stillsmallvoice
July 16th 2003, 08:52 AM
Hi all!
One Saturday a few months back we (Jews all over the world) read I Kings 18:1-39, which describes Elijah's showdown with the priests of Baal. Hidden in the account of this dramatic encounter is a marvelous message of hope. 18:30-32 tells us how Elijah took great care and that he, "repaired the altar of the Lord that was in ruins." The original Hebrew word, that is usually mistranslated as "he repared", is vayirapeh, which literally means "he healed". The use of this verb here is very unusual; this verb is usually used in reference to people only (the Hebrew words for doctor, medicine [the substance] and medicine [the practice thereof] all stem from the same r-f-h root) . Our Sages, who teach that nothing in the text of the scriptures is either incidental or coincidental, offer a wonderful commentary here. Just as an altar that has been been thrown down and is in ruins can be healed and restored to God's service, so too can a person who is broken down & in a state of spiritual ruin be healed and restored to God's service. Elijah took 12 stones, one for each tribe of Israel, even those tribes which were sunk in Baal worship and the gross immorality that went along with it, and used them to heal/rebuild the altar of God, to show that the people in those tribes, just like the stones, could be healed/spiritually rebuilt and restored to the service of God.
Be well!
ssv :hi:
One Saturday a few months back we (Jews all over the world) read I Kings 18:1-39, which describes Elijah's showdown with the priests of Baal. Hidden in the account of this dramatic encounter is a marvelous message of hope. 18:30-32 tells us how Elijah took great care and that he, "repaired the altar of the Lord that was in ruins." The original Hebrew word, that is usually mistranslated as "he repared", is vayirapeh, which literally means "he healed". The use of this verb here is very unusual; this verb is usually used in reference to people only (the Hebrew words for doctor, medicine [the substance] and medicine [the practice thereof] all stem from the same r-f-h root) . Our Sages, who teach that nothing in the text of the scriptures is either incidental or coincidental, offer a wonderful commentary here. Just as an altar that has been been thrown down and is in ruins can be healed and restored to God's service, so too can a person who is broken down & in a state of spiritual ruin be healed and restored to God's service. Elijah took 12 stones, one for each tribe of Israel, even those tribes which were sunk in Baal worship and the gross immorality that went along with it, and used them to heal/rebuild the altar of God, to show that the people in those tribes, just like the stones, could be healed/spiritually rebuilt and restored to the service of God.
Be well!
ssv :hi: