Praise Her Works: Conversations with Biblical Women

11 Widow from Tzarephath

81 o Chapter  Widow from Tzarephath LEAH SHAKDIEL /// h÷^b¡gÝk vº¥Ï ¦r¡P V¡Pá‚F “She spreads out her hand to the poor …” (Prov. 31:20).1 rfa vnu /ohn ygn hk hb, uvhkt vk rnta ,hprm uz 'hbgk varp vpf /rxj, tk inav ,jpmu vkf, tk jnev sf 'lf kg vkyb She spreads out her hand to the poor, this is the Tzarephit, the woman from Tzarephath, to whom Elijah said, “Please bring me a little water ” (1 Kings 17:10). And what was the reward that she took for this? “The flour jar shall not be finished and the oil cruse shall not be lacking” (1 Kings 17:14). —Midrash ha-Gadol Before we meet the prophet Elijah for the first time, we receive the background to his mission. He is up against the mighty King Ahab, ruler of the northern Israelite kingdom. Ahab, together with his wife, Jezebel, daughter of the king of Sidon, has outdone all his predecessors with his sins, especially idolatry. Elijah appears when circumstances are so extreme that only drastic measures may help. He announces that rain and dew, keys to life, will be withheld until further notice. And indeed, God sends him to hide in a riverbed until he sees the river dry out completely. Now God sends him to Tzarephath by Sidon, to be fed there by a widow. He does find a widow collecting wood at the town’s gate and asks her for water. When he asks her for bread, too, she reveals that she has almost no flour or oil left for herself and her son. She fears they will starve to death. Elijah promises her that if she feeds 82 Praise Her Works him first from the little she has, she will lack no flour nor oil until the drought is over. This comes true, and, miraculously, she has an abundance of food. Then the widow’s son falls so seriously ill that he is left breathless . She blames Elijah for intruding into her life and killing the boy for some sin of hers. Because there is no previous mention of any sin, she tries to understand her son’s illness as God’s punishment for some sin unknown to her. Elijah picks up the son from her lap, takes him up to the attic where he is staying, puts him on his bed, and calls out to God: “Are you even visiting evil upon the widow in whose house I live, to kill her son?” “O Lord my God, please return this child’s soul unto him!” (1 Kings 17:20,21). He lies down over the child three times until God answers his prayers and revives the boy. Elijah then takes the child down to his mother. Only then does the woman say, “Now I know that you are a man of God and that the word of the Lord is truly in your mouth” (1 Kings 17:24). Commentary The Tzarephit’s place in Elijah’s life cycle is framed as foreshadowing the “grand narrative” of the people of Israel. Only dramatic , unprecedented miracles will make them adopt again the God they abandoned. The biblical story is woven around Elijah, but Midrash ha-Gadol provides the opportunity to reread it with the woman as the protagonist . This biblical narrative nourished later Christian myths referring to Jesus, and even Jewish readers have since been unable to avoid the analogy. Focusing on the role of the child’s mother in this drama, the image that comes to mind is the Pietà—Mary holding the dead Jesus in her arms. Infinite grief and pity overtakes the woman at the moment of her bereavement when she is in utmost despair. She holds her dead son in her arms while she is experiencing the immanent presence of God and His utmost compassion.2 83 Chapter 11 Widow from Tzarephath The Book of Kings includes two parallel stories of this kind. One involves Elijah and the widow from Tzarephath. The other involves Elisha, Elijah’s heir, and the Shunammite woman (see chapter 20). Both women are counted in the list of women in the Midrash ha-Gadol, but the Tzarephit gets only half a verse, whereas the Shunammite woman figures more prominently. Also intriguing is the fact that the Shunammite narrative is included in the haftarah readings, as are extensive parts of the Elijah cycle, whereas the story of the Tzarephit is not. One particular attribute makes...