Gemara: “Let us make for him [the prophet, Elisha] a small attic” (Melachim II, 4:10). Rav and Shmuel disputed the matter. One said that there was an open attic and they closed it in. The other said that there was a great hall, and they broke it into two parts.
Ein Ayah: The ways of shleimut can be divided into the shleimut of the individual and helping complete the standing of another person. Regarding the complete tzaddik, it is unclear which to focus on. Is it better for him to focus on perfecting himself, and his influence on perfecting others will come by itself by means of people who are close to him? Or is it perhaps better to give up on some of his personal greatness in order to influence others for the good?
One who wants to spend a lot of time by himself will be happy to go up into an attic so that comers and goers in the house will not disturb him with too easy access to him. However, one who is interested in directly impacting others, by being close to them at the price of his own lower intensity, will chose to be in a great hall. Admittedly, within the hall there may need to be a partition so that he will have a place to which to retreat when he needs to concentrate on his own growth, but it will still be easier to mingle with him. Since so many need his guidance, he should be in a place that is nice enough to honor those who come to visit and so that they will be reminded of the grandeur of the man of G-d. All of this would be unnecessary if the point was a place for the prophet to work on himself, for which a small attic without luxuries and extras would be right.
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