Behind Closed Doors
When Elisha performs his oil miracle, recorded in Melachim II 4, he instructs that the door to the room where the miracle will occur be closed. Rashi makes a comment that just begs for an explanation. He writes that the Kavod of a miracle emerges when it is performed modestly.
Rashi’s observation hardly fits with the open miracles described in Sefer Shemot and Sefer Yehoshua. These miracles are very much public and are in no way modest. What might Rashi mean by his assertion?
Individual Dignity
Perhaps Rashi’s comment refers only to miracles that are performed for the sake of an individual in distress.205As suggested by TABC alumnus Binyamin Jachter (‘17). To preserve the dignity of its beneficiary, the miracle would be performed discreetly. It is akin to the paramount value of Matan BaSeiter, giving money to a poor individual secretly to preserve their honor (Rambam Hilchot Matanot Aniyim 10:8).
Kol Demamah Dakah
One could suggest that post-Sefer Yehoshua (or certainly after the events at Har HaCarmel), Hashem no longer performs miracles in a grand style. As Hashem tells Eliyahu HaNavi in Melachim I 19, He prefers to relate to the world in a manner of subtle “Kol Demama Dakah.” If an open miracle is to be done, it is done reluctantly and not in an open manner.
It is far superior for one to find Hashem “standing behind our walls, peering through the latticework,” using the language of Shir HaShirim, than to discover Hashem through an open miracle. Hashem desires a relationship with us, and a relationship is not initiated through coercion. An open miracle is a form of coercion, as Rabbah boldly states on Shabbat 88a.206Indeed, Rashi (Shemot 34:3) comments that the second delivery of the Luchot, done in a far more modest manner, is far more successful than the first delivery. Rashi concludes by stating “Ein Lecha Yaffeh Min HaTzeni’ut,” “there is nothing more appropriate than modesty.”
Preventing Self-aggrandizement
A third explanation is that miracles are not done for the personal aggrandizement of the Navi. Shutting the door and facilitating the miracle privately is a means of demonstrating that one is doing the miracle for the sake of the beneficiary and Hashem, and not to boost one’s standing.207By contrast, on Chanukah, when we make every effort to publicize the miracle, we do so to honor Hashem and not to aggrandize ourselves. On Chanukah, we affirm that Hashem chose us as His special nation, unlike the Syrian-Greeks who sought to eliminate our stature as the Am Segulah (chosen nation).
Geichazi, in his effort to revive the son of the Ishah HaShunamit (Melachim II 4:31), fails to embrace this message. He leaves the door open, and the miracle fails. Geichazi, tragically, does not adopt the modest road and fails miserably as a result. This may constitute an expression of his overall failure. Geichazi is caught up with the celebrity status accorded to Elisha, and it leads to his mighty and tragic spiritual fall.
Conclusion
Modesty is a signature expression of Hashem. Hashem is referred to by no other than Yeshayahu as the “Keil Mistateir,” “God who conceals Himself” (Yeshayahu 45:15). No wonder it is a core Torah value. Even when making a miracle, there are manifold benefits to upholding the sacred value of modesty.