Haftarah הַפְטָרָה
Elisha was a prophet and miracle-maker. He was the student of אֵלִיָּהוּ הַנָּבִיא (Eliyyahu ha-navi, Elijah the prophet), and he became a spiritual leader of Benei Yisrael after Eliyyahu died.
The first fifteen chapters of Sefer Melakhim Bet contain some weird and wonderful stories about the ways Elisha helped people. Two of these appear in our haftarah.
- A widow comes to Elisha in distress. She has debts that she can’t repay, and the person she owes is threatening to seize her children as slaves. All she has is one jug of oil. Elisha tells her to collect empty containers from her neighbors, and to pour her oil into these containers. A miracle happens, and her little jug doesn’t empty out until all the empty containers are filled with oil from it! The woman is able to sell the oil and pay back what she owes.
- Elisha is hosted by a wealthy woman known as the אִשָּׁה הַשּׁוּנַמִּית (isha ha-shunnamit, the woman from Shunem). Elisha wants to pay her back for her hospitality. When he learns that she doesn’t have children, he announces that she’ll have a baby within a year.
“Don’t tease me,” she replies.
She ends up giving birth to a son. But a few years later, he dies suddenly. The isha ha-shunnamit rides a donkey to find Elisha. She confronts him, saying, “Didn’t I tell you not to tease me?!”
Elisha prays to God and performs an unusual ceremony that brings the child back to life!
- What themes connect these two stories of miracles? What’s the role of food, women, and children in each story?
- In our parashah, Sarah learns that she’ll have a child (Bereishit 18:14). In our haftarah, the isha ha-shunnamit learns that she’ll have a child (Melakhim Bet 4:16). What language connects these two pesukim? How are the two women’s reactions similar, and how are they different?
- How is the story of עֲקֵידָת יִצְחָק (Akeidat Yitzhak, the binding of Yitzhak) similar to what happens to the children in these stories? How are these different?
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