{"id":55592,"date":"2019-05-15T16:39:43","date_gmt":"2019-05-15T13:39:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=55592"},"modified":"2022-12-07T18:49:31","modified_gmt":"2022-12-07T16:49:31","slug":"a-horrifying-tale-with-a-satisfying-conclusion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/a-horrifying-tale-with-a-satisfying-conclusion\/","title":{"rendered":"A Horrifying Tale With A Satisfying Conclusion?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The rise and fall of the bandit-prince Avimelech, told in Judges 9, seems to be a classic tale of \u201cwhat goes around comes around.\u201d But it raises a question: is what comes around really much better than what went around in the first place?<\/span><\/p>\n

Avimelech, disgracing the good name of his late father Gideon (a.k.a. Jeruba\u2019al), convinces the men of Shechem to support him as he kills all but one of his 70 brothers on one bloody chopping block and becomes warlord of the town. The surviving brother, Yotam, condemns Shechem to suffer at the hands of Avimelech, who indeed slaughters them all with great brutality.<\/span><\/p>\n

Yet it\u2019s not just the Shechemites who get what\u2019s coming to them\u2014it\u2019s Avimelech too. His murderous rampage is finally halted when he lays siege to a tower full of civilians: \u201cA woman dropped an upper millstone on Avimelech\u2019s head and cracked his skull\u201d (9:53). As a midrash points out, this is like the saying in Ecclesiastes 10:8: \u201cOne who digs a pit will fall into it\u201d\u2014Avimelech, who killed his brothers on one stone, is himself killed by a stone (Midrash Tanchuma Buber, Vayera 28:1).<\/span><\/p>\n

He\u2019s killed, in fact, by a woman, much to his embarrassment (9:54). The millstone is a domestic item associated with women, as when Moses threatens Pharaoh with the tenth plague, \u201cfrom the first-born of Pharaoh who sits on his throne to the first-born of the slave girl who is behind the millstones\u201d (Ex. 11:5). The foolish men of Shechem are finally saved by a humble woman with a woman\u2019s weapon.<\/span><\/p>\n

So it\u2019s tempting to see this horrifying tale come to a satisfying conclusion.<\/span><\/p>\n

But in rabbinic literature, the verb for cracking Avimelech\u2019s skull (<\/span>vataritz<\/span><\/em>)<\/span><\/i> lives on, as a prooftext to explain what a tool called a <\/span>meritzah<\/em> <\/span>is for. The Mishnah in Shekalim 8:2 asks: If you find an object lying on the path that leads back from a mikveh (for immersing utensils), can you assume it has been immersed and is ritually pure?<\/span><\/p>\n

The point is debated, but all agree that if the object is a <\/span>meritzah<\/span><\/em>,<\/span><\/i> it is always impure, because it is used in cemeteries. What is a <\/span>meritzah<\/span><\/em>?<\/span><\/i> Explains Maimonides: it\u2019s a tool for crushing bones. How does he know? From \u201c<\/span>vataritz<\/span><\/em>,\u201d<\/span><\/i> what the woman did to Avimelech\u2019s skull.<\/span><\/p>\n

The suggestion is that a tool associated with death can never lose its taint of impurity. Even in necessary self-defense, even against a murderous villain: the victory can never be pure, the celebration can never be joyous.<\/span><\/p>\n

It would seem that \u201cwhat goes around, comes around\u201d is not a circle, but a cycle; not a triumph, but a trap.<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":55593,"id":55593,"title":"jud9-fist","filename":"jud9-fist.png","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud9-fist.png","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/a-horrifying-tale-with-a-satisfying-conclusion\/jud9-fist\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"jud9-fist","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":55592,"date":"2019-05-15 13:39:30","modified":"2019-05-15 13:39:41","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/png","type":"image","subtype":"png","icon":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":1280,"height":908,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud9-fist-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud9-fist-300x213.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":213,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud9-fist-768x545.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":545,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud9-fist-1024x726.png","large-width":1024,"large-height":726,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud9-fist.png","1536x1536-width":1280,"1536x1536-height":908,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud9-fist.png","2048x2048-width":1280,"2048x2048-height":908,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud9-fist-1200x851.png","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":851,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud9-fist-592x420.png","home_baner-width":592,"home_baner-height":420}},"embedded_video":"","video_duration":"","show_fb_comments":true,"credit_media":""},"tile":{"top_caption":"","main_caption":"A Horrifying Tale With A Satisfying Conclusion?","main_caption_size":"1","sub_caption":"What goes around comes around - 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