Good Morning Yamon Ki Yesepar and Nevim Arith Hayomin:

II Kings 2:13: “He took up also the mantle of Elijah that fell from him and went back and stood by the bank of the Jordan.”

I have always been fascinated by the concept of passing a mantle.   Now that I read this passage I discover that Elijah did not pass his mantle onto Elisha, it was the only thing left of Elijah after he was taken away and Elisha picked it up.  I suppose if Merlin left his magic wand behind, I would pick it up and turn the neighbor’s barking dog into a rabbit.

What a prize for Elisha to get the magical mantle of Elijah. Imagine the miracles that you  could perform with that mantle.  I wonder what happened to it?   Perhaps Indiana Jones will dig it up and turn his Nazi antagonists into goats.   I’m joking, right?  Was it the mantle that caused the waters of the Jordan to part?  Would Elijah’s shoes or BVD’s have worked as well?   What was so special about this mantle?

The word mantle in Hebrew is  “Adar” which is also the word for the last month on the Hebrew Calendar.   It’s root meaning is glorious, splendid, marvelous,  and mighty. In a noun form it is rendered as a cloak or mantle.  The Talmud indicates that this was a Talit or prayer shawl.  For a prophet this would have been a glorious appearing Talit and as it was worn by a prophet it would have had that purple or dark blue thread in the corner tassel.

Miraculous powers were believed to have generated from the talit of a master teacher or prophet who had that purple thread, which is why the woman with the issue of blood wanted to touch the hem of  Jesus garment which was really the tassel with the purple thread on His talit.  Just not any Ruben, Joseph or Henry wearing a talit had that purple thread.  As soon as the woman touched it she was healed but then Jesus turned around and said “(no it is not the purple thread but) your faith has made  you whole.”

It would stand to reason that if Elisha was to assume Elijah’s position as the prophet he would need a talit with a purple thread and that would be why it was left when Elijah went to heaven.  After all, Elijah didn’t need it anymore.

Still, why is it called a mantle or an “adar.”    The Talmud teaches that when the month of Adar arrives, it increases our joy (Taanit 29a).   The sages teach that Adar is a time of joy because it is the best month to remove any personal barriers to holiness and when those barriers are removed you create the potential for the greatest joy. Perhaps the Elijah’s talit symbolize that Elisha had removed any barriers to his relationship with God.   The word itself is spelled “Aleph, Daleth and Resh.”   The Aleph represents God, the Daleth is a doorway to the Resh which represents healing and wholeness.   Hence the word Adar has the idea of God opening a doorway to healing, restoration and wholeness.  The sages teach that Adar is the final month of the year, it completes the year and hence it is a time of completion.

Now  let’s apply all that to the symbolic meaning of the mantle.  The mantle is a symbol of joy and completion.  In a way Elijah leaving his mantle was sign that he had completed his mission on earth.   Like the end of a year.  Elisha picking up the mantle would be starting a new year, picking up where Elijah left off.  Just as we celebrate a new year, this picking up of the mantle was a time of joy, a celebration of completing the old and starting a new year or for Elisha a new ministry.

The esoteric meaning of the word “Adar” is God’s doorway to healing, wholeness and power. The mantle was a doorway to God’s power.  Clearly the aleph in the word for mantle (adar) suggest that it is God’s door way not Elijah‘s.  That is why Elijah did not give his mantle to Elisha.  Perhaps that is one reason  (not the only) that Elijah told Elisha that if he sees him taken, he will have his desire to carry on his ministry.

Obviously if Indiana Jones uncovers that mantle, he will not have the power of Elijah any more than he would if he were to uncover Moses’s rod.  You know, that is the rod that brought about the plagues of Egypt, parted the Red Sea, brought water from the rock, etc.

There was no power in that rod, but people began to think there was.  That is why when God told Moses to bring water from the rock a second time He told Moses to take the rod with him  but to speak to the rock.  Moses, however, could not function without that rod and so he struck the rock again  with the rod and disobeyed God and lost his chance to enter the promise land.  Actually, he just showed that he did not have the faith to enter the promise land himself.  He still didn’t get it.  The rod, like the mantle was only a symbol of his authority given to Him by God.   If Obama gives you a pass to the Oval Office and you give it to me, I will not be allowed into the Oval Office even with a pass given by Obama because Obama gave it to you and not to me.  That pass is only a symbol of an agreement between you and Obama that did not include me.

That mantle of Elijah was only a symbol of an agreement between Elijah and God with God giving Elijah his authority.   Picking up the mantle by Elisha only symbolized that he was entering into the same agreement with God. Using it to part the Jordan river was just God’s way of confirming the agreement or covenant between Him and Elisha.

Perhaps God will give you a mantle or a rod, but that mantle or rod is nothing more than a piece of cloth or a stick.  The only power it has is symbolic of an agreement between you and God, and God granting you His authority.  Ultimately, Jesus said it best. “Your faith has made you whole” (not a piece of cloth).

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