Chapter 1 of Sefer Shmuel is the opening chapter for the entire book: the birth of Shmuel the prophet out of Chana's prayer. In the previous lesson we examined the beginning of the chapter - Elkana and his two wives, the pilgrimage to Shilo, Penina's provocation, and Chana's prayer. Here we will continue from the vow Chana made, through her encounter with Eli the Kohen, up to the birth of Shmuel and his being brought to the Mishkan. We will follow the order of the pesukim, bringing the explanations of the commentators and the Malbim, along with the words of Chazal and the Midrashim said on this parsha.
וַתִּדֹּר נֶדֶר וַתֹּאמַר יְהֹוָה צְבָאוֹת אִם רָאֹה תִרְאֶה בָּעֳנִי אֲמָתֶךָ וּזְכַרְתַּנִי וְלֹא תִשְׁכַּח אֶת אֲמָתֶךָ וְנָתַתָּה לַאֲמָתְךָ זֶרַע אֲנָשִׁים וּנְתַתִּיו לַיהֹוָה כָּל יְמֵי חַיָּיו וּמוֹרָה לֹא יַעֲלֶה עַל רֹאשׁוֹ׃ (יא) - And she made a vow and said: Lord of Hosts, if You will indeed look upon the affliction of Your maidservant and remember me, and not forget Your maidservant, and give Your maidservant male offspring, then I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life, and no razor shall come upon his head. (11)
What is meant by "and no razor shall come upon his head"? Chazal disagreed about this. Rabbi Nehorai says: Shmuel was a nazir, and "morah" means a razor, that no razor shall come upon his head. Rabbi Yosi said: "morah" refers to nothing other than flesh and blood - Chana asks from the Master of the world that no fear of flesh and blood should come upon him, that he should not be anxious or afraid of any person. Rabbi Nehorai responded to him: But it is written "and Shaul will hear and kill me," and this was said of Shmuel, showing that he did in fact have fear of flesh and blood; if so, it is impossible to explain "morah" as an expression of fear. And also from the grammar of the language: "mora" (fear) is written with an alef at its end, and here it is written with a heh. The derasha of "fear of flesh and blood" is therefore more in the way of derash.
וְהָיָה כִּי הִרְבְּתָה לְהִתְפַּלֵּל לִפְנֵי יְהֹוָה וְעֵלִי שֹׁמֵר אֶת פִּיהָ׃ (יב) - And it was, as she prayed at length before the Lord, that Eli watched her mouth. (12)
Rabbi Shimon in the name of Rabbi Chalafta in the name of Rabbi Meir expounds from here: Whoever prays at length is answered - Chana prayed at length, and merited to be answered. The Gemara asks: Rabbi Meir's approach is inconsistent, for elsewhere Rabbi Abahu the son of Rabbi Papi and Rabbi Yehoshua of Sichnin in the name of Rabbi Levi in the name of Rabbi Meir said on the pasuk "in all toil there is profit, but the talk of the lips leads only to want": Chana, through praying at length, shortened Shmuel's days. Here Rabbi Meir holds the opposite: When a person speaks a great deal, it is almost impossible that he will not say something improper. When a person limits his speech, the chances of stumbling are small; when he speaks a great deal, out of the abundance of words he is liable to say something unnecessary as well.
And in what did she err? In that she said "and he will dwell there forever." The "forever" of the Levites is only fifty years, as it says "and from the age of fifty years" - and Shmuel lived fifty two. Rabbi Yosi bar Rabbi Bun said: The two she weaned him, the two years that she nursed him and weaned him, and only afterward did she say "and he will dwell there forever" - the fifty years of the Levites' "forever" plus two, making fifty two. As it were, she measured out his days with her own words.
וְחַנָּה הִיא מְדַבֶּרֶת עַל לִבָּהּ רַק שְׂפָתֶיהָ נָּעוֹת וְקוֹלָהּ לֹא יִשָּׁמֵעַ וַיַּחְשְׁבֶהָ עֵלִי לְשִׁכֹּרָה׃ (יג) - And Chana was speaking upon her heart, only her lips moved and her voice was not heard, and Eli thought her to be drunk. (13)
"Speaking upon her heart" - in a whisper, as if she were speaking to her heart, whispering to her heart. And why did Eli think her to be drunk? Because a drunk person moves his lips and talks to himself. When you see a person walking in zigzags and talking to himself, you already know that this person is saturated with wine.
