The Storm (Part 10)

Elisha first expresses a repeated cry: "My father, my father." This expresses the personal, intimate relationship that Elisha felt towards Eliyahu, like a son towards his father. In the second part of his cry of sorrow, Elisha calls Eliyahu "the chariot of Israel and its horsemen." This is meant to express Eliyahu's value for the whole Jewish nation.  Eliyahu, who has chastised his generation and at times brought suffering upon them, is the one who protected the people of his nation and by whose virtue they have enjoyed victory and success delivering them from their enemies to a greater extent than the chariot and horsemen did.