Parshas Vayera 5786
- Torah Tavlin
- 22 hours ago
- 2 min read
ויאמר מדוע את הלכת אליו היום לא חדש ולא שבת ותאמר שלום ... (מלכים ב' ד-כג)
Elisha HaNavi promised the Isha HaShunamis - the Shunamite woman, that she would merit giving birth to a child in appreciation for her hospitality, but after a few short years the child took ill and died. The woman laid her child on Elisha’s bed and went to find the holy prophet.
The Navi tells us that upon seeing the woman head out, her husband asked her why she was going to see the prophet on a day that wasn’t Rosh Chodesh or Shabbos - the customary time to visit a prophet socially. However, the bigger question here is why the woman did not tell her husband that their beloved child had passed away.
R’ Michel Feinstein zt”l (Shai L’Torah) quotes R’ Chaim (Brisker) Soloveitchik zt”l who explains that in the tragic case of a deceased child, it is the generally the responsibility of a father to arrange the funeral and make the necessary burial arrangements. In this case, we glean a lesson in belief and faith, no matter what. The child had passed away, and most would rightly assume that there is nothing further one can do for the child at that point. However, the Shunamite woman displayed a rare strength of belief in the power of tefillah. While her husband would immediately arrange the funeral, she decided not to tell him until after she spoke to the Navi and exhausted all of her options.
A great lesson in Emunah and Bitachon is learned from this story and the message is clear: how no matter what happens, the gates of tefillah are never closed.