Beit Ha-Shunamite—A Place of Double Miracles

Beit Ha-Shunamite—A Place of Double Miracles

Beit Ha-Shunamite was frequently visited by the family of Rebbetzin Batsheva Kanievsky, because of the double miracle that took place there in the days of the prophet Elisha. The prophet Elisha often traveled through the Jezreel Valley. Isha the Shunamite and her husband prepared a special room for Elisha, fully furnished with a bed, a table, and lamps. In gratitude for her warm hospitality, the prophet blessed the woman from Shunem with a son. In the Sefer “Kaftor Vaferach,” Rabbi Eshtori HaParchi—a renowned 13th-century geographer—confirms that the Shunamite woman's home was the very house described in Tanakh, in the Jezreel Valley, within the territory of Issachar. In “Orchot Rabbeinu,” Rabbi Avraham Horowitz, a close disciple of the Steipler Gaon, reports from his teacher that since Elisha's prayer was answered at Beit Ha-Shunamite, we know this is a place where childless couples can find an answer to their tefillot. “Orchot Rabbeinu” writes that Beit Ha-Shunamite is located near Afula. However, since it is situated in the Arab village of Sulam, the Steipler Gaon gave clear instructions that Jews should go there only accompanied by armed guards. In 1980, with the blessing of the Steipler Gaon, a group of Jews traveled to Shunem with his son, Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky, and his grandsons, accompanied by police. Within a year of their visit, all the young couples who had made the trip were blessed with children. After 2001, the Rebbetzin and Rabbi Kanievsky traveled to Shunem only with security. Once, Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky was invited to serve as sandak at a brit in Bnei Brak. The day before departing, Rabbi Chaim told the Rebbetzin that he was going to Yokneam. She usually accompanied Rabbi Chaim only to Jerusalem, but this time she asked whether he was considering stopping at Beit Ha-Shunamite on the way, to pray for childless couples, including some among his grandchildren. Although there had been no official announcement, many people learned about the trip to Beit Ha-Shunamite. The next day, 9 Sivan 2001, more than 1,000 people waited for Rabbi Chaim and Rebbetzin Batsheva. The Rav and Rebbetzin recited Psalms 102 and 103 (for the blessing of children). Within two years of this trip, dozens of children were born following the tefillah in Shunem; some couples named their sons after the prophet Elisha. One mother even named her son Chavakuk, because the Holy Zohar writes that the prophet Habakkuk was the very son of Isha the Shunamite. Five years before her passing, Rebbetzin Batsheva traveled to the House of the Shunamite with a group of women, accompanied by police officers. Residents of the village of Sulam, including the mayor, came out to greet her. The Rebbetzin told them that it was a blessing for them to live in such a holy place, and that if they guaranteed that none of them would harm this holy site or prevent Jewish pilgrims from visiting, then the place would also be a source of goodness for their village. Isha the Shunamite Not far from Afula, in the remote Arab village of Sulam (Shunem), next to an ordinary old house, are the grave and a wall from the house of Isha the Shunamite. The road passes through Moshav Merhavia along an unpaved road. It was in this very house that the elderly couple warmly welcomed the prophet Elisha, setting aside a private room for him. On Rosh Hashanah, the day on which the Almighty “remembered” childless women such as Sarah Imeinu, Rachel Imeinu, and Hannah—the mother of Samuel the Prophet—Elisha the Prophet sent his servant Gehazi to Isha the Shunamite to ask how he could repay her for her hospitality. She said that she needed nothing, but his servant Gehazi reminded him that she had no children. The prophet said to her: “At this time, at the life-giving season, ‘ka-et chaya’, you will embrace a ‘choveket’ son.” The Holy Zohar reveals the meaning of the prophet Elisha's words: “choveket”—“you will embrace”—was a hint to Habakkuk, who became the son of the Shunamite woman. Moreover, says the Holy Zohar, there were two embraces—one maternal, and the other by Elisha, when he revived the child—as it is written: “and he placed his mouth upon his mouth.” Thus, the Mekubalim teach, Elisha's bracha became an everlasting part of this place. Just as Elisha prayed for and blessed Isha the Shunamite