Eliyahu at the Bris
Before the Arizal was born, Eliyahu HaNavi told his father what name to give him and promised to be at the bris.
A story ofRav Yitzchak Luria (the Arizal)רבי יצחק לוריא אשכנזי (האר״י הקדוש)Profile ›
It is told that Rav Shlomo Luria, a devout Jew of Yerushalayim, was sitting in the beis medrash when Eliyahu HaNavi appeared to him and said that the son who would be born should be named Yitzchak. Eliyahu asked one thing: the bris was not to take place until he himself arrived.
When the baby was born, the family made ready for the bris, but Eliyahu had not yet come. Rav Shlomo held back, and the guests waited. Then Eliyahu appeared. No one else in the room saw him. He took the child in his arms and held him through the bris as the sandek.
Afterward, Eliyahu told the father that this child would bring great light to the whole world. Rav Shlomo kept the visit to himself and told no one. Whatever others sensed at the bris, only he knew what had truly taken place.
The boy's father passed away while he was still young, and he was raised by his mother's family in Egypt. Yet those who tell this account see in it the pattern of his whole life: Eliyahu, who stood beside him at the beginning, later taught him the secrets of the Torah.
Source: Shivchei HaAri (Toldos HaAri), the opening account of his birth, as retold in Chabad.org, The Holy Ari.
Rav Shlomo received a great gift and quietly kept it to himself. Think of a moment of closeness or a bit of good news in your own life, something that moved you in davening, learning or family. This week, resist the urge to share it right away. Hold it quietly for a day and let it settle in your heart. Not everything precious needs an audience, and what is guarded often grows deeper than what is announced.