Rebbetzin Chava Kuperman
In 2 Kings, chapter 8, it is written: "And Elisha had said to the woman whose son he had revived: Arise and go, you and your household, and live wherever you can, for the L-rd has called for a famine, and it has come upon this land for seven years. And the woman arose and did as the man of G-d had said... …and lived in the land of the Philistines for seven years."
After seven years, she returned and had to go to the king to petition for her house and her field (which someone had taken over in the meantime). And at the very moment she came before the king, he was speaking with Gehazi, asking him about all the great miracles performed by the prophet Elisha…
"And it happened, as Gehazi was telling him, that the woman appealed to the king for her house and her field. And Gehazi exclaimed, 'Why, here is the very woman whose son the prophet Elisha brought back to life!' And the king questioned her, and she told him. And the king ordered his attendants to have her house returned to her, and to have her field returned."
According to tradition, the child who was brought back to life became a prophet named Habakkuk, one of the 12 Minor Prophets.
This name is very interesting. At the end are two identical letters, "kuf," and under the rules of grammar we may remove one of them. That leaves the three root letters, which is fully consistent with the rules of grammar. The resulting root consists of the letters chet, bet and kuf, meaning "to embrace." Thus the name itself already hints at the method of revival used by the prophet Elisha. Moreover, when Elisha promises the Shunammite woman a child, he says, "In a year, you will embrace a son."
The gematria of the name Habakkuk is 72×3. This symbolizes the highest level of the Almighty's mercy.
Absolute kindness, which we do not attain, is chesed. The gematria of this word is 72 (chet 8, samech 60 and dalet 4); in the child's name, chesed is multiplied by three—this is the Creator's absolute kindness toward his mother, his father, and Elisha.
It is said of the Shunammite woman that her greatness exceeded that of all the women in the world.
Her greatness was evident, among other things, in her love of guests. (Women are generally not very willing to receive guests on the spur of the moment. Out of respect for those coming to their home, they usually want to prepare everything carefully. The Shunammite woman was ready to welcome guests at any moment; looking after their comfort and rest was her greatest joy.) It was this very desire to care for guests that led her to ask her husband to build a special room for Elisha.
It is related that King Hezekiah "prayed about the Shunammite woman." We should probably say that he prayed with reference to the Shunammite woman. This refers to the period of his life when the prophet Isaiah brought him the terrible news: "Prepare your will! Your days are numbered. You will soon die; you will not live!"
And Hezekiah began to pray to the Almighty: "You showed mercy to the son of a woman who built a small room for the prophet Elisha. Do You really have no mercy to show me, the grandson of King Solomon, who built a magnificent Temple for You?!"
G-d heard this prayer and told the prophet Isaiah to inform the king that he would live another 15 years. After this, the king announced that he was ready to marry (he had previously refused to marry, foreseeing that wicked people would emerge from his descendants, and this refusal was the reason for the harsh decree from Above), and the prophet gave him his daughter in marriage.
to be continued