The Eternal Curse of Eli the Kohen Gadol of Shiloh

Eli, the Kohen Gadol who accuses Channah of drunkenness in the sanctuary and, after realizing his mistake, blesses her – is later told in two different, lengthy accounts that he and his line will be cursed. Why is Eli punished so severely by God – with a curse that seems unprecedented?

We examine the difficulties that come up in the narrative about Eli and, with assistance from a salient reference in the Book of Yirmiyahu, discover that Eli’s erroneous philosophy is the belief in an immoral, capricious god whose sole desire is to be satiated with sacrificial meat. Unlike Shmuel and Channah, who see sacrifices as symbolic and to be accompanied by tefilla and teshuva, Eli and his sons believe that sacrifices are real acts and are given to appease God.

 The Tanakh’s emphasis on the curse sends a message telling us how worship of God is meant to be carried out; that God does want us to carry out rituals, but ritual is meant to be imbibed with devotion, kedusha and morality.