Now, the mighty mysterious man of G-d, of unknown origins, does something peculiarly and uniquely human. Knowing that he has placed a price on his own head, he went into hiding.

One might expect a mighty man of G-d who can call down fire from Heaven to devour his enemies would be a little less concerned for his personal welfare, yet we see with this episode as well as in the later episode after the Mt Carmel incident, that Eliyahu, as powerful as he is, is still very well aware of his human mortality. Of all people, an angel who comes to earth, bring along with him the power of Heaven, still operates according to normal human standards and takes every precaution to save and protect his own life.

I might add that the decision to flee was not Eliyahu's to make. He was ordered to do so directly from Heaven, the same Heaven that reigns down fire and brimstone. One might expect Heaven to be a little bit more forthcoming with some overt miracles to protect their faithful servant. But as this lesson proves, such overt sound and light show type miracles are not the chosen way Heaven desires to act.

As much as Eliyahu's life is full of some of the greatest miracles ever performed, his life is also full of practical and rational directives necessary for the perseverance of life. G-d directed Eliyahu to go into hiding and that in hiding he would be taken care of, be safe and not be detected by those seeking his life. After all, proclaiming there would be no rain throughout the land for three years and then have it happen would clearly be an issue of national security. As we will see later Eliyahu HaNavi was esteemed in the eyes of Ahav King of Israel and as terrorist would be in the eyes of the Prime Minister of modern Israel. Eliyahu had good reason to fear for his life and rather than rely on miracles to protect his life, Eliyahu had to take rational and practical steps in order to ensure the blessings of Heaven.

This is such an important lesson, especially to all members of the religious communities. Many are misguided into believing that their religious behavior alone is enough spiritual protection to enable them to exempt themselves from all types of practical decision making and to further enable them to take daily risks to their safety and wellbeing. They rationalize their irresponsibility by say that they are living by faith and that G-d will protect them and miraculously provide for them. If anything then does go wrong, then it must be G-d's will, they were meant to suffer this trouble and by doing so willingly they are indeed obeying Heaven.

This type of twisted thinking is the opposite of faith in G-d. It contradicts the very foundations of Torah and the words of our Sages who taught us not to rely upon miracles. Torah is all about living responsibly and staying alive. It is not about death! Torah teaches us to choose life! Therefore, common sense demands of us to take absolutely every precaution to safeguard our lives and security. Even Eliyahu knew this most fundamental fact of human existence. Eliyahu, more than anyone else had no need of human practicalities, yet Heaven itself directed him to embrace them. This serves us as such a tremendous lesson. If Eliyahu HaNavi had to be practical and rational for his own survival, so much more so must we be!

Now, speaking about practical, rational survival in times of crisis, let us explore just how Eliyahu survived during this time. His physical accommodations are not discussed at all. All we know is that he is in hiding. Was he hiding in a cave? Was he hiding in someone's house? Was he with others who were hiding him? We do not have answers to any of these questions. However, the next statement is rather interesting and revealing.

The text says that G-d commanded the "ravens" to bring Eliyahu food twice a day. This statement has mostly been taken at face value and interpreted literally that a bunch of small birds somehow lifted in their beaks enough food to feed a grown man twice a day. Indeed, midrashic legend embellishes the literal rendering of the tale and goes so far as to say that the food, meat included, actually came from the table of King Ahav. Why and how the evil King would have kosher meat on his table fit to feed a prophet no one seems to know. Midrashic legend also makes a moral point about the type of bird a raven is and that G-d chose this bird to make a moral point to Eliyahu. We must remember that midrashic legends are written to be morally stimulating and educational; they were not written to provide historical record.

If this episode is to be interpreted literally, then this would have been a big miracle indeed. More than this, it would have been an unforgivable security breach and a danger to Eliyahu's safety. Would not someone have noticed birds regularly landing on the king's table, grabbing overwhelmingly large portions of food in their beaks and then carrying them off to who knows where? Someone might have gotten suspicious and decided to follow the birds thus revealing Eliyahu's hiding place. It would not be too smart to be in hiding and at the same time have such an obvious pointer showing the way to where one is hiding.

Not all the Biblical commentators understood this story with midrashic moralistic simplicity. There are those who recognized that the term "raven" was actually a code term to describe the secret underground society who was in charge of protecting the prophets. We see this group referred to openly later in the text. Here now this group is called the "ravens." This name some commentators suggest may be a derivative of the name of a nearby town, and thus the name suggests some of its inhabitants. One way or another, the ravens in question here were not a pack of birds doing weird and noticeable things. Rather, the ravens were men of a secret society for the preservation of prophecy and the prophets. It was they who brought Eliyahu food twice a day and did so in a manner that would not arouse any suspicion.

