CHAPTER SUMMARY

The chapter ostensibly simply relates the story of Shmuel's introduction as a navi, although it actually contains much more. It opens by noting that Shmuel was a na`ar, a boy (although his exact age is unclear) serving the Mishkan. In addition, the verse informs us that nevuah and hazon (communications from God) were rare at that time, setting the scene for what was about to happen.

One night, as Shmuel was lying in bed, he hears a voice call him. Assuming it is Eli, he goes to find out what he wants, and Eli tells him he did not call him. This happens a second and a third time, when Eli finally realizes that Shmuel is being called by God. He therefore instructs Shmuel to answer appropriately the next time, which Shmuel does. God then tells Shmuel that he will one day fulfill for Eli what He had previously promised, and that it was happening to Eli for his failure to effectively reprimand his sons, and that their sin would not be atoned by sacrifice ever.

In the morning, Shmuel went about his business, understandably reluctant to inform Eli as to what God had said. Eli nevertheless insists, so Shmuel tells him, and Eli calmly accepts God's judgement. Following that, three verses note that Shmuel's reputation as a prophet grew from then on, until all knew that he was a bearer of the Word of God, and, through him, God once again was a significant presence at Shiloh.

THE CORROSIVE EFFECTS OF LOSS OF PROPHECY

The navi’s introductory note to this week’s story—that, in that time, the Word of God was rare—ostensibly only sets the scene for relating Shmuel’s experience. In fact, though, it explains Eli’s reactions the first few times as well; when Shmuel came to him the first time, after all, we might have expected him to figure out what was going on. That it took him—a Shofet, a Judge-- three times before he realized that God was calling Shmuel can be blamed on the infrequency of this kind of experience. At the simplest level, then, the context provided here is only to explain the actions of the characters in this particular story.

If we think a little further, however, this fact can become part of the conceptual background we use to understand Shmuel’s life and mission. In a nation that had fallen out of practice regarding prophecy, certainly the expectation of such prophecy diminishes; I believe that our study of Shmuel will show that not only the expectation of prophecy but the expectation of God playing a meaningful role in one’s life had declined as well. After all, if God does not communicate with us, how can we mold our actions to please Him? Part of Shmuel’s mission, in fact, will be to restore a sense of connection to God. How he does so, and the effect that has on the Jewish people, will factor in our reading of the text several times throughout the book.

WHAT KIND OF NEVUAH DID SHMUEL HAVE AT FIRST?

Shmuel originally assumes that Eli was calling him, which indicates that he was not striving for this prophecy, it just happened. I mention that because it affects our vision of the prophetic experience. Rambam, for example, seems to assume that prophecy is something only achieved with careful preparation, spiritually, mentally, and emotionally. That would mean that God does not so much select prophets as make use of those who qualify themselves; at that point, if God has a mission for a prophet, He will send the person so qualified (or some similar variation on that theme).

That view does not seem to accurately describe this instance of prophecy. Unless we assume that Shmuel, unmentioned by the text, had decided that he wanted to be a prophet, had prepared himself carefully for prophecy, but then did not recognize it when it occurred, it would seem that at least this incidence of prophecy happened without specific preparation or striving. Recognizing that possibility within the realm of prophecy—where God speaks to someone who was not specifically preparing himself for that experience—reminds us of the possibility of God-initiated communication with human beings.

Rambam notes another important aspect of this prophecy. In II: 44 in Moreh Nevukhim, he uses it as an example of prophetic experiences being so real that the prophet assumes that it has physical reality. In our case, the voice Shmuel heard was clearly not physical (since we do not generally believe that prophets hear Voices of sound); it felt so real, however, that he assumed it was and responded accordingly.

SHMUEL SPEAKS WITH GOD

In any case, Shmuel returns to his bed, and this time responds to God when he is called. Yet, after all that buildup, God has nothing of great significance to say. He repeats the punishment that Eli had already been told, says it is because Eli failed to reprimand his sons, and that no sacrifice can ever atone for this sin. Not only is the message relatively insignificant, Shmuel was apparently not sent to Eli with it (as Malbim noted), since when he awakens in the morning, he goes about his business as if nothing had happened. Abravavnel noted that the whole episode where Shmuel confused God's Voice with Eli's insured that the latter would wonder in the morning as to what had happened. Indeed, only Eli's curiousity caused him to get the message.

To the extent that God was not primarily concerned with the content of the message, the visitation itself would seem to be the point. That is, if God cared about Shmuel receiving and spreading certain information, He should have commanded Shmuel to go to Eli with his news. He does not (in fact, Malbim assumes that the prophecy was only to give Shmuel that information, not to pass it on to Eli) and in fact there is little in Shmuel's message that Eli had not previously heard.

It would seem that God spoke to Shmuel for the sole purpose of establishing him as a navi. His allowing Shmuel to think that Eli was calling him, to go to Eli (He could have just clarified Himself before Shmuel left the room), His waiting until Shmuel recognized the experience he was having, was, I would suggest, calculated to introduce Shmuel to prophecy, and to get the word out among the Jewish people that a prophet had been found. Radak also points out that verse 18 says that God fulfilled all of Shmuel’s words, even those that did not specifically come from a prophetic experience. The Lord has a "stake" in Shmuel’s being recognized as a source of Truth, and He is creating an environment in which people will achieve that recognition. We will see why that should be as we continue on, but even just thinking back on the beginning of this chapter gives us one central reason—the Word of God had disappeared from among the Holy Nation, and God was helping us get it back, through the person of Shmuel.

