How many of you ever considered the possibility that a classic piece of children's dogrel was actually inspired by the Tanakh? Hopefully the the title of this post has led you in the direction of the following poem:Fuzzy Wuzzy was a bear.Fuzzy Wuzzy had no hair. Fuzzy Wuzzy wasn't very fuzzy - was he?
Today I finished מלכים ב' פרק ב, which discusses the transfer of prophetic power from Eliyahu to Elisha. It also contains the account of Elisha visiting Bet-El. Elisha ran into some ne'er-do-well lads and taught them a thing or two about respecting your elders.
23. And he went up from there to Bethel, and he was going up on the road and some little boys came out of the city and jeered him, and said to him, "Go away, baldy; go away, baldy!" 24. And he turned around and saw them, and he cursed them in the name of God. And two she-bears came out of the forest and tore apart forty-two boys of them.
Now first of all, Rashi assures us that Elisha "saw" that no good would come from these children. So we can be reassured that the slaughtered children do not pose any ethical dilemmas. But more importantly - could there be a link between Elisha's gleaming pate and the ursine assassins? Maybe one of the bears was also a little less than hirsute. Could this bear have been an ancestor of the famous Fuzzy Wuzzy coming to defend Elisha's honor? I believe that further research into parhsanut and Midrashim is required!
PS - Did anyone else notice that number of slain children is exactly the same as the answer to life, the universe and everything?
Posts
I am (surprisingly) reminded of the Simpson's line, "Why should we listen to him? He doesn't even have any hair."
ReplyDeleteThe kids were saying "You're no Eliyahu."
Wrong response.
PS - 42 is everywhere.