October 24, 2013  / 20 Marcheshvan,  5774

From time to time, I have used the following words of J.G. Holland as a poetic application to the subject of a memorial service:

God give us men! A time like this demands.

Strong minds, great hearts, true faith and ready hands;

Men whom the lust of office does not kill;

Men whom the spoils of office cannot buy;

Men who possess opinions and a will;

Men who have honor: men who will not lie;

Men who can stand before a demagogue.

And damn his treacherous flatteries without winking;

Tall men, sun crowned, who live above the fog

In public duty, and in private thinking.

It is the rare individual who manifests such qualities these days and – sadly enough, as my usage of the poem testifies – we only recognize and appreciate them after they have been worn in this world.

I share this now, in reflection of my monthly Haftarah-based sermon at Rodef Shalom (which I have dubbed “Prophetic Inspiration”) this past Shabbat, in which I began to discuss the legacy of a man who appears in several chapters of the Early Prophets section of the Hebrew Bible.

Elisha, as a religious figure, is larger than life and his special stature is not lost on the Shunamite, a wealthy but childless woman. She and her husband decide to provide Elisha with food and shelter on his visits to their town and, in turn, Elisha feels obliged to reciprocate with a prophecy that the Shunamite will give birth to a son. This prophecy is realized. However, one day the child falls sick while visiting his father in the field and later that day dies in his mother’s arms. The Shunamite takes her dead son and places him on the bed set aside for Elisha’s visits to the town and closes the door to the room. She then travels to the Carmel to find Elisha in order to plead with him for the life of her beloved son.

When she meets up with Elisha, this dramatic tragedy takes an unusual turn. The Shunamite falls down at his feet to plead with him for the life of her son. Elisha, the prophet, is totally unaware of her plight. Only when he sees her does he become aware of her tragedy. What is his response? He sends his servant, Gehazzi, to use the prophet’s walking staff to revive the child. Gehazzi tries to bring the child back to life but is unsuccessful. Only then does Elisha, himself, go and revive the child.

Rabbi Meir Simcha Hacohen, the 19th century Lithuanian Talmudist and interpreter best known by the title of his book - Meshek Hochmah, finds an important religious message in this series of unusual events. He questions Elisha’s behavior in this episode. Elisha should have gone immediately and carried out the mission himself. Yet, he initially felt that his obligations were adequately fulfilled by sending his servant. He felt compelled to return the kindness of the Shunamite who fed him and provided him with shelter. He thought that he could accomplish this simply by sending his servant. The mission fails because Elisha did not give sufficiently of himself. This failure teaches Elisha an important religious lesson. People are not to be treated in such a utilitarian way. He must learn his lesson from the Shunamite, who gave of herself completely and selflessly. It was her faith in God and in Elisha that provides the him the strength to carry out the miracle. Only when he realized this truth did he succeed.

The hero of this story, according to the Meshek Hochmah, is the Shunamite. She teaches the prophet a valuable lesson in morality, human sensitivity and most important of all, how to relate to God.

As I pointed out to the congregation on Shabbat, an essential attribute of good leadership is to know when is the right time to delegate and when to get involved more intimately (in the end, leaders do both).  That Elisha had the presence to listen and change course is of priceless value to today's generation.  Said differently, the correct way for him to "man up" was to dial back ... on his pride and on his exclusivity.

And, lest you think that I am insensitive to the female side of the leadership equation, stay tuned!