{"id":56060,"date":"2018-07-09T17:42:52","date_gmt":"2018-07-09T14:42:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wall\/wall-1046\/"},"modified":"2022-12-23T10:51:16","modified_gmt":"2022-12-23T08:51:16","slug":"wall-1046","status":"publish","type":"wall","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wall\/wall-1046\/","title":{"rendered":"weekend-from-20221218-to-20221224"},"parent":0,"template":"","acf":{"type":"weekend","wall_id":"1046","date_from":"20221218","date_to":"20221224","book":"Judges","books_group":"Prophets","posts":[{"order":1,"id":"42542","color":"#effaea","size":"2","name":"A Real Chanukah Bush! ","post_title":"A Real Hanukkah Bush!","slug":"a-real-chanukah-bush","old_id":"42542","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":34235,"post_title":"Marc Gitler","slug":"marc-gitler","old_id":"34235","first_name":"Marc","last_name":"Gitler","description":"Rabbi Marc Gitler, a recipient of the Wexner Fellowship, was ordained at Yeshivat Chovevei Torah, and earned an MPA from NYU . The founder of Fast for Feast, he lives in Denver, Colorado with his wife Sarah and their four children. He used to work for 929 North America.\r\n","short_description":"Rabbi Marc Gitler, founder of Fast for Feast, lives in Denver, Colorado with his wife Sarah and their four children. ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":34236,"alt":"","title":"Marc Gitler","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Gitler.jpg","width":407,"height":407,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Gitler-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Gitler-300x300.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Gitler.jpg","medium_large-width":407,"medium_large-height":407,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Gitler.jpg","large-width":407,"large-height":407,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Gitler.jpg","1536x1536-width":407,"1536x1536-height":407,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Gitler.jpg","2048x2048-width":407,"2048x2048-height":407,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Gitler.jpg","post_full_size-width":407,"post_full_size-height":407,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Gitler.jpg","home_baner-width":407,"home_baner-height":407}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"75","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Salvia palaestina - the Menorah plant - in Jewish art, worship and history","post_main_content_content":"

Some two thousand years ago, during the era of the Hasmoneans, the menorah, became a prominent symbol of the eternity Jewish people and its connection to the land of Israel. \u00a0The staying power of the symbol is evidenced by the menorah outside the Knesset, with its detailed bronze reliefs depicting important Jewish events and personalities ranging from the Biblical period through the founding of the state of Israel. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The menorah\u2019s description in the Torah is also detailed, but surprisingly in its botanical design. All six of the outer <\/span>branches<\/span> were designed with \u201cthree cups shaped like <\/span>almond-blossoms<\/span>, each with <\/span>knobs <\/span>and <\/span>petals<\/span>.\u201d The middle branch contained four almond-blossoms also with the knobs and petals.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Commentaries throughout the ages have attempted to draw descriptions of the Menorah, were the branches curved, straight or bent in the middle? Where exactly were the calyxes? The only clue, perhaps, the relief on the arch of Titus in Rome depicting the Romans carrying the menorah in the period following the destruction of the Second Temple.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

In the early 20<\/span>th<\/span> century botanists Ephraim and Hannah Hareuveni emigrated from Russia to Israel. They believed that the plants in the Torah could be found growing in Israel, and they began collecting and classifying Biblical plants. In their searches they noticed a resemblance between the Torah\u2019s description of the Menorah (branches, calyxes, petals, and cups) and an oily plant that grows in Israel called the salvia palaestina.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Their son Nogah Hareuveni writes that when the salvia is pressed it looks just like the Menorah, with three branches emerging from the central branch, and the knobs growing directly from the stem and branches.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Following the description of the menorah Moses is told \u201cnote well and follow the patterns that you see on the mountain.\u201d The Talmud in tractate Menachot writes that Moses didn\u2019t understand the design of the Menorah, so God showed him a picture of it in fire. If the menorah\u2019s design reflects a plant that is endemic to Israel, then Moses would have never seen one, and found its design incomprehensible.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

