A short Insight into SHMUEL 2, Chapter 1 By Rabbi Nisson Dov Miller

(PLEASE LEARN FOR A REFUA SHELAMA FOR HARAV YOSEF SHALOM BEN CHAYA MUSHA) After the Amalekite told David that he ended the life of Shaul, David and all of those with him held their clothing and did k’ri’ah, ripping their clothes as a sign of mourning. Verse twelve then relates, “Va’yispdu va’yivku (They eulogized and wept) and fasted until evening over Shaul, Yonasan his son, over the nation of Hashem and over the house of Israel. For they had fallen by the sword.” The Netziv (Breishis 23, 2) compares the order David’s acts of mourning, lamenting then crying, over the deaths of Shaul and his sons with what the Chumash teaches us took place upon Sarah’s death. As the possuk describes, “And Avraham came lispod (to eulogize) his wife, Sarah, v’liv’kosah (to cry about her [death]).” He explains that, r”l, upon the death of a loved one the way of the world is to cry privately for a while and then to eulogize publicly. This is true when the mourner’s world has been turned topsy turvey by the death. Then the extended crying precedes the praise contained in a eulogy. However, if the mourners world has not been shattered with the death of the deceased, then the praise of the deceased through a proper eulogy is meant to elicit major crying because of an increased recognition of the loss of a special person created in G-d’s image.