Healing Well of Miriam

ב״ה

Friday, October 22, 2010 / 14 Cheshvan 5771

Healing in a Hopeless World
Haphtorah Vayera

Parsha Vayera is full of seemingly horrific stories:  the promise of the birth of son, only to have to bring him as an offering; the terrifying destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah; the incident of Lot’s wife turning to salt and then his daughters’ incest with him.  Each, on its own in the written text, leaves one with the feeling of harsh judgment.  Other texts, including further into the Tanach itself, soften this with more explanation, but on its face, this parsha is hard.  Even the Akeida (the Binding of Isaac) has dire results.  When Sarah hears about it, the shock kills her.  Isaac’s experience of Gd through this, as he looks death in the face, brings him to be associated with the divine Name:  Fear of Isaac.  In the Haphtorah (II Kings 4:1-37), however, the idea of this harsh judgment is resolved and taken to a whole new level.

Elisha was the servant of Elijah who witnessed his ascent into Heaven with the flaming chariot and then received from him his mantle and a double portion of his power.  He then became the foremost prophet in Israel.  Throughout the land people came to him for help and guidance.  He performed miracles very similar to those seen from his master, Elijah.  Known for his powerful righteousness and holy authority, he was widely honored throughout the territory. 

 One of the people who wanted to support him was a woman in Shunem, who asked her husband to build a room on top of their house for Elisha’s use when he would frequent their area.   Elisha was grateful and sent his servant, Gehazi, to summon her to ask what he could do for her.  Her humble answer was:  “I dwell among my people.”  She was content and satisfied with her life, even though she, like Sarah, did not have children and her husband, like Abraham, was old.  Like Abraham and Sarah, they were a prosperous couple who were known for their loving charity.  When Elisha asked her what he could do for her, suggesting asking favors of the king or army commander, this also implies asking of Gd.  She answered that she needed nothing; she had not extended her kindness in order to gain a reward.  This underscores her similarity to Sarah’s character.

Gehazi told Elisha that she had no child, emphasizing that her husband was old.  Elisha then promised her that “at this season next year” she would be “embracing a son.”  When the angels promised Isaac’s birth Sarah laughed; the Shunammite woman begged Elisha not to disappoint her with a vain promise.  A first son in a couple’s old age was a tremendous blessing, full of much broader significance than simply for the family itself. 

Elisha came into the house and behold—the lad was dead, laid out on his bed.  He entered and shut the door behind them both, and prayed to Hashem.  Then he went up and lay upon the boy, placing his mouth upon his mouth, his eyes upon his eyes, and his palms upon his palms.  He stretched himself out over him, and warmed the flesh of the boy.  He withdrew and walked through the house, once this way and once that way, then he went up and stretched himself over him.  The lad sneezed seven times, and the lad opened his eyes. –II Kings 4:32-35

 The telling of the death of this son is reminiscent of the death of the son of the widow in Zarephath in Sidon, who supported Elijah.  Both were only sons of women who supported the prophet.  Both were also miraculously raised from the dead in a very similar manner.  Both are believed by tradition to have grown up to be prophets in their own right:  the first was Jonah and the second Habakkuk.   

 He [Elijah] said to her, “Give me your son.”  He took him from her bosom and brought him up to the upper story where he was dwelling, and laid him on his [own] bed.  He called out to Hashem and said, “Hashem, my Gd, have you brought harm even upon the widow with whom I dwell, to cause her son to die?”  He stretched himself out over the boy three times, and he called out to Hashem and said, “O Hashem, my Gd, please let this boy’s soul come back within him!”  Hashem harkened to the voice of Elijah, and the soul of the boy came back within him, and he came to life. –I Kings 17:19-22

 While we cannot know all the details of how the boy was revived, there is a hint in the Hebrew wording.  In both cases the English says the prophet “stretched himself over the boy”, but the Hebrew term for this action is different.  When Elijah “stretched himself over the boy” who grew up to be the Prophet Jonah, the Hebrew is v’yitmodeid  (ויתמדד) whose more common meaning is “measure.”  This term is only used once in this context.  Was Elijah “measuring” Jonah’s merit, of his ability to carry on Elijah’s mission to the northern kingdom of Israel?   Could this also be an allusion to the measuring of that great city, Nineveh, so large that it took three days to walk across?  Could it have been a “measuring” of the merit of Israel against Nineveh?  All this is possible, for the boy did return from the dead with a definite purpose.

In the story of the Shunammite woman’s son another Hebrew term is used:  v’yighar  (ויגהר).   This is a very obscure word that only appears three times in the entire Tanach—twice in this story.  The only other time it is used in the story of Elijah praying for rain at the end of an eighteen-month drought, after he defeated the prophets of Baal.