ELI’S PUNISHMENT, AGAIN

When Eli hears from Shmuel he reacts with remarkable calm—Hashem hu, hatov be-einav ya`aseh, He is God, He will do what is good in His eyes. In one sense, this is perhaps an admirable view; recognizing God’s Majesty, Eli submits to His Judgement. Yet that does not feel like the reaction God wanted. Note that one difference between Shmuel’s prophecy and the one in the previous chapter is that here Eli is specifically upbraided for not intervening with his sons’ behavior. That suggests that, had he responded more vigorously to last chapter’s information, he might have salvaged some of the family’s future.

In this version of the prophecy, for example, Eli is told that sacrifices will not provide atonement for this sin. Perhaps, had Eli managed to stop his sons’ misdeeds, the avenue of atonement open to the rest of the Jewish people would have remained available to his descendants as well. Acceptance of God’s judgement is one thing, but passivity in the face of spiritual failure is something else—Eli’s acceptance here symptomizes his lack of deep concern of his sons’ failings, of their misuse of the Mishkan, and of their leadership in the spiritual decline of the Jewish people. Those aspects of Eli’s behavior, in fact, may have been as much of a factor in the punishment as his sons’ actual misdeeds.

I once heard a story about a Hasidic rebbe (I think it was R. Elimelekh of Lizhensk, but I cannot be sure) who was suffering at a certain period of his life, and was heard bemoaning his sufferings. His Hasidim, surprised that their rebbe was not simply accepting what God had sent him, asked about his reaction. He said, "It may be that Hashem sends us our yisurim (suffering), but he does so so that we should feel it." Here, too, there is a line between tsiduk hadin, righteous acceptance of God’s judgment, and failing to respond to that judgment/punishment in the way God intended. Eli, in his easy acceptance of a punishment that God describes as one that will make all listeners’ ears ring, strikes me as having stepped over that line.

SHMUEL IN CONTRAST TO ELI

The chapter ends, as we mentioned before, by noting that Hashem fulfilled all of Shmuel’s words, that he became known throughout the Jewish people as a prophet, and that Hashem had once again appeared at Shiloh. That conclusion emphasizes an important undercurrent of what we have been seeing so far. Eli, despite whatever personal righteousness he may have had, was the head of a Mishkan that lacked the presence of God, at least as a reality for the people who attended that Mishkan.

That lack of God’s presence expressed itself most clearly in his sons’ feeling comfortable in treating sacrifices as their personal privilege. Aside from its being wrong, their doing so shows that they did not live a life that reflected a belief that these sacrifices were for God. That is, if they were questioned about it, they may have said that of course the sacrifices went to God, but their actions betrayed a different reality. Eli, also, did not respond with the kind of indignation we would expect from someone who sees God’s honor being desecrated. He certainly recognizes his sons’ sin, tries to get them to change their ways, but does not take his failure particularly to heart.

Into this reality, the Elkanah family (primarily through Hannah) brought about a significant change. Elkanah’s annual visit to offer sacrifices shows that he, at least, kept God as a living reality in his life. Hannah’s sincere and innovative prayers, combined with her promise to give the child to God, furthered that same message—especially when she tells Eli that this child is the one for which she had prayed to God. Seeing Shmuel as the result of her prayer means that not only did she turn to God for help in her time of distress, but also that she saw later events as the direct result of those prayers.

The result of all those efforts was a son who became the living embodiment of the Word of God to the people. Beginning with the prophecy that we have seen in this chapter, Shmuel becomes the physical address of God. Once again, the people know that God exists, that He interacts with the world, that He is concerned with the behavior of the Jewish people, and that they can learn His desires from His prophet. How those new realities will affect them and the state of the Jewish people is material for the chapters to come. Shabbat Shalom.

POINTS FOR FURTHER THOUGHT

1. Eli's punishment only said that sacrifices could not wipe away his sin. The gemara, Rosh haShanah 18a, quotes R. Yohanan b. Zakkai as recommending Torah study to descendants of Eli, which does work. If we know that something else could work, why would Hashem stress that sacrifices in particular could not work? The Rov, ztllh"h, once explained the Mishnah that says that a person who says ehta ve-ashuv will not find atonement through teshuvah. Ehta ve-ashuv means that the person already plans on the repentance at the moment of sin; the Rov noted that in such a case, the teshuvah itself becomes part of the sin, and therefore cannot provide atonement. Does that explain anything about the efficacy of sacrifices in atoning for the sin of Eli's sons?
2. When he is trying to get Shmuel to tell him his nevuah, Eli issues a provisional curse, saying that God should do to Shmuel what He had ordained for Eli if Shmuel witholds any information. Makkot 11a uses this as an example of killelat hakham, the curse of a Sage, which happens even if it was originally done with a condition. In this case, Shmuel’s sons did not follow his path, as we will see in the future. What lesson(s) is embedded in that idea?