Haftarah
of Parshat
Vayera - 5761 The identity
of the Haftarah this week for Parshat Vayera depends on the community that
we are dealing with. For
Sephardim and the Kehillah of Frankfurt-am-Mein, embodied today basically by
Kehilas K'hal Adas Yeshurun in Washington Heights and its branches, the
Haftarah is taken from "Melachim"/Kings II, "Perek"/Chapter
4, Verses 1-23; other communities continue in Chapter 4, reading verses
24-37 as well. The Haftarah
is in two sections. Each
section speaks of a miracle (actually, according to the Sephardim and
Frankfurt-am-Mein, the second miracle is just set up) performed by the
Prophet Elisha, the disciple of "Eliyahu HaNavi," Elijah the
prophet. An
impoverished widow from the Community of Prophets (would that we still had this Community now) cried out for help to Elisha.
She had no means to pay a debt owed by her late husband to a
creditor, and that creditor was threatening to take her two sons as slaves
in lieu of her payment of the debt. Elisha told
her to borrow empty vessels from all her neighbors, to close the doors of
her home, and to pour oil into them from the one remaining cruse of oil that
she had. She listened to the
Prophet, poured the oil which miraculously continued to flow until all the
borrowed vessels and the original cruse of oil were full. Elisha instructed her to sell enough of the oil to pay the
debt, and to live off the supply of remaining oil. It happened
one day that Elisha happened to pass through Shunam in Eretz Yisrael.
A prominent woman, noticed him and invited him into her house to eat
with herself and her husband. Elisha
listened to the woman and ate with this couple that time, and every time he
passed that way. One day, the
woman said to her husband, "I know that this guest of ours is a holy
man. Let's make a special room
for him, furnished with a bed, a table, a chair and a lamp." In
appreciation, Elisha asked her if there were anything he could do for her.
She declined the offer, saying, "I dwell among my People."
She meant that she had no need or desire for special treatment. Gechazi, the
servant of Elisha, had noticed that the couple was childless, and it was
unlikely that the couple would be able to have children in the future,
because the husband was elderly. Elisha
informed the woman, now realizing what her unexpressed desire was, that in a
year, she would have a son; a promise that she initially refused to believe. But the
following year, a son was born. As
a young child, with his father in the fields, the son suddenly developed a
terrible headache. He was
carried to his mother, but expired on her knees.
The woman put the lifeless body of the boy on the bed of the Prophet,
and immediately set out on a journey to Elisha's residence, on Mt. Carmel. When the
Prophet saw her in the distance, he said to Gechazi to run to her and
inquire what it was the woman wanted, but she would not disclose the purpose
of her visit to Gechazi. When
she entered the house of the prophet, she grasped his legs and would not let
go. She said, "Did I ask
you for a son? Didn't I say,
'Don't lie to me?' " Realizing
what had happened, Elisha sent Gechazi before him with his staff,
instructing him to use it to revive the boy.
Gechazi took the staff, but was unable to revive the child. Elisha
entered the house, went to his room, where he found the boy. He lay on top of him, mouth-to-mouth, eye-to-eye,
hand-to-hand, and, as it were, re-introduced the boy's soul into him, using
himself as a conduit. The boy
sneezed seven times, and opened his eyes.