After reading of Reuveni\u2019s discovery I am also no longer perplexed by the Menorah\u2019s design, but I am searching for a pressed salvia palaestina to display as my \u201cHanukkah bush\u201d right next to my menorah.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

 <\/p>\r\n

Cover photo by Prof Avinoam Denin:<\/span> http:\/\/flora.org.il\/en\/books\/plant-stories-2\/chapter-n\/useful_plants_n1<\/span><\/a><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":42543,"alt":"","title":"50511-268x400","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/50511-268x400.jpeg","width":268,"height":400,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/50511-268x400-150x150.jpeg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/50511-268x400-201x300.jpeg","medium-width":201,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/50511-268x400.jpeg","medium_large-width":268,"medium_large-height":400,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/50511-268x400.jpeg","large-width":268,"large-height":400,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/50511-268x400.jpeg","1536x1536-width":268,"1536x1536-height":400,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/50511-268x400.jpeg","2048x2048-width":268,"2048x2048-height":400,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/50511-268x400.jpeg","post_full_size-width":268,"post_full_size-height":400,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/50511-268x400.jpeg","home_baner-width":268,"home_baner-height":400}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"A Real Hanukkah Bush!","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Salvia palaestina - the Menorah plant - in Jewish art, worship and history","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":42543,"alt":"","title":"50511-268x400","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/50511-268x400.jpeg","width":268,"height":400,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/50511-268x400-150x150.jpeg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/50511-268x400-201x300.jpeg","medium-width":201,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/50511-268x400.jpeg","medium_large-width":268,"medium_large-height":400,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/50511-268x400.jpeg","large-width":268,"large-height":400,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/50511-268x400.jpeg","1536x1536-width":268,"1536x1536-height":400,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/50511-268x400.jpeg","2048x2048-width":268,"2048x2048-height":400,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/50511-268x400.jpeg","post_full_size-width":268,"post_full_size-height":400,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/50511-268x400.jpeg","home_baner-width":268,"home_baner-height":400}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"Cover photo by Prof Avinoam Denin: http:\/\/flora.org.il\/en\/books\/plant-stories-2\/chapter-n\/useful_plants_n1\/","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","old_create_date":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","links":false,"send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Exodus","chapter":"25","chapter_main_number":"75","date":"20251211","wall_id":"75"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"360","name":"Nature\/Environment","old_id":"760"},{"term_id":"672","name":"Menorah","old_id":"1072"}]},{"order":2,"id":"56131","color":"#f8ebe3","size":"1","name":"Samson: A Life Squandered ","post_title":"Samson: A Life Squandered","slug":"samson-a-life-squandered","old_id":"56131","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":38322,"post_title":"James A. 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Diamond holds the Joseph and Wolf Lebovic Chair of Jewish Studies at the University of Waterloo.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":38323,"alt":"","title":"James Diamond","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/James-Diamond-e1534858914913.jpg","width":1186,"height":1386,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/James-Diamond-e1534858914913-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/James-Diamond-e1534858914913-257x300.jpg","medium-width":257,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/James-Diamond-e1534858914913-768x898.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":898,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/James-Diamond-e1534858914913-876x1024.jpg","large-width":876,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/James-Diamond-e1534858914913.jpg","1536x1536-width":1186,"1536x1536-height":1386,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/James-Diamond-e1534858914913.jpg","2048x2048-width":1186,"2048x2048-height":1386,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/James-Diamond-e1534858914913-1027x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":1027,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/James-Diamond-e1534858914913-359x420.jpg","home_baner-width":359,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"226","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"His metaphorical blindness to the common good leads to real blindness and a bitter end","post_main_content_content":"