And Chazal expound "upon her heart" - about the concerns of her heart. That is, she came with every possible argument in order to ask Hashem for children. And so she argued before the Holy One blessed be He: Master of the world, You created nothing in a person for nothing. Why did You create breasts in a woman, is it not so that she may nurse her child? And why did You create a womb in a woman, is it not so that she may conceive? This is "speaking upon her heart" - that every single organ in a person should fulfill its purpose.
The question arises: if so, why does this argument not work today as well? Why does a barren woman not make such a claim and merit to be remembered? A parable illustrates the matter: a person who owns a car and utilizes all its functions, and comes and asks "What does this button do? I am curious to know what it is for" - there is a point in answering him, so that he will know how to use it. But a person who does not use even a quarter of the car's functions, and asks what this button does, is told: leave it, what does it matter to you? There are many things you know about and do not use anyway. This is just another function of the device, why do you care?
So too here. Chana fulfilled all the possible functions of every single one of her limbs; with every limb she served the Holy One, blessed be He, with devotion and completeness. Therefore, when there were limbs through which she could not complete herself, she had grounds to ask: Master of the Universe, did You create them for nothing? After all, I wish to complete myself through them as well. But we, who do not fulfill all the possible functions of every limb of our bodies, have no right to come and ask why You created this and why You created that. First activate what does work in you, and only afterward come and request other things.
וַיֹּאמֶר אֵלֶיהָ עֵלִי עַד מָתַי תִּשְׁתַּכָּרִין הָסִירִי אֶת יֵינֵךְ מֵעָלָיִךְ׃ (יד) - And Eli said to her: How long will you be drunk? Remove your wine from upon you. (14)
The Radak explains that his intention was: how long will you present yourself as a drunk woman. Since you pray in a manner in which your lips move but your voice is not heard, anyone who sees you thinks you are drunk, and a person must not bring himself under suspicion. This is one explanation. Another explanation: Eli suspected that she had actually eaten and drunk. For we have seen that they would eat and drink in Shilo, in the Mishkan, and when they drank they did not drink cola but wine. And one who drank wine is forbidden to enter the Mikdash, and furthermore: one who has drunk wine is forbidden to pray, and a drunk person is forbidden to pray. Therefore he said to her: how long will you be drunk - how can you get drunk and then rise to pray? For he saw her praying in an unusual manner.
וַתַּעַן חַנָּה וַתֹּאמֶר לֹא אֲדֹנִי אִשָּׁה קְשַׁת רוּחַ אָנֹכִי וְיַיִן וְשֵׁכָר לֹא שָׁתִיתִי וָאֶשְׁפֹּךְ אֶת נַפְשִׁי לִפְנֵי יְהֹוָה׃ (טו) - And Chana answered and said: No, my lord, I am a woman of sorrowful spirit; I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but have poured out my soul before Hashem. (15)
Rashi explains: "No, my lord" - you are not a master in this matter, you have revealed of yourself that the divine spirit does not rest upon you, for had it rested upon you, you would have known that I am not drunk with wine but rather a woman of sorrowful spirit.
The Gaon of Vilna adds a wonderful explanation. A Kohen who wished to know something would inquire through the Urim and Tumim. When Eli saw Chana with her lips moving and her voice unheard, he tried to determine through the Urim and Tumim what her matter was. Now, with the Urim and Tumim the answer would be received as a sequence of letters, and the letters would not light up in a particular order; rather, the divine spirit was needed in order to know how to combine them correctly. And this is the meaning of "Urim and Tumim": "Urim" (lights) - the letters in the stones that light up; "Tumim" (completions) - that they complete and fulfill their words. And how so? The Tumim was the name of Hashem, blessed be He, inserted within the Choshen, and through the Kohen unifying His blessed name, he would know how to aim and combine the letters properly.
And this is what she said to him: you are not a master in this matter, you have revealed of yourself that the divine spirit does not rest upon you - for you did not combine the letters correctly. You combined shin, kaf, resh, heh, and came out with "shikora" (drunk); but had the divine spirit been upon you, you would have combined kaf, shin, resh, heh - "kshera" (worthy). And one can explain that Eli did not trouble himself at all to determine the order of the letters, because the letters he saw immediately confirmed his suspicion: he looked at her and she appeared drunk to him, he inquired and received sh, k, r, h, and said: the matter is obvious, I do not need to unify His blessed name and I do not need the divine spirit in order to know the correct interpretation. To this she said to him: you are mistaken, the divine spirit does not rest upon you, for had it rested upon you, you would have known that I am worthy.