The mother opened the door, bowed at Elisha's feet, and took her son. A Possible Connection: In the Parshah,
Avraham displays his wonderful "midot," behavioral characteristics
that resulted in his contribution to
"zechut avot," the "merit of the forefathers" (Yitzchak
and Yaakov would
make their contributions as well), an inexhaustible or nearly
inexhaustible reservoir of "merit"
available to their descendants, upon which the generations would rely
when their own supply of merit "ran dry." In the Haftarah,
Elisha provides the impoverished widow with a nearly inexhaustible supply of oil, which she relies on now that her
regular supply of income has "run dry." In the beginning of the Parshah, Avraham displays one of his famous "midot,"
"Hachnasat Orchim," "Hospitality," when he invites the
three strangers (actually "Malachim," or Angels) into his tent
(despite the fact that he is recovering from his "Brit
Milah," Circumcision). In the Haftarah,
the Woman of Shunam also displays the characteristic of hospitality when she
invites Elisha initially to be a guest for meals and, upon realizing who he
is, constructs a private room for him. In last week's Parshah,
Avraham declines the offer of booty of war from the King of Sodom, saying (Bereshit
14:23), "And you shall not say, 'I enriched Avraham.' " In the Haftarah,
the Woman of Shunam initially declines Elisha's offer of remuneration for
her kindness. She truly feels
no need for anything that he could provide, not imagining that he could help
her in her greatest wish, to have a child. The Main Connection: In the Parshah,
we find an Angel of G-d promising a child to Avraham and Sarah, after many
years of childlessness. In the Haftarah,
Elisha promises a child to the Woman of Shunam and her husband, after many
years of childlessness. In the Parshah,
Sarah does not believe the Blessing of the Angel, and laughs, saying (Bereshit
18:12), "After I have dried up, shall I again have the pleasure of
youth, and furthermore, my husband is an old man?" In the Haftarah,
the Woman of Shunam also does not initially believe Elisha's promise, and
she says (4:16), "… do not lie to your handmaiden." In the Parshah,
according to the Midrash,
on the way to the Akeidah,
there was a separation made by HaShem between Avraham and Yitzchak on one
side, and Yishmael and Eliezer
on the other side, based on their ability to identify the Place of the
"Akeidah" - "Har
HaMoriah," Mt. Moriah, the Temple Mount.
It could be identified by the
presence of a Divine Cloud of Glory that hovered over the mountain at
that time. Avraham and Yitzchak
could see it; Yishmael and
Eliezer could not. In the Chapter preceding the Hafatrah, Elisha is awarded his request of double the
prophetic spirit of his Teacher, Eliyahu, based on his ability to see the departure of Eliyahu to heaven in the fiery
chariot, pulled by the fiery horses. Our Haftarah
appears in the Book of "Melachim II" in the Chapter immediately
following the final separation between Elisha and his great mentor, Eliyahu
HaNavi. Before Eliyahu was
taken to Heaven by fiery steed and chariot, he had asked his student to make
a request, and Elisha had requested double the prophetic spirit that had
rested upon Eliyahu. Eliyahu
had replied that his request would be fulfilled if
and only if Elisha would be able to "see" his departure, and
Elisha had indeed been able to see it. This Chapter
of "Melachim II" recounts how Elisha performs miracles nearly
identical to those performed by Eliyahu in "Melachim I."
As recounted in "Melachim I," Chapter 17, Verses 8-16,
Eliyahu performs a miracle in which a widow receives a supply of flour and
of oil that is to continue until the time that HaShem
ends the drought that He has imposed upon the Land. There we
also find Eliyahu restoring to life the son of the widow, who had suddenly
died, thus providing the model for the miracles performed by his disciple,
Elisha, in this Haftarah. Promises of Motherhood
Connections Very often
in the "TANACH," the Hebrew Bible, HaShem rewards virtuous women
who have been childless with the ability to conceive and give birth.
This allows them to fulfill their G-dly potential as
"mothers," whatever else they might do in their lives. The Talmud
says that these special women are made initially childless by HaShem,
because He wishes to hear their pure prayers, unlike any other prayers
uttered on earth. Then He
rewards them with children, as the One described in "Tehilim"/Psalms
113:9 as the "One Who makes the childless woman of the house into the
joyous mother of children!" In the
"TANACH," the women in this category are Sarah,
Rivkah, Leah
(for a short while), Rachel,
the Wife of Manoach (mother of Shimshon), Chanah, and the Woman of Shunam of
our Haftarah. Haftarah-Types of Miracles
Connections There are
basically two types of miracles that are performed in the "TANACH,"
the Hebrew Bible. These are the
"Nes Nigleh," the "Open Miracle," and the "Nes
Nistar," the "Hidden Miracle." The "Nes
Nigleh" is the type of miracle that cannot
be explained by Natural Law or which,
in fact, violates Natural Law. The
miracles performed by Elisha in this Haftarah are "Nisim Niglim,"
"Open Miracles," because the first, the provision of the
relatively inexhaustible supply