We see here how practical and realistic the ways and workings of the prophets really were. They were not isolated individuals working without any kind of support group as is so commonly believed. Prophets were well organized with a wide range of resources at their disposal. As heavenly minded as the prophets became, they never lost their connection to practical earthly good. Their heavenly wisdom directed them to be as connected to the requirements to live properly on Earth equal to their meeting the requirements to unite and bond with Heaven. The more spiritual a prophet became the more practical and down to Earth he became. Apparently the two are integrally connected. This is the clear message that this Biblical story was written to relate.

While faith in G-d is everything, one must still remember the old sayings, "you do what you can, and G-d will do what you cannot" and "G-d helps those who help themselves." Here, with regards to Eliyahu, we see exactly this put into action. Eliyahu knew that every moment and that every breath he breathes are all gifts from G-d and miracles from Heaven. The miracle in Eliyahu's seclusion was that it worked. All practical preparations were made in advance. The "ravens" as a group to clandestinely protect the prophets already existed and already had a network in full operation. When called upon by G-d's word to hide Eliyahu, they carried out the Divine command with precise precision.

The miracle was that Heaven blessed all these preparations that they succeeded in their purpose. Heavenly miracles work through natural processes; this is the way G-d works with us all. This is an example of the everyday miracles we experience from Heaven, without which none of us would be able to take our next breaths or take our next step. Mind you, centuries later, in Biblical Persia, Mordecai and Esther made use of this same type of practical faith and through it we have the miracle of Purim. To emphasize just how much practicality is at the heart of faith, nowhere in the Book of Esther is G-d's Name mentioned or suggested. The story unfolds like a political narrative. Nonetheless, with or without mention, G-d is there, invisibly behind the scenes. Mention is not necessary; only acknowledging the invisible truth is necessary. Purim is the prime example of practical faith put into action.

"And the ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning, and bread and meat in the evening; and he drank of the brook." (1 Melakhim 17:6)

The Ari'zal taught that many reincarnated souls due to their multiple sins never make it back into human form. Essentially the weight of their sins strips from their souls their human image and the souls thus descend into animal form similar to their animal-like behavior in this world. When this occurs a soul is literally born into the body of an animal, often with memory of its past as a human being. When G-d wishes to have mercy on this soul, He reincarnates it into a kosher animal and then has it slaughtered in accordance to Biblical kosher laws. The kosher meat thus has within it one if not many more sparks of fallen souls.

When the meat is eaten in ritual fashion, for example in honor of a Shabat or Yom Tov, with all the appropriate blessings before and after, this enables the fallen sparks within the meat to be absorbed into the flesh of the religious person eating it, thus enabling the sparks to ascend back to the level of being human. From here they can them ascend on high to the "well of souls" and from there come back to Earth and normally born full human beings. In this Kabbalistic light, eating meat is a ritual for the sake of elevating fallen souls. As such, the act is one of redemption and not just one of dietary preference.

Eating meat with this proper devotion is considered essential by the Kabbalists. Indeed, they use this teaching to explain the directive of our Sages that one who is not a Sage should not eat meat at all. The Kabbalists teach that whenever one eats meat that one must keep in mind that the meat contains fallen sparks and that one is elevating and redeeming them. Failure to keep this in mind disrupts this cycle and causes the fallen sparks not to be redeemed but rather to fall even farther away from their heavenly source. Meditative eating of meat the Kabbalists consider being essential.

Now, one can rightly ask, did Eliyahu know all this? Did he know about sparks of fallen souls? I must assume that a "man" of his stature would have known about this all this centuries prior to the Ari'zal writing about it. Indeed, Kabbalah tells us that it was Eliyahu himself who revealed to the Ari'zal these and the other secrets of Heaven recorded in his literature.

Now, the text does not tell us that Eliyahu chose to eat meat, only that this is what Heaven provided. It is possible that he did not like meat, or that he had no other choice. The text does not discuss these options and in my opinion it would be pointless to consider them. We are left with the fact that Eliyahu's daily meals consisted of the Biblical equivalent of hamburgers or hotdogs. There is no evidence to suggest that he complained, not any to suggest that this diet was in any way harmful. Eliyahu did quite well with his meat and bread diet. Most likely, it nourished him both physically and spiritually.

All things eventually come to an end. After a while the brook of water from which Eliyahu drank dried up due to the drought. It did not miraculously continue to flow in honor of the prophet. So, Eliyahu had to follow the road of practical faith and following the Divine command relocated to another safe haven.

To be continued...