The holy Shelah asks: seemingly she is praying quietly, and Eli tells her that she is not behaving properly - which of them is right? For one of them is mistaken: either he erred when he rebuked her, or she erred when she prayed silently.
The Shelah gives an interesting answer: when did Chana pray? On Rosh Hashana. Chazal say that Chana was remembered on Rosh Hashana, and likewise Sarah our mother. And on Rosh Hashana the custom is to pray aloud. Eli understood that she was not acting properly - why are you praying silently? But the whole concept of praying aloud applies specifically to the prayers of Rosh Hashana, and Chana was not praying the Rosh Hashana prayer but praying for her own needs, and for one's personal needs it is fitting to pray silently. It turns out that she was right and he was also right: he thought she was not praying properly, since on Rosh Hashana one prays aloud, and she was right, since she was praying for her personal request.
Another explanation: Eli was justified in suspecting her of being drunk, because she cried out so silently that it was not at all noticeable that she was speaking, but rather only her lips were moving. And why did she act this way? As we learned in the previous lesson, Chana made a condition and said: if You do not answer me, I will seclude myself before my husband, and he will take me and bring me and give me to drink the bitter waters, and if I am pure - "then she shall be cleared and shall conceive seed." Could she possibly have prayed such a prayer aloud while Eli was standing beside her? He would have heard the entire plan. Therefore she prayed silently.
אַל תִּתֵּן אֶת אֲמָתְךָ לִפְנֵי בַּת בְּלִיָּעַל כִּי מֵרֹב שִׂיחִי וְכַעְסִי דִּבַּרְתִּי עַד הֵנָּה׃ (טז) - Do not consider your maidservant a worthless woman, for out of my great grief and vexation I have spoken until now. (16)
Rashi explains that since she had said to him "No, my lord, you are not a lord in this matter," she had spoken to him with a harsh expression, and this was a great man, the greatest of the generation, and therefore she now apologizes and again appeases him. And what does she say to him? By suspecting me you are, as it were, making me into a worthless woman, and it will give my rival, Penina, another reason to taunt me. "For out of my great grief and vexation I have spoken until now" - the harsh words I spoke before you were out of my great grief and vexation, so do not hold it against me.
The Radak explains differently: "Do not consider your maidservant a worthless woman" - do not present me before the Holy One, blessed be He, as a worthless woman. The intent is not to Penina, but before Hashem, may He be blessed: do not think I am such a wicked woman that I would go and stand before Hashem while drunk. And what you saw, that I prayed in such a manner - out of my great grief and vexation I have spoken until now, and therefore I spoke quietly and not aloud.
וַיַּעַן עֵלִי וַיֹּאמֶר לְכִי לְשָׁלוֹם וֵאלֹהֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל יִתֵּן אֶת שֵׁלָתֵךְ אֲשֶׁר שָׁאַלְתְּ מֵעִמּוֹ׃ (יז) - And Eli answered and said, Go in peace, and may the God of Israel grant your request that you have asked of Him. (17)
Go in peace, and the Holy One, blessed be He, will help you fulfill your request. And what is "shelatech," which is written without an aleph? In Aggadat Shmuel they expounded: he said to her, this son whom you are destined to raise, much spoil is he destined to take through the Torah (shalal, spoil) - that he will greatly increase Torah, and this is Shmuel. And Rashi explains "shelatech" from the word shilya, the afterbirth that comes forth from between her legs, meaning an expression of children: may Hashem grant your shilya - may you merit children with Hashem's help. In essence he is praying for her that the Holy One, blessed be He, will help and her request will be fulfilled.
וַתֹּאמֶר תִּמְצָא שִׁפְחָתְךָ חֵן בְּעֵינֶיךָ וַתֵּלֶךְ הָאִשָּׁה לְדַרְכָּהּ וַתֹּאכַל וּפָנֶיהָ לֹא הָיוּ לָהּ עוֹד׃ (יח) - And she said, May your maidservant find favor in your eyes. And the woman went on her way and ate, and her face was no longer sad. (18)
If only I may find favor in your eyes and your words be fulfilled as you said and as you prayed for me. And from then on she ate, and her face was no longer a sad face.
וַיַּשְׁכִּמוּ בַבֹּקֶר וַיִּשְׁתַּחֲווּ לִפְנֵי יְהֹוָה וַיָּשֻׁבוּ וַיָּבֹאוּ אֶל בֵּיתָם הָרָמָתָה וַיֵּדַע אֶלְקָנָה אֶת חַנָּה אִשְׁתּוֹ וַיִּזְכְּרֶהָ יְהֹוָה׃ (יט) - And they rose up early in the morning and prostrated themselves before Hashem, and they returned and came to their house at Ramah, and Elkanah knew Chanah his wife, and Hashem remembered her.