with a child, so this blessing possesses the spiritual power to bless childless women who so desperately wish to conceive. After some time, the child fell ill, complaining of a headache, and died. Without telling anyone about her son's death, Isha the Shunamite laid him down, asked her husband for a donkey, and set out to find the prophet. When she found him, she fell at his feet and said: “Did I ask you for a child? Why, then, has the Almighty taken him away?” The prophet Elisha instructed his servant Gehazi to take his staff, go to Shunem, place it on the child, and revive him. The Prophet Habakkuk and Resurrection from the Dead King Solomon said: “Better a living dog than a dead lion.” (Ecclesiastes 9:4) Elisha said to him: “Take my staff in your hand and place it on the boy's face.” [II Kings 4:29] The prophet instructed Gehazi not to speak with anyone along the way and not to allow himself to be distracted by anything. But on the way, he placed the staff on a dead dog and revived it. When he reached the site and placed the staff on the boy's face, the boy was not revived. [Rabbi Shmuel Laniado, Kli Yakar, II Kings] It is known that the son of the Shunamite woman was the prophet Habakkuk [Zohar II, 44b], whose name has the same gematria as the word אריה (lion), as well as the word bachur (young man). It follows that Habakkuk's death was the reason the dead dog was revived. This is the meaning of the expression: “better a living dog”, because the “dead lion” refers to Habakkuk, whose gematria is that of “lion.” (Rabbi Yehuda Fetaya, “Minchat Yehuda,” ch. 109, Ecclesiastes) The disciples of the Arizal transmitted the following story. Once, Rabbi Isaac Luria arrived late to a wedding. He explained that on the way he had encountered a dog that barked at him. The Arizal asked it who it was, and the dog replied that it was the gilgul of Gehazi. When the prophet Elisha instructed Gehazi to revive the Shunamite woman's son with the staff, Gehazi did not believe in the miracle that was supposed to occur. On the way, he saw a dead dog lying by the roadside and decided to test the power of the prophet's staff on it. The dog indeed returned to life, but the staff could no longer affect the young man to whom the prophet had sent him. Therefore, Gehazi's punishment was to be reincarnated as a dog. Elisha came to Beit Ha-Shunamite and lay upon the child: eye to eye, hand to hand, and mouth to mouth, and he prayed. The child grew warm. Then Elisha stood up, walked around, and lay upon him once more—the boy sneezed seven times and came back to life. The Holy Zohar says that Habakkuk was revived through the Name of Hashem composed of 72 words. At the splitting of the Yam Suf there are three pesukim—the Name of 72 Words contains 216 letters. The gematria of Habakkuk is 216. Shunem—Rabbi Chaim Palagi The time is Shavuot, the place is Shunem, and the author of the segula is Rabbi Chaim Palagi. Beit Ha-Shunamite is the home of the famous woman from Shunem, near Afula, where the prophet Elisha performed miracles—blessing a childless woman with a son and later reviving him. Rabbi Chaim Palagi taught that one should give 104 coins to tzedakah. This is a famous segula for having children: on Erev Shavuot, give 104 coins as tzedakah to a needy and modest talmid chacham. Rabbi Chaim Palagi revealed how this works: set aside 91 coins, and then add more until the total is 104—the double gematria of the word בן “son”. Twice 52 alludes to the first miracle—when the prophet Elisha promised the woman from Shunem that she would embrace a son, and he was born—and the second, when he revived her son, the prophet Habakkuk. Rabbi Chaim Palagi writes that this segula is intended for having children and bringing the Geulah closer, for deliverance from financial hardship, health problems, domestic difficulties, and redemption from everything that troubles us. For we all need both personal geulah and collective redemption—the complete Geulah. Rabbeinu Bachya (Kad HaKemach, Orchim) notes that the simplest segula for having a child is hachnasat orchim (the mitzvah of hospitality), and that we learn this from the way Sarah Imeinu and Isha the Shunamite fulfilled this mitzvah shortly before being blessed with a child. Order of Prayers at Beit Ha-Shunamite from the Kanievsky family—here: (translation by Sila Tehilim based on the book “The Legendary Mother to All—Rebbetzin Kanievsky,” as well as materials from dailyzoar.com)