Vayera 5775
First---my favorite joke.A Rabbi and his wife were waiting out the terrible flood in their town. The Rabbi prayed for the rain to stop. As the water rose higher and higher, he and his wife were forced to go up to the highest level of the house. They looked out the window and a lifeboat came to the house----“Rabbi, you and your wife have to get in. The levy has broken and you’ll drown.” His wife got in the boat but the Rabbi insisted that his prayers would stop the rain. The lifeboat left. The rain continued, the Rabbi prayed, the water rose and the Rabbi fled to the roof. Another lifeboat came by. “Rabbi, this is the last lifeboat. Get in. You’ll drown.” “No,” said the Rabbi, “My prayers will stop the rain.” The lifeboat left; the Rabbi prayed, the rain continued and the Rabbi drowned! When he got to heaven, he demanded an audience with God. He went before the Almighty and asked why God hadn’t heard his prayers and stopped the rain. “What’s the matter?” asked God. “Didn’t you get the 2 lifeboats I sent?”
(With thanks to Rabbi Siegel who told me that joke about 15 years ago.)
Now, let’s talk about the prophet Elisha, the central figure in this week’s Haftarah for Parasha Vayera. We learn of two women he helps. In the first story, Elisha’s miracle allows a poor widow to retain her dignity by having her pour oil from her small jug into borrowed vessels---the small jug miraculously holds enough oil to fill many many vessels of oil and the woman can then sell the oil to support her family. Elisha has helped her to help herself.
In the second story, a wealthy Shunemite woman who has offered Elisha hospitality on numerous occasions becomes pregnant after Elisha tells her she will bear a son. (Like Sarah in this week’s Torah portion, she has an elderly husband and doesn’t believe she will have a child.) She indeed bears a son who, after growing up, takes ill one day and dies. The woman rushes to find Elisha and will not leave him until he agrees to come home with her since she believes he can heal her son. Elisha follows her home and does heal the boy.
What are we to learn from all these stories?
These are all stories of faith and hope and that we can have miracles in our everyday life simply by asking for help or accepting help when it is offered. Elisha won’t be waiting for us around the next corner, but our friends, our family and our community are there---sometimes with vessels to donate that we can fill or sometimes helping us fill those vessels. We probably won’t see a flaming chariot descend from the heavens but we may get a meal from a caring friend when chemo has left us too drained to move. Perhaps we will have a chance encounter with a bicyclist who warns us of a treacherous turn in the upcoming path which keeps us from having a terrible accident. Or we may get an offer of a part time job that will put food on the table, allowing us to maintain our dignity.
Miracles surround us every day. We must be open to the possibility that miracles can happen to us and be ready to act. And we have a choice---we can be skeptical and dismiss those who want to help (we can send the lifeboat away) or we can accept their help, their advice, their guidance and get in the boat!!
The choice is ours.
Shabbat Shalom,
Debby Lewis
