New life comes into the world with high hopes, but this baby boy is born mid loss, on a dark day. Some new beginning bring heavy baggage.
“Suddenly, a terrible thud is heard. Eli’s stiff back falls backwards, like a branch fallen off a tree, my father in law falls while on his watch. The defeat in battle, even the loss of two sons did not topple him over. But the news that the ark was taken, that’s what killed him. From the corner of my eye I see Samuel cover the body of my dead father in law. And I begin to bleed. My head, my head.. As through a veil I hear the women urge me to push out my baby towards his life. Don’t worry, they say to me, it’s a boy. But I am already far away, in another world, hearing through the fog my baby’s cries. “The glory is gone”, I whisper. Hammers fill my head. I see nothing, white light fills my vision. “No glory” I cry with my last breath. My husband is dead, his brother, their father, all dead. The ark is gone. I may as well die too. My last blurry vision is young Samuel, his eyes upon me, light emanates from him and fills me, and I close my eyes and feel that there may be hope.”
(This passage, translated by me from Hebrew, is written by my skilled brother, Rabbi Benjamin Lau, in his book “Samuel” in which he tells some of the events in this book through first person narratives. I hope to bring more passages from it in future chapters.)
We don’t know her name. The chapter that describes the terrible battle between the Israelites and the Philistines ends with the Israelites’ total defeat: 30,000 are killed, among them Hofni and Pinchas, the priests who went to the battlefield carrying the Ark of the Covenant to try and help win the battle, per the people’s demands.
The worse happens - the ark is taken captive by the enemies. When the news reaches Shiloh, old man Eli, 98 years old, blind and worried, falls back in his seat, breaks his neck, and dies. His daughter in law, nameless, overcome by grief, gives birth to a boy, there and then, and manages to name him before dying as well:
וַתִּקְרָ֣א לַנַּ֗עַר אִֽיכָבוֹד֙ לֵאמֹ֔ר גָּלָ֥ה כָב֖וֹד מִיִּשְׂרָאֵ֑ל אֶל־הִלָּקַח֙ אֲר֣וֹן הָאֱלֹהִ֔ים וְאֶל־חָמִ֖יהָ וְאִישָֽׁהּ׃
“She named the boy Ichabod, meaning, “The glory has departed from Israel”—referring to the capture of the Ark of God and to the death of her father-in-law and her husband.”
Yairah Amit suggests that his name indicates "the fate of this newborn child who would have no parents, no grandfather and not even God, because even the glory has departed from the place".
The author’s choice to end this tragic chapter with the birth of a boy whose future is vague is perhaps a glimmer of hope in a reality that reeks of rupture. Shiloh has been declining for some time, and rumors of its demise had already been revealed to Eli himself, as well as in the prophecy heard by young Samuel. The Ark of the Covenant that has been housed there since the days of Joshua - several centuries ago - has never been removed before. The ark itself represents the Kavod - the Glory - that is the Divine Presence. It is this absence, as terrible as the loss of her husband, and the fear of impending occupation by the Philistines that inspires this dying mother to name her newborn with a name that bears indignity.
And yet - his mere presence, ending this chapter of deaths with life - is a way to tell us that the saga isn’t over.
Shiloh is indeed over. The ark will not return there and the House of Eli will not serve the shrine. Ichabod will be recalled once more in a future chapter, as the brother of another priest who serves King Saul but only as marginal characters. Samuel who is absent from this chapter (despite mentioned briefly in the first verse as possibly responsible for this battle.) His time will come.
What’s also striking in this chapter and the ones still coming up is that the tragedy is almost a parody on a rusty religious system that believes in the power of objects and forgets to revere the divinity inside each one of us. That’s idol worship. The sons of Eli are mentioned earlier as corrupt and vile, disgracing the shrine and abusing the pilgrims. When they die in the war and the ark is lost to the Philistines, we are witnessing a new chapter in the evolution of spiritual life in Israel. The Glory, temporarily shaken, is not gone, and like this baby boy born an orphan, into chaos, will somehow figure out how to go on living, finding its way towards a new home.
Strange story for the first day of a new year. May it bring us life, hope, glory and healing, even as so much turmoil still troubles our world, with all our baggage.
Coming next - the lethal journey of the lost ark.
Below the Bible Belt: 929 chapters, 42 months, daily reflections: Join Rabbi Amichai’s 3+ years interactive online quest to question, queer + re-read between the lines of the entire Hebrew Bible, with daily reflections, weekly videos and monthly learning sessions. January 2022-July 2025
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Forgive my analogy, but reading these Books with Amichai Below the Bible Belt has been as fascinating and cliff-hanging as any Netflix series! Looking forward to continuing the journey. New year blessings to all. 💕
Now the plot begins to thicken. Can't wait to see what happens next, especially with that captured object.