On today’s daf, the Gemara finally concludes its lengthy discussion of those individuals who have no share in the World to Come. The final character to be examined is Gehazi, one of the four commoners listed at the conclusion of the mishnah (along with Balaam, Doeg and Ahitophel). In 2 Kings, we find the account of Gehazi, servant of the prophet Elisha. In many ways he was a faithful servant, but the Bible records that when Elisha cured the general Naaman’s leprosy, Gehazi extracted payment from him against Elisha’s orders. Infuriated by Gehazi’s exploitation of his miracles, Elisha cursed his servant. Gehazi was stricken with leprosy and doomed to pass it on to his descendants.
But this is hardly the only or worst sin recorded in the historical books of the Prophets, and it doesn’t explain why Gehazi received no share in the World to Come. The Gemara explains:
As it is written: “And Elisha went to Damascus.” (see 2 Kings 8:7) Where did he go, and for what purpose? Rabbi Yohanan says: He went to cause Gehazi to repent, but he did not repent. Elisha said to him: “Repent.” Gehazi said to him: “This is the tradition that I received from you: Whoever sins and causes the masses to sin is not given the opportunity to repent.”
The Gemara asserts that after the terrible Naaman affair, Elisha petitioned Gehazi to repent. Startlingly, Gehazi insisted that repentance was impossible according to Elisha’s own teaching that one who sins and causes the masses to sin as well has no opportunity for repentance. This assertion is somewhat baffling. While cheating Naaman was contemptible, it does not appear to have provoked “the masses” to do anything. The Gemara explains:
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What did he do? There are those who say that he hung a magnetic rock on Jeroboam’s sin (i.e., the golden calf that Jeroboam established as an idol) so that he suspended it between heaven and earth. And there are those who say that he engraved the sacred name of God on its mouth, and it would declare and say: “I am the Lord your God,” (Exodus 20:2) and: “You shall not have other gods.” (Exodus 20:3)
The rabbis weave additional lore to explain Gehazi’s judgment. It’s not just that he exploited Elisha’s miracle to cheat the general Naaman; he also incited people to worship the golden calf erected by the wicked King Jeroboam. Apparently he performed a magic trick — either suspending the calf with a magnet so it appeared to be floating, or causing it to speak, perversely, verses about God’s singularity — and in so doing, he made the calf seem miraculous, and prompted others to worship its power. This is why he did not qualify, according to Elisha’s teaching, to repent.
The Gemara next suggests yet another narrative of Gehazi’s wrongdoing:
And there are those who say: Gehazi pushed the sages away from coming before him (i.e., he prevented them from learning from Elisha) as it is stated: “And the sons of the prophets said to Elisha, behold this place where we are staying before you is too cramped for us.” (2 Kings 6:1) It may be derived by inference that until now they were not numerous and the place was not cramped for them.
Perhaps, muse the rabbis, while serving as Elisha’s servant, Gehazi discouraged sages from coming and learning before him; this is why those studying with him suddenly multiplied once Gehazi was gone.
Was all this enough to take from Gehazi his portion in the World to Come? In order to explain how Gehazi could be grouped among the worst of the worst, the rabbis spun out stories of misdeeds not found explicitly within the Hebrew Bible. Yet even with these proposed explanations, it’s not still clear what makes Gehazi uniquely more sinful than many of the other misled individuals of his generation. Perhaps for this reason, the sages place some of the blame on Gehazi’s teacher, the prophet Elisha:
The sages taught: Always have the left hand drive sinners away and the right draw them near. This is unlike Elisha, who pushed away Gehazi with his two hands and caused him to lose his share in the World to Come, and unlike Yehoshua ben Perahya, who pushed away Jesus the Nazarene with his two hands.In general, the sages say, we should rebuke sinners without completely expelling people from the fold; we should find a way to hold people accountable for their transgressions while encouraging a reparative approach — teshuvah — rather than a punitive one. Gehazi and, fascinatingly, Jesus, are presented as examples of people whom this approach would have benefited. The fact that Gehazi has no share in the World to Come, the Gemara asserts, is a failure — but not entirely his. Had Elisha both reproved him and allowed for the chance of repentance, Gehazi might also have earned his share.