 Elijah said to Ahab, “Go up and eat and drink, for a rumbling sound of rain [is coming].  So Ahab went up to eat and drink; but Elijah went up to the summit of the Carmel, bent down to the ground, and put his face between his knees. –I Kings 18:41-42

Elijah squatted in a fetal position.  This is a very different position from prostrating oneself as Elisha did over the dead boy in Shunem.   We would expect to find the same word as that used in the story about Elijah’s revival of the boy in Sidon.  Yet it is in the story about Elijah’s prayer for rain that “v’yighar” is used.  This indicates a similar activity, even though the physical position is understood to be quite different.  Elijah’s fetal position for his prayer could be seen as a connection to the womb of the cosmic soul of Adam, channeling the lifeforce back into the dry, dead earth, just as the fetus draws life through the umbilical cord.¹  This first occurrence of the term could then hint at its deeper significance in Elisha’s prayer for the son of the Shunammite woman, as he drew life into the boy from the Adamic soul.

What is meant by “Adamic soul”?  How does this prayer differ from others?  Notice that Elisha got up from his prayer and paced the house before returning to the prayer.  He was trying to connect in a very high place to draw down the ultimate miracle—resurrection from the dead.  This would only be in the level of soul completely beyond boundaries, where all souls are one with Gd Himself; this is the level of Yechidah—singular unity (with Gd).  It is from that level that he could access the highest, all encompassing level, called Etzem HaNeshamah—the unity of the whole soul combined, for the creative power to resurrect the boy.  It was in the place that Elijah, as well, had to connect to raise Jonah, but we only first understand this hint when he prays for the end of the drought, drawing Heaven’s life-giving rain back to the desolate earth. 

Level of soul		Experience
Etzem HaNeshamah	“essence of the soul”	“an actual part of Gd”
Yechidah	“single one”	unity with Gd
Chayah	“living one”	awareness of Gd
Neshamah	“breath” of life	intelligence
Ruach	“spirit”	emotion
Nefesh	innate life force	physicality

chart²

 The haphtorah of Vayera thus dramatically injects hope into the seemingly hopeless dilemma of Mankind—hope beyond the limitations of the natural world, hope that assures us of Hashem’s caring involvement in our affairs.  Barren women can be blessed with sons.  The destruction of the wicked is not a reason for fear, but rather for merciful justice.   The rabbis speak of the hidden pearls gleaned from Moab and Ammon in the women who became part of the line of Mashiach.³ The Akeidah would be forever the ultimate sacrifice for the nation of Israel, as Hashem could look on the ashes of Isaac by His Throne.⁴

_________________________

1)  The fetus in the womb is folded…his hands lie against his temples, his elbows along his thighs, his heels against his buttocks, his head bent between his knees…

And a candle shines above his head, and he observes and perceives from one end of the universe to the other…and he is taught the Torah in its entirety… —Talmud Tractate Nidda 30b

2)  Rabbi Yitzchak Ginsburgh, Body Mind and Soul—Kabbalah on Human Physiology, Disease, and Healing, Gal Einai, Jerusalem, 2003.

3)  Ruth the Moabitess, the great-grandmother of David (Ruth 4:18-22).  Naamah the Ammonitess, mother of Solomon’s son Rehoboam (I Kings 14:2).

4)  On that future day, the Holy One will say to Avraham, “Your children have sinned.”

And Avraham answers, “Master of the Universe—wipe them out to sanctify Your Name!”

Then He thinks:  “Let Me try Ya’akov, for he suffered raising his children—perhaps he will pray for them.  So He tells him:  “Your children have sinned.”

Says Ya’akov, “Master of the Universe—wipe them out to sanctify Your Name!”

He thinks:  “Old men [Avraham] have no sense, and children [Ya’akov] have no helpful advice!”  So He goes to Yitzchak and says, “Your children have sinned.”

And Yitchak says:  “Master of the Universe, my children and not Your children? …You called them Yisrael is My firstborn son (Exodus 4:22), and all of a sudden they are my children?!”

“Besides, how much could they possibly have sinned?  How much do they live—say seventy years?  Subtract the first twenty, when they are too young to be punished and you’re left with fifty.  Then figure twenty-five off for nights, and you’re left with twenty-five.  Now, take off another twelve-and-a-half for praying, eating, time in the bathroom and you’re left with  just twelve-and-a-half years to sin in!  If You can handle all of that, fine.  If not, we can split half and half.  And if You insist that I take it all on myself—I did sacrifice myself to You!”  —Talmud Tractate Shabbat  89b

 ______________________________________________
Miriam Ben-Yaacov © October 2010 / Cheshvan 5771