא אִישׁ לֹא תְבָרְכֶנּוּ וְכִי־יְבָרֶכְךָ אִישׁ לֹא תַעֲנֶנּוּ וְשַׂמְתָּ מִשְׁעַנְתִּי עַל־פְּנֵי הַנָּעַר׃ - And he said to Gehazi, Gird your loins and take my staff in your hand and go; if you meet any man, do not greet him, and if any man greets you, do not answer him, and place my staff upon the face of the lad.
"לא תברכנו" - do not inquire after his welfare. And why should he not greet a person? Rashi explains: so that he will not multiply words, that the man might ask him "where are you going," and he would answer "I am going to revive the dead." And it is not the honor of God, nor the honor of the prophet, nor the honor of the miracle that they should boast of it, for the honor of God is to conceal a matter. And Gehazi did exactly the opposite: everyone who saw him he would tell, Rabbi Elisha sent me to revive the dead, do you believe that with this staff I will revive the dead? So he would say to every person he met on the way. "חגור מותניך" - go with alacrity and do not delay.
The Malbim explains that Elisha at first thought that this was only a faint, and that is also why Hashem did not inform him through prophecy, for there was no real death here but a temporary matter, what in our language is called a kind of clinical death. Therefore he thought it would suffice to send a messenger with a staff and the matter could take effect. And since he sends him as his agent, by whose power does he act? By the power of Elisha. And the moment he speaks with another person an interruption is created, whereas the power of Elisha must accompany him without dissipating along the way. Therefore he was not permitted to make any interruption, but rather to go with the power and place it upon the lad. For this reason he warns him not to speak with any person on the way, so that there be no interruption to the power by which he acts. And this is also why he calls him "his lad": to hint that he imparts to him power and strength so that his faculties will be aroused to act by the power of Elisha, for "na'ar" is from the language of arousal.
וַתֹּאמֶר אֵם הַנַּעַר חַי־יְהֹוָה וְחֵי־נַפְשְׁךָ אִם־אֶעֶזְבֶךָּ וַיָּקׇם וַיֵּלֶךְ אַחֲרֶיהָ׃ - And the mother of the lad said, As Hashem lives and as your soul lives, I will not leave you, and he arose and went after her.
To whom is she saying this? To Elisha: I will not leave you unless you come with me. From here we learn that Elisha himself came with her, walking behind her, while Geichazi went ahead of them.
וְגֵחֲזִי עָבַר לִפְנֵיהֶם וַיָּשֶׂם אֶת־הַמִּשְׁעֶנֶת עַל־פְּנֵי הַנַּעַר וְאֵין קוֹל וְאֵין קָשֶׁב וַיָּשׇׁב לִקְרָאתוֹ וַיַּגֶּד־לוֹ לֵאמֹר לֹא הֵקִיץ הַנָּעַר׃ - And Geichazi passed on ahead of them, and laid the staff upon the face of the child, but there was no voice and no hearing. So he went back to meet him, and told him, saying, The child has not awakened.
"Ahead of them" - ahead of the woman and ahead of Elisha. And since Elisha was already on the way, Geichazi turns back to meet him and encounters him on the road. "The child has not awakened" - meaning, even according to your assumption that this is merely a deep sleep or a faint, there was no "awakening" here either. The Radak explains that one should not be puzzled by this expression, for it can be understood that it refers to actual death, and even so the term of awakening applies to it, as it says "Awake and sing, you who dwell in the dust" - we learn that even regarding a dead person the term of awakening is appropriate.
"And behold, the child was dead" - the need for prayer and for action
וַיָּבֹא אֱלִישָׁע הַבָּיְתָה וְהִנֵּה הַנַּעַר מֵת מֻשְׁכָּב עַל־מִטָּתוֹ׃ - And Elisha came into the house, and behold, the child was dead, laid upon his bed.
What is the meaning of "and behold"? The expression "and behold" always comes to mark something new. As I mentioned in the book "Mishnat HaChalomot," the most common expression in dreams is "and behold": "and behold, in my dream, seven cows," "and behold, your sheaves surrounded," "and behold, my sheaf arose and also stood upright," "and behold, seven other cows came up after them out of the river." And why? Because in a dream everything is something new, and especially since a true dream is a dream that arouses amazement. Here too: what is new? He had assumed the child was in a deep sleep or a faint, and behold he sees that the child is dead, and from the fact that he is laid upon his bed he understands that he has already been dead for some time, and not something that occurred gradually. From this he understands that the situation requires a far more drastic act.
וַיָּבֹא וַיִּסְגֹּר הַדֶּלֶת בְּעַד שְׁנֵיהֶם וַיִּתְפַּלֵּל אֶל־יְהֹוָה׃ - And he went in, and shut the door upon the two of them, and prayed to Hashem.