"And Hashem remembered her" - and this is why we read this portion on Rosh Hashanah: just as we read "And Hashem remembered Sarah," so too we read in the haftarah that Hashem remembered Chanah, for Rosh Hashanah is the Day of Remembrance.
Regarding "and they rose up early in the morning," the Malbim explains: Chazal say that a person who parts from his teacher and lodges in that same city, and the next day sets out on his way, must take leave of him a second time. Therefore "and they rose up early in the morning and prostrated themselves before Hashem" - in order to take leave a second time. And there is another reason: they came to prostrate themselves and to thank Hashem that their prayer had been heard.
וַיְהִי לִתְקֻפוֹת הַיָּמִים וַתַּהַר חַנָּה וַתֵּלֶד בֵּן וַתִּקְרָא אֶת שְׁמוֹ שְׁמוּאֵל כִּי מֵיְהֹוָה שְׁאִלְתִּיו׃ (כ) - And it came to pass at the turn of the days that Chanah conceived and bore a son, and she called his name Shmuel, for she said, from Hashem I have asked him.
"At the turn of the days" - that a year had passed. One may ask: if "from Hashem I have asked him," it would have been fitting to call his name "Shaul," so why was he called Shmuel? The Ralbag writes that someone asked him this, and he answered that those who give names are not so precise, and they are not particular about an exact correspondence between the name and the event. See how Leah called her son's name Reuven "for Hashem has seen my affliction" - and by strict precision she should have called him "Rauni"; and likewise "and he called his name Noach, saying, this one shall comfort us from our labor" - it would have been fitting to call him Menachem, and yet he called him Noach.
But the Radak has a beautiful explanation: the word "Shmuel" is composed of two words. She asked him from the Holy One, blessed be He, she asked him from God (Kel), and therefore she called him Shmuel - "asked from Kel," the joining of the two words together.
וַיַּעַל הָאִישׁ אֶלְקָנָה וְכָל בֵּיתוֹ לִזְבֹּחַ לַיהֹוָה אֶת זֶבַח הַיָּמִים וְאֶת נִדְרוֹ׃ (כא) - And the man Elkanah went up, and all his house, to offer to Hashem the yearly sacrifice and his vow.
The Malbim says: even after they saw the great miracle, who went up? Only Elkanah. As we saw at the beginning of the chapter and discussed in the previous lesson, the people were not going up to the Mishkan, and Elkanah would go up each time by a different route in order to gather people, yet even so it was not the custom to go up for the festival. And even now "and the man Elkanah went up, and all his house" - only he and the members of his household, and the people had still not been aroused to go up for the festival.
He was precise in the wording: above it said "to prostrate themselves," and here "to offer." Prostration signifies prayer, and offering a sacrifice signifies thanksgiving. Here they go up to thank Hashem that their prayer had been heard, for the great miracle that Hashem fulfilled His promise and she bore a child. "And his vow" - the vow that he had vowed, that if Hashem would remember him he would offer a sacrifice to Hashem, may He be blessed.
וְחַנָּה לֹא עָלָתָה כִּי אָמְרָה לְאִישָׁהּ עַד יִגָּמֵל הַנַּעַר וַהֲבִאֹתִיו וְנִרְאָה אֶת פְּנֵי יְהֹוָה וְיָשַׁב שָׁם עַד עוֹלָם׃ (כב) - But Chanah did not go up, for she said to her husband, until the child is weaned, then I will bring him, and he shall appear before Hashem and abide there forever.
The Ralbag explains why Chana did not go up: because she said that when she brings Shmuel, it will already be in an absolute manner - she will not bring him only to take him back. This is the meaning of "and I will bring him... and he shall remain there forever": when I bring him he will remain there forever as I vowed, and therefore she asked for another year to be with the child.
Now, she said that Shaul would be given to Hashem for the service of the Mishkan "forever," and the "forever" of the service of the Levi'im is fifty years, and from here we see that she erred in her wording and spoke improperly. But one should not think that this alone was the absolute reason he passed away with a shortened life. One must know that decrees have many causes. Consider, for example: why did Nadav and Avihu die? Chazal gave several reasons - that they did not marry women, that they spoke against Moshe and Aharon, that they offered strange fire, that they entered after drinking wine, and more. And from Aharon's side too it was said that his sons died because he made the calf. Each one has a separate accounting. So too here: Chana prayed improperly, and Shmuel himself had his own accounting with Shaul - that he died with a shortened life so that he would not see the work of his hands nullified during his lifetime, for he was the one who crowned Shaul, and so that he would not see how Shaul died, Hashem took him beforehand.
