Occasionally I
hit a moment when I just have to sit back and watch the movie. Here are a
couple of them, and also some insights that turned up that are satisfying although not
as cinematic.
(I'm using
Mikraos Gedolos, Meam Loez, Daas Sofrim, the brown sefer entitled Torah SheBaal
Peh, and Abarbanel on occasion. Who said what – ask me if you need to know; if
I stop to look it up again now I'll never get this published.) Do not take my
word for anything.
1:1 “...and his
name was Elkana... an Ephratite.”
Q. Why is he
called an Ephratite, from the tribe of Ephraim, since he was really a Levi?
A. The answer I
always heard is that Ephrati is a generic term for a distinguished person, “a
leader among his peers.”
Also, of course,
he lived in the territory of Ephraim.
But this year I
saw that one of the commentaries – I don't think I made this up – puts the two
together: he lived in Ephraim, and he was a leader there. (You may have
gathered this from that other Midrash that he used to take different routes up
to the Mishkan every year, encouraging as many people as possible to come with
him.)
In other words,
he was such a great influence on Ephraim – which is what the Leviim were
scattered around the country to be – that he is called an Ephrati, as if he
were a member of the tribe himself.
1:3 This is the
pasuk (verse) from which we learn that he would take those special routes up to
the Mishkan to encourage people to come with him; and it concludes, “and there
the two sons of Eli... were kohanim...” – dun dun dun – now we see why that
extra encouragement was necessary.
1:6 “And her
co-wife would anger her...”
Q. The Medrash
tells us what Penina said to get Chana to daven (pray). It bothered me
incessantly: in what tone of voice did Penina say this? I tried it over and
over and the right tone of voice was just not in my repertoire. So, I called a
rav, and asked him; and he read the Midrash, and all of a sudden it made sense.
Moral of the story, if you need to know the tone of voice of something in
Tanach, call a rabbi.
One theme of
this perek seems to be how to get someone to do what you think they should do.
Penina tries to get Chana to daven. Elkana tries to get Chana to cheer up. Eli
tries to get Chana to sober up. And Chana tries to get Hashem to give her a
child. Some are more effective than others. Discuss.
1:8, when Elkana
is trying to cheer up Chana, someone says she understood from his words that he
had reconciled himself to her childlessness; so she finally saw clearly that
if anything was going to happen she was going to have to be the one to daven
for it.
All these
needlings finally add up to Chana going to daven after all.
1:14, Eli –
explains someone – is suggesting that Chana go take a nap and come back later.
1:17, Eli's
response to Chana is a play on words. Yiten has two meanings.
Sheila, spelt oddly as it is in this pasuk, also
has two meanings: a request, or a child.
You can read
Eli's words as a blessing: Hashem should give you the request that you have
asked.
Or you can read
them as a promise – Eli is having a flash of prophetic insight: Hashem will give
you the child which you requested.
1:18, the very
next verse, Chana hears Eli's bracha but she also hears the other meaning, the
prophecy, and she lights up and the whole way home she can't stop smiling.
At least, that
is how I read it; I don't have a source for that.
There is a
Midrash – the kind that you read and say What? - that says that until
now, Chana looked like a monkey; but after this encounter with Eli she didn't
anymore. I think it is the Malbim who explains that what that means is that her
intense sorrow was disfiguring; but now that she was happy she looked beautiful
again.
The Midrash says
Shmuel was a preemie.
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