Here prayer is required. And why did he shut the door? In its plain sense: so that his prayer would be more complete, for when he is alone his prayer has greater concentration. And another possibility: he did not want the miracle to be performed openly. To distinguish, like the Baba Sali, who would pour from a single bottle to many people and would cover it with a towel - it is the glory of Hashem to conceal a matter, so that it not be done in an open manner.
וַיַּעַל וַיִּשְׁכַּב עַל־הַיֶּלֶד וַיָּשֶׂם פִּיו עַל־פִּיו וְעֵינָיו עַל־עֵינָיו וְכַפָּיו עַל־כַּפָּו וַיִּגְהַר עָלָיו וַיָּחׇם בְּשַׂר הַיָּלֶד׃ - And he went up and lay upon the child, and put his mouth upon his mouth, and his eyes upon his eyes, and his hands upon his hands, and he stretched himself upon him, and the flesh of the child grew warm.
The Malbim explains: he wanted to be alone with him in that room and to pray to restore souls to dead corpses, and he stretched himself upon him so that the warmth of his body would influence the warmth of the child's flesh, and thereby he would be fit to receive the revival that he merited. And the Malbim notes: in all of Elisha's deeds we do not find that he prayed. The oil that multiplied - we do not find that he prayed over it; the pottage that he healed, as we will see later - he did not pray over it; the iron that sank into the water and floated - he did not pray over it. There he acted through the power of his prophecy and his greatness: he said and it was, he commanded and it stood, the righteous man decrees and the Holy One, blessed be He, fulfills. And only here did he need prayer. And why? A simple answer: our Sages taught us that there are things that were not handed over to an agent but remain only in Hashem's hand, and one of them is the revival of the dead. And since this is so, Elisha needs prayer, and what does he do himself? The preparations: to warm the child's body and to perform all the earthly actions that prepare his body to receive the spirit; but the actual reception of the spirit and its descent are from Hashem. This resolves why both things are needed here: if you acted through the power of prayer, why do you need the deed? And if you act through the power of the deed, why do you need the prayer? Rather, they are two distinct and separate actions: Elisha acted in the physical realm, and for the descent of the spirit the spiritual part that comes from above was required.
The words of the Zohar: why the child died
And especially according to what is explained in the holy Zohar: why did the child die? Because he said to her "you shall embrace a son" and did not mention her husband but only her alone. The meaning of this is that the soul that Elisha brought down was a soul from the side of the female. And who else had a soul from the side of the female? Yitzchak Avinu, and at the Akeidah it was exchanged. That is, only the mother was prepared here for the birth and not the father, and therefore the power of the father was lacking in him, which is the sustaining, upholding and strong power, and what was in him was the weaker power, the power of the female: "you shall embrace a son," and not "you shall embrace a son" in the plural, and not "you and your husband," but you alone. And it was also from the side of judgment, for the woman is judgments and the man is kindnesses. Check: most free loan funds - are they of men or of women? Of men. The Gemara says that a woman is stingy with guests; the man, when a guest arrives, brings out the whole kitchen for him, and the woman says: wait, there are also guests tomorrow, there are also members of the household, slowly, slowly. The man is kindnesses and the woman is judgments. Once a divorce claim came before a rabbinical court, a woman who complained that her husband beats her. And the husband was something of a kabbalist. They asked him: is this true? He said: yes, we have learned that the woman is judgments and the man is kindnesses, and one must have the kindnesses prevail over the judgments...
The Malbim adds here a Kabbalistic point, that his hold was upon the bed of Shlomo, and I will not enter into explaining it, for the simple reason that I do not understand it. The essence of his words: Elisha influenced him with a spirit from the side of the masculine (sitra dedichura). Within the child was the power of the feminine (nukva), which expresses weakness, and therefore he needed Elisha, who gave from his spirit of the masculine side and saved his life. This is why he had to shut the door: for he came to bring down upon him a new spirit, so to speak, to build here a new structure. Until now there was here a weak structure of the feminine side, and now a new structure had to be built and the masculine added. Therefore he placed his mouth upon his mouth, to breathe into him a spirit from Elisha's spirit, which is the masculine side; his eyes upon his eyes, to influence the child's senses from his own senses; and his hands upon his hands, to prepare the natural soul to be revealed throughout the whole body, for the natural soul is the lowest part, dwelling in the blood. In this way he prepared the three parts of the soul to receive life. And "he stretched himself upon him" with all his strength until the child's flesh grew warm, so that the miracle would occur from something to something and not from nothing to something. For if his flesh were cold, he would be completely dead, and the miracle would come, as it were, from nothing to something; therefore he first warmed his flesh, and then the matter came from something to something.
