Cramped Quarters

(1) The disciples of the prophets said to Elisha, “See, the place where we live under your direction is too cramped for us. (2) Let us go to the Jordan, and let us each get a log there and build quarters there for ourselves to live in.” “Do so,” he replied. (3) Then one of them said, “Will you please come along with your servants?” “Yes, I will come,” he said;

He dwelt in Samaria, and city dwelling is harsh, for it is difficult to afford lodgings and food.

(15) When the disciples of the prophets at Jericho saw him from a distance, they exclaimed, “The spirit of Elijah has settled on Elisha!” And they went to meet him and bowed low before him to the ground. (16) They said to him, “Your servants have fifty able men with them. Let them go and look for your master; perhaps the spirit of the LORD has carried him off and cast him upon some mountain or into some valley.” “Do not send them,” he replied.

(42) A man came from Baal-shalishah and he brought the man of God some bread of the first reaping—twenty loaves of barley bread, and some fresh grain in his sack. And [Elisha] said, “Give it to the people and let them eat.” (43) His attendant replied, “How can I set this before a hundred men?” But he said, “Give it to the people and let them eat. For thus said the LORD: They shall eat and have some left over.”

Rabbi Yoḥanan says: Elisha went to help Gehazi in repentance, but Gehazi would not agree to repent from his evil ways. Elisha said to him: Return from your sins. Gehazi said to him: This is the tradition that I received from you: Whoever sins and caused the masses to sin is not given the opportunity to repent. The Gemara asks: What did Gehazi do that caused the masses to sin? There are those who say that he hung a magnetic rock on Jeroboam’s calf, the golden calf that Jeroboam established as an idol, and used a magnet to pull the calf off the ground so that he suspended it between heaven and earth, i.e., caused it to hover above the ground. This seemingly miraculous occurrence caused the people to worship it even more devoutly. And there are those who say: He engraved the sacred name on its mouth, and it would say: “I am the Lord your God” and: “You shall not have other gods” (Exodus 20:2). The idol would quote the two prohibitions from the Ten Commandments against idol worship, causing people to worship it even more devoutly. And there are those who say: Gehazi pushed the Sages away from coming before him, preventing them learning from Elisha, as it is written, after the aforementioned incident: “And the sons of the prophets said to Elisha, behold this place where we are staying before you is too cramped for us” (II Kings 6:1). This proves by inference that until that time the place was not cramped, as Gehazi would turn people away.

After Gehazi was banished by Elisha there was a surge in the number of students, because Gehazi was bad to them, and many feared to associate with Elisha due to the evil of Gehazi.

(4) and he accompanied them. So they went to the Jordan and cut timber. (5) As one of them was felling a trunk, the iron ax head fell into the water. And he cried aloud, “Alas, master, it was a borrowed one!” (6) “Where did it fall?” asked the man of God. He showed him the spot; and he cut off a stick and threw it in, and he made the ax head float.

He took wood already cut, and shaped it such that it would fit into the aperture of the ax-head and would act as its handle. This is the miracle- that when he hurled it in, it fit directly into the slot and remained there firmly, as we have already established in the matter of "wonders"...that they do not change the course of nature...The wood was of a size that its buoyancy could counter the weight of the ax-head and carry it to the surface. To this end, the piece of wood needed to be large and the {original} handle was inadequate.

The prophet, when shown the precise location that the x-head had fallen, took a small piece of wood in his hand, and threw it to that place...as if the piece of wood was "calling" the ax-head to join it, and immediately the iron rose to the surface...and so it was that the wood, which is light, sank into the water contrary to its nature, and iron, which is heavy, floated. This demonstrates that [worldly] events are determined by God's power, and nature reflects the order instilled by God, and when God so desires, He can alter the natural course.

(7) “Pick it up,” he said; so he reached out and took it.

(7) She came and told the man of God, and he said, “Go sell the oil and pay your debt, and you and your children can live on the rest.”

(36) [Elisha] called Gehazi and said, “Call the Shunammite woman,” and he called her. When she came to him, he said, “Pick up your son.” (37) She came and fell at his feet and bowed low to the ground; then she picked up her son and left.

The Egyptians made a metal casket for him and sank it in the Nile. (Moses) thereupon stood at the Nile, threw a stone into it, and shouted: "Joseph, Joseph, the oath that the Holy One Blessed be He swore to our father Abraham that He would redeem His children, has materialized. Accord honor to the L rd, the G d of Israel, and do not delay our redemption, for it is on your behalf that we are delayed. If you reveal yourself, good; if not we are absolved of your oath (to take your bones with us)" — whereupon Joseph's casket rose to the surface and Moses took it. And do not wonder at this phenomenon. For it is written (II Kings 6:5-6) "As one of them was felling a tree, the ax blade fell into the water, and he cried out 'Alas, master, (Elisha); it was borrowed!' And the man of G d said: 'Where did it fall?' And he showed him the place and he (Elisha) cut off a stick and threw it there, and the iron floated." Now does this not follow a fortiori, viz.: If iron floated for Elisha, the disciple of Eliyahu, how much more so for Moses, the master of Eliyahu! ...

It was taught: On that day that they removed Rabban Gamliel from his position and appointed Rabbi Elazar ben Azarya in his place, there was also a fundamental change in the general approach of the study hall as they dismissed the guard at the door and permission was granted to the students to enter. Instead of Rabban Gamliel’s selective approach that asserted that the students must be screened before accepting them into the study hall, the new approach asserted that anyone who seeks to study should be given opportunity to do so. As Rabban Gamliel would proclaim and say: Any student whose inside, his thoughts and feelings, are not like his outside, i.e., his conduct and his character traits are lacking, will not enter the study hall. The Gemara relates: On that day several benches were added to the study hall to accommodate the numerous students. Rabbi Yoḥanan said: Abba Yosef ben Dostai and the Rabbis disputed this matter. One said: Four hundred benches were added to the study hall. And one said: Seven hundred benches were added to the study hall. When he saw the tremendous growth in the number of students, Rabban Gamliel was disheartened. He said: Perhaps, Heaven forbid, I prevented Israel from engaging in Torah study. They showed him in his dream white jugs filled with ashes alluding to the fact that the additional students were worthless idlers. The Gemara comments: That is not the case, but that dream was shown to him to ease his mind so that he would not feel bad. It was taught: There is a tradition that tractate Eduyyot was taught that day. And everywhere in the Mishna or in a baraita that they say: On that day, it is referring to that day. There was no halakha whose ruling was pending in the study hall that they did not explain and arrive at a practical halakhic conclusion.

And even Rabban Gamliel did not avoid the study hall for even one moment, as he held no grudge against those who removed him from office and he participated in the halakhic discourse in the study hall as one of the Sages.