The holy Arizal says: Rachav the harlot was reincarnated in Chever the Kenite - the very same letters - and afterward was reincarnated in Chana. This is what Chana means when she says "my mouth is enlarged over my enemies." And this is also why she said "I am a woman of a harsh spirit": why harsh spirit? Because she was originally Rachav the harlot, and it is said of Rachav the harlot that she was kina d'msava, impurity, a harsh spirit of impurity, and therefore she said "I am a woman of a harsh spirit."
And Eli himself was a reincarnation of Yael the wife of Chever the Kenite, who was reincarnated in Eli, and therefore these are the same letters: Yael - Eli. And this is what is said, "Blessed above women shall Yael be" - that she will be elevated and reach the level of men, and "above women in the tent shall she be blessed" - that she will merit to serve in the tent, in the Mishkan; that same Yael will merit to be in the tent of the Mishkan.
From here we understand why Chana was barren: the holy Arizal says that a man who is reincarnated in a woman finds it very difficult for her to conceive, because he is from the world of the masculine and not from the world of the feminine. And Chana, in her origin, was Chever the Kenite, a man, and because she was the reincarnation of a man it was difficult for her to conceive - until Eli prayed for her. And why specifically Eli? Because Eli was a woman in a previous reincarnation, and therefore through him the state of Rachav, who was a man in a previous reincarnation, could be changed, and from him the salvation grew. And furthermore: Rachav was from the root of Kayin, and therefore he is called "Chever the Kenite," and therefore Rachav asked "and give me a true sign" - just as Kayin had a sign.
The holy Arizal further says: Lemech was reincarnated in Elkana. This is what Chazal meant, "Who are the kings? The rabbis" - that Elkana was a great Torah scholar. And Lemech had two wives, Ada and Tzila; Tzila is Chana, for Chana was a reincarnation of Tzila. And Tzila sat in his shadow (tzel), and it is written that Tzila drank a cup of sterilizing potion and was designated only for intimacy, whereas Ada was designated to bear children. And Chana too sat in the shadow of the Holy One, blessed be He, and therefore the name Tzila suits her; and even "Chana" is from the language of encampment, like "David encamped," a place where one encamps - for she was encamped, as it were, in the shadow of Hashem, may He be blessed. And Ada, the second wife who came in order to bear children, is in the category of Penina: "adi" is an ornament, and Penina too is a term of ornament; and "Ada" is also a term of removal, like "one who removes a garment," and likewise "Penina" is from the language of clearing away and removing.
And Tzlelponit, the mother of Shimshon, was also a reincarnation of Tzila, except that in her there were two shadows: Tzila the wife of Lemech and Chana the wife of Elkana, both were reincarnated in her. And just as Tzila drank a cup of sterilizing potion so as not to bear children, so was Chana barren and so was Tzlelponit barren - all from the same source. And out of this they gave birth to two of the greatest of the world, Shimshon and Shmuel.
This is the meaning of "for Hashem remembered (pakad) Chana." What is "pakad"? It is a term of lacking, as in "and not a man of us is missing (nifkad)" - that none was lacking. Hashem "pakad" Chana: He removed from her the cup of sterilizing potion from the previous reincarnation, and consequently she was able to conceive. This is the idea of "pakad."
We learned the continuation of Chana's prayer: her vow and the dispute of Chazal whether "morah" means a razor or the fear of flesh and blood; the two approaches of Rabbi Meir regarding lengthy prayer, and the precise reading of "forever"; "speaking upon her heart" and her plea concerning each and every limb, and the moral lesson that first one exhausts what has already been given to us; Eli's suspicion and her answer "no, my lord" with the explanation of the Gra in the Urim VeTumim, and the resolution of the Shelah that both she was right and he was right; Eli's blessing "may He grant your request," the second parting in the morning according to the Malbim, the meaning of the name Shmuel - "asked from God" according to the Radak, and Elkana's going up alone to give thanks for the miracle while the people were still not going up for the festival. And finally - the secret of reincarnations of the holy Arizal, which illuminates the figures of Chana, Eli and Elkana, and the meaning of Chana's barrenness and her remembrance, from which Shmuel the prophet came forth.