The act of rending by Elisha is an outward manifestation of his sense that something inside has been rent; part of his own personality has been lost. A rending that is never sewn together expresses mourning that has an element of permanence to it. The image of Eliyahu will continue to accompany Elisha, his heir and successor, throughout his prophetic career. In all of his future actions, he will have Eliyahu in mind, and all of his aspiration will be to follow in the footsteps of his master and to realize his legacy, revealed to him as he witnessed him being carried up in a storm to heaven.

Courtesy of the Virtual Beit Midrash, Yeshivat Har Etzion