{"id":63593,"date":"2019-09-27T15:33:30","date_gmt":"2019-09-27T12:33:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=63593"},"modified":"2023-04-24T09:20:56","modified_gmt":"2023-04-24T06:20:56","slug":"trapped-by-hatred","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/trapped-by-hatred\/","title":{"rendered":"Trapped By Hatred"},"content":{"rendered":"
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One of the striking incidents recorded in II Kings 8 is the interchange between the prophet Elisha and Hazael. The only reason why these two individuals ever met, was that Elisha had come to Damascus (v. 7.) Immediately, upon learning of the prophet\u2019s trip, the reader wonders why he would risk his safety by coming to such a hostile locale.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Rabbis (Sota 47a) propose that Elisha undertook this dangerous mission in order to attempt to encourage his former servant, Gehazi, to return to the fold of Judaism. Their underlying assumption is that upon Gehazi\u2019s being cursed with leprosy by his holy master for improperly accepting compensation from Na\u2019aman (II Kings 5:27), he not only left Elisha\u2019s employ, but even turned his back completely on the Jewish people, defiantly travelling to Aram to be close to Na\u2019aman. While Elisha may have been deeply angered at his servant\u2019s behavior, he obviously didn\u2019t realize how devastated Gehazi would feel about being rejected and cursed, and in hindsight Elisha must have felt extremely guilty about the harsh reaction that he had engendered to have attempted to reach out to Gehazi.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Rabbis contend (Sota 47a) that Gehazi rejected his former master\u2019s overture in a particularly caustic manner: \u201cHe (Elisha) said to him, ‘Repent’; but he (Gehazi) replied: ‘Thus have I received <\/span>from thee<\/span><\/em>, that whoever sinned and caused others to sin, is deprived of the power of doing penitence’.\u201d By using Elisha\u2019s own teaching to justify both his apostasy and obstinacy, Gehazi attempts to assure that Elisha will feel even worse as a result of his past moment of righteous indignation.<\/span><\/p>\n

The thrust of an essay by <\/span>R. Jonathan Sacks for Parashat Ki Tetzei,<\/span><\/a> is that the lesson of Deuteronomy 23:8 \u201cYou shall <\/span>not abhor<\/span> an Edomite, for he is your kinsman. You shall <\/span>not abhor<\/span> an Egyptian, for you were a stranger in his land\u201d is: \u201cTo be free, you have to let go of hate.\u201d This would appear to be something that both Elisha and Gehazi would have done well to internalize, and consequently, these two men constitute negative examples with respect to allowing anger to get the best of one.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Both Elisha and Gehazi were entrapped by what they had done\u2014Elisha for losing his temper and cursing his servant instead of appropriately reasoning with him; Gehazi for burning his bridges and assuming that his only recourse was moving away absolutely from his past and his people, rather than accepting Elisha\u2019s magnanimous gesture. We should make sure that this very cautionary tale advanced by the Rabbis is not lost upon us.<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":63601,"id":63601,"title":"2kings8-bridges","filename":"2kings8-bridges.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/2kings8-bridges.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/trapped-by-hatred\/2kings8-bridges\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"2kings8-bridges","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":63593,"date":"2019-09-27 12:35:06","modified":"2019-09-27 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