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The Story of Naaman the Leper
Reading from a Torah scroll in accordance with Sephardi tradition. Photo: Sagie Maoz via Wikimedia Commons.
This week, the Torah goes into detail about what is called leprosy — but what is actually any infectious skin disease. The Priests were the equivalent of the medical class, and their role was to cure sick individuals, combining both the physical and spiritual.
This week’s Haftarah, on the other hand, deals with an event that took place in the northern Kingdom of Israel during the reign of Yehoram the pagan son of Ahab, when the prophet Elisha was the spiritual authority in Samaria. The two did not get along well.
At that time, Aram (modern day Syria) was the dominant power and its general was Naaman. He was a leper, which did not seem to have stopped him from being a successful military man. Aram regularly invaded Israel and took captives into slavery.
One such captive was an Israeli girl who served Naaman’s wife and told her mistress about this great man in Israel who could cure lepers. The King of Aram sent Naaman with a letter to the Israelite King, commanding him to cure Naaman. When the letter arrived, the Israeli king panicked, thinking this was going to be used by Aram as an excuse to invade.
When Elisha heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes in despair, he sent a message to the king: “Why have you [ripped] your clothes? Let him come to me, and he will learn that there is a prophet in Israel.” So Naaman came with his horses and chariots to Elisha’s house. Elisha sent a messenger to say to him, “Go and bathe seven times in the Jordan, and your flesh shall be restored, and you shall be pure.”
But Naaman was angry. He said, “I thought he would come out to me, and would invoke his God by name, and would wave his hand toward the spot, and cure me. Are not the rivers of Damascus better than all the waters of Israel? I could bathe in them and be pure!” And he stalked off in a rage. But his servants came forward and spoke to him. “Sir,” they said, “if the prophet told you to do something difficult, would you not do it? How much more when he has only said to you, ‘Bathe and be pure.’”
So, Naaman went down and immersed himself in the Jordan seven times, and he was cured. Returning to Elisha he said, “Now I know that there is no God in the whole world except in Israel! So please accept a gift from your servant.”
The main point of the story is that Elisha cured Naaman not through magic, but rather through faith. As Naaman said, he expected Elisha to perform some magic — just dipping in the water seemed pointless. What Elisha was doing was stressing the importance of faith and human will in matters of health. Naaman was expecting spells. Elisha wanted to distinguish between magic and faith.
You might also see this as a metaphor for how we, who live in pagan societies, can remain loyal to our religious life. The postscript of this story is that Elisha’s servant Geyhazi betrayed his master’s values. Elisha refused any gifts of gratitude (unlike too many rabbis nowadays). Still, Geyhazi had run after Neeman telling him that Elisha had changed his mind, and asked for gifts, when Geyhazi only wanted them for himself. When Elisha found out about his betrayal, Geyhazi was punished by being stricken with leprosy. Poetic justice.
Israel was idolatrous, too. There were good and bad people — just like there are now. Shabbat Shalom.
The author is a writer and rabbi, currently living in New York.
The post The Story of Naaman the Leper first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.