And in truth, know that many times when a person is resuscitated, this is literally the resurrection of the dead: a person was dead and his soul was returned to him. It is only that an action must be performed that appears physical. People ask: how did he come back? They answer: they gave him electric shocks. And what is the connection between a soul and electric shocks? This is the resurrection of the dead, only that the Holy One, blessed be He, does it in a natural way: give him electric shocks, warm his body, perform cardiac massage. All of these are physical means to bring down the miracle of resurrection.
Seven times
וַיָּשׇׁב וַיֵּלֶךְ בַּבַּיִת אַחַת הֵנָּה וְאַחַת הֵנָּה וַיַּעַל וַיִּגְהַר עָלָיו וַיְזוֹרֵר הַנַּעַר עַד־שֶׁבַע פְּעָמִים וַיִּפְקַח הַנַּעַר אֶת־עֵינָיו׃ - And he returned and walked in the house to and fro, and went up and stretched himself upon him, and the child sneezed seven times, and the child opened his eyes.
And why seven times? In order to grant existence to his body for all his years, since "the days of our years are seventy years." And why not seventy times? Because it is known according to Kabbalah that every sefirah is composed of ten, that each unit is included of ten sefirot, and therefore seven here means seven times ten; for everything is always multiplied by ten. And every sefirah contains ten particular sefirot: tiferet within malchut, chesed within malchut, gevurah within malchut, and so on, and in fact the subdivision continues to infinity, there being malchut of malchut of chesed, as we see in the counting of the Omer.
A further explanation: that a person's nature changes within him seven times over the course of seventy years, seven stages in a person, from a nursing infant to a crawler, from a crawler to one who walks on all fours, and so on; and the ancients speak also of the concluding stages, that he passes from walking on two to walking on three. Therefore he had to do this seven times, corresponding to the seven changes. And further: that he wished to draw down upon him from above existence from the seven upper days of building, and the intent is simply the seven lower sefirot, chagat nehim (chesed, gevurah, tiferet, netzach, hod, yesod, malchut), which are the ones that influence here below; for the upper sefirot, keter, chochmah, binah, bestow mochin upon the lower sefirot, and everything that exists in the world stems from the seven lower ones: chesed, gevurah, tiferet, netzach, hod, yesod, malchut.
And note that the verse calls him here "child": "and he lay upon the child." And why? Because there was here a new birth: until now there was in him only a spirit of the feminine, and now he placed in him a spirit of the masculine, as though he were born anew. And through this "the child sneezed," for the moment the spirit passed through his body all his orifices opened, the spirit of life passed within him, and then he sneezes; and the sneeze expresses the expulsion of spirit from within a person outward.
וַיִּקְרָא אֶל־גֵּיחֲזִי וַיֹּאמֶר קְרָא אֶל־הַשֻּׁנַמִּית הַזֹּאת וַיִּקְרָאֶהָ וַתָּבֹא אֵלָיו וַיֹּאמֶר שְׂאִי בְנֵךְ׃ - And he called to Geichazi and said, Call this Shunamite. And he called her, and she came to him, and he said, Take up your son.
וַתָּבֹא וַתִּפֹּל עַל־רַגְלָיו וַתִּשְׁתַּחוּ אָרְצָה וַתִּשָּׂא אֶת־בְּנָהּ וַתֵּצֵא׃ - And she came and fell at his feet and bowed to the ground, and she took up her son and went out.
In summary:
The account of the Shunamite opens with a table and concludes with the resurrection of the dead. Its beginning clarifies who is fitting for the man of God to turn aside to her: great in wealth, great in the desire to give, and great in fear of sin, for one who wishes to benefit may benefit, as Elisha did; and the table of the righteous is like an altar, and eating at it is like the atonement of a sacrifice, and therefore one who hosts him is as though he offered the daily offerings. From there to the walled upper chamber with the four fixtures of the Shechinah, a place for the dwelling of the Divine Presence in a private home; and to the humility of the Shunamite: "I dwell among my own people," not to leave the collective and not to deduct from her merits. And in the child's illness and his complete death her perfect trust is revealed, for she does not lament but lays him upon the bed of the man of God and runs to him; while the prophet, who learned from the concealment of prophecy from him that this was not a punishment for sin, reveals that the resurrection of the dead is not entrusted to an agent's hand: the staff in Geichazi's hand did not help, and only the joining of prayer with action, the shutting of the door, the warmth, the mouth upon the mouth, the eyes upon the eyes, and the hands upon the hands, prepared the body to receive the spirit that descended from above. From here we learn that even in the greatest miracle of all, a person makes his physical preparation, and the influence comes from Hashem.