Fire In The Sky

כ'ד בתשרי תשס"ח

Driving to work this morning on the interstate heading east, the sky was full of grey clouds. Yet, for a few minutes, 3 sunbeams broke through, joined at the base, radiating outward, forming a fiery letter shin across the horizon of the entire sky. It was an amazing sight to behold.

As I observed the fiery chariot (ש) with 3 horses (ו), Elisha's experience of Eliyahu's ascension came to mind. I felt like Elisha.

From the JewishVirtualLibrary on Eliyahu and Elisha:

Given his career as a prophet, it should not be surprising that it should end in a miraculous way. When Elijah returned from his sojourn in the desert he ran across a young man plowing a field named Elisha. He took Elisha under his wing to be his successor.

One day Elisha becomes aware that Elijah's time on earth is nearly over. They are walking together and, when they reach the Jordan River, Elijah strikes the water with his cloak and the river parts to allow them to cross. Later, the prophet asks Elisha what he can do for him before he goes and Elisha asks for "a double portion of your spirit."

Elijah replies that it is a difficult request, but "If you see me as I am being taken from you, this will be granted to you; if not, it will not" (2:9-10). Then a fiery chariot, drawn by fiery horses, comes out of the sky and takes Elijah away to the heavens. Elisha picks up the cloak Elijah dropped and strikes it against the river, causing the waters again to separate. Seeing this, Elijah's followers proclaim, "Elijah's spirit now rests on Elisha" (2:15).

Without a doubt, one of my Hebrew names is clearly confirmed to me to be Elishaba (אלישבע).