of oil violated the Law of Conservation of Matter and Energy and
the second, the Revival of the Dead Child, violated the Law that
everywhere in Nature, Death is an irreversible process (see further
discussion below of Revival of the Dead). A "Nes Nistar" is generally a miracle where somehow events combine in such a manner that they bring Salvation to the Jewish People. The classic example of the Hidden Miracle is the Purim Story, where HaShem, because of the fasting and prayers of the Jewish People, acting from behind the scenes, orchestrated events such that they resulted in the effect of "vena'hafoch hu," essentially, the "tables were turned" on our enemies, and the Jewish People emerged victorious. The first miracle performed by Elisha in the Haftarah, the provision of a relatively inexhaustible supply of oil to the impoverished widow is reminiscent of the Miracle of Chanukah. At that time, when the Chashmonaim, the Priestly Family who were the Heroes of Chanukah, entered the Temple to rededicate it, they found only one cruse of oil, sufficient to light the Menorah, the Holy Lamp in the Temple, for only one day. Yet, the oil miraculously lasted for eight days, when a new supply could be prepared. "Techiyat
HaMetim" "Revival of the Dead" Connection Both Elisha,
in our Haftarah, and Eliyahu, his great teacher, in "Melachim I,"
revived the dead. RASHI
comments in the case of Eliyahu that in order to perform this, the Prophet
had to be provided with the "Mafteach shel Techiyat HaMetim," the
"Key to the Revival of the Dead." Whatever
that "Key" was and is, we see that the phenomenon of the
Restoration of the Soul, or the "Neshamah,"
has already been done on the "local level," meaning for one
specific individual. Indeed,
the Prophet Yechezkel, the Prophet of the Exiles in Babylonia, was shown in
a prophetic vision, "Techiyat HaMetim" occurring to a whole
"Valley of Bones." Therefore,
not a great "leap of faith" is required to imagine that in the
time of the Mashiach,
the Master of the Universe will perform the same process on a grand and
global scale. From this
point of view, it may not even have been necessary for the RAMBAM
to have included this Principle, that HaShem will perform "Techiyat
HaMetim," as the last of his Thirteen Principles of Faith. Selected Commentary on the
Haftarah Melachim II, 4:1 "A certain woman" RADAK:
Our tradition says that she was the wife of the Prophet Ovadiah, one of the prophets of the "Trei Asar,” the twelve prophets who prophesied during the interval of time between the destruction of the First temple and the building of the Second Temple. This
particular Prophet lived during the reign of King Achav and Queen Izevel,
two wicked individuals, she worse than he, who wished to exterminate all the
Prophets of HaShem. He hid one
hundred of the Prophets of HaShem in a cave, and supported them with food
and drink. In order to do this
he had to borrow money. He did
this from the son of Achav, Yehoram, who is the creditor
referred to in this section. Yehoram
violated the Command of the Torah that a lender is not allowed to charge
interest on a loan to a fellow Jew (even though it is a legitimate business
practice, appropriate for dealings with other individuals, but not with
people whom you are to think of as your "brothers"). "…who feared G-d…" RADAK: Ovadiah was
one of four individuals who are honored with the description of "having
feared G-d." They are Avraham,
Yosef,
Iyov (Job), and Ovadiah. Melachim II, 4:8 "And there lived a great woman" RADAK: She was
famous, rich and had an excellent reputation for her character. According to the Midrash, she was the sister of Avishag
HaShunamit, and the mother of Ido the
Prophet (the child born miraculously to her, who
died and was brought back to life by Elisha). Melachim II, 4:9 "Behold now, I realize that this is a holy
man" Metzudat David: CHAZAL say that women are able to appreciate the nature
of their guests to a greater extent than men. Melachim II, 4:14 "And he said, 'What then is to be done for
her?' And Gechazi
answered…" RADAK: Gechazi said
to Elisha, "She has no need for what you
asked her (a favor from the King or high public official).
But she does have a great need; that is, that she is childless.
And she has very little chance to have a child through the normal
course of nature without a "nes," a miracle, for her husband is
very elderly." Melachim II, 4:29 "…and take my staff.." RADAK: "But
Gechazi was unsuccessful, because he didn't take the possibility of success
(bringing the boy back to life by using the staff of the Prophet) seriously
enough (or maybe, because he bragged about it).
As he went, he would say, 'Do you believe that this staff can bring
someone back to life!' " Melachim II, 4:34 "…and he put his mouth upon his
mouth…" RADAK: "As we
explained with Eliyahu, the purpose was to make specific the prayer unto the
one being prayed for, as we saw in connection with Yitzchak,
where it says, "And Yitzchak prayed opposite his wife." "It may
also be true that he did this in order to provide some of his own bodily
warmth to the boy, because in general a miracle requires some
human effort in order to be successful." Rabbi Pinchas Frankel Rabbi Frankel is an Educational Coordinator at the OU |