Throughout Samson\u2019s repeated surges of extraordinary strength, he remains oblivious to what he is capable of achieving beyond his own self-interest. Politically his Israelite compatriots are subservient to foreign rule. They desperately need \u00a0a leader who will galvanize them to revolt. Samson of course would be the logical candidate yet what motivates every one of his explosive eruptions of brute force are personal vendettas. There is also a striking moment of lost opportunity on a national scale that exposes a communal consciousness just as politically oblivious as Samson\u2019s.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The Philistines prepare to launch a military assault at Lehi against the Israelite tribes, issuing an ultimatum for the surrender of Samson (15:9-10). The Israelites capitulate immediately, confronting Samson with an abject acceptance of enemy sovereignty, \u201cDon\u2019t you know that the Philistines rule over us? Why have you done this to us?\u201d (11) The Bible reports that <\/span>three thousand Judean men<\/span><\/em> voice this j<\/em><\/span>\u2019accuse<\/span><\/em> against Samson. In other words, there on the front facing the Philistines is a formidable force who fail to see the invincible weapon standing before them in the person of Samson. He has proven himself capable of killing scores of enemy soldiers in one fell swoop as he in fact goes on to do. Rather than meek submission to the enemy demands, they could have turned to Samson for leadership to overthrow the Philistines.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Samson, too, failed to see the \u2018army\u2019 he could have led to national liberation staring him in the face. Instead he responds once again with the far pettier goals of revenge that consume him. His concern is solely for what was done to <\/span>him<\/span><\/i>, \u201cas they have done to me so I did to them.\u201d (11) What is particularly insidious about Samson\u2019s indifference to his people\u2019s plight is that his response precisely echoes the stated Philistine aim for Samson\u2019s capture, \u201cwe have come to take Samson prisoner and <\/span>to do to him as he has done to us<\/span><\/em>.\u201d (10) The literary assonance of the two pronouncements is telling. \u00a0Consistent with his initial abandonment of his own family and people to marry and live in the very heart of the enemy\u2019s territory, Samson has assimilated their ideology as well!<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Samson continually reacts against personal harm without any concern for the greater good. Even with his dying breath, he expresses his yearning for the strength to bring down the pagan temple as \u201c<\/span>revenge<\/span><\/em> against the Philistines, <\/span>if only for one of my two eyes<\/span><\/em>.\u201d (16:28) The record of <\/span>three thousand men and women<\/span><\/em> Philistines savoring Samson\u2019s tortuous humiliation conjures the opportunity he missed when faced with the possibilities raised by a gathering of three thousand of his own people.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Samson is memorialized by the dismal epitaph \u201cthose who were killed by him when he died outnumbered those he killed when he lived.\u201d (16:30) Unbridled fury, driven by no greater concerns than the self, lacks the focus and aim necessary to achieve any lasting strategic outcomes. It culminates in the purposeless statistics of random death.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Continuing to parrot the Philistine mantra of vengeance, Samson\u2019s final words \u201cLet me die with the Philistines,\u201d (30) resonate more with his affinity for the Philistine corrupt culture than what many interpret as some noble sentiment of self-sacrifice. Samson\u2019s metaphorical blindness to his potential for the betterment of his people unfortunately carries through to his literal blindness at his end.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Image: Lovis Corinth, The Blinded Samson<\/em>, 1912 \/ Google Art Project<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":56132,"alt":"","title":"jud15-blind 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A Life Squandered","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"His metaphorical blindness to the common good leads to real blindness and a bitter end","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":56132,"alt":"","title":"jud15-blind 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Flawed Leader ","post_title":"A Flawed Leader","slug":"a-flawed-leader","old_id":"56141","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":33992,"post_title":"Bradley Shavit Artson","slug":"rabbi-dr-bradley-shavit-artson","old_id":"33992","first_name":"Bradley Shavit ","last_name":"Artson","description":"Rabbi Dr Bradley Shavit Artson holds the Abner and Roslyn Goldstine Dean's Chair of the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies and is Vice President of American Jewish University in Los Angeles, and is professor of philosophy there. Artson is married to Elana Shavit Artson, and they are the parents of twins, Shira and Jacob.\r\n","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"short_description":"Rabbi Dr Bradley Shavit Artson is the Dean of the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies and is Vice President of American Jewish University in Los Angeles.","link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":33993,"alt":"","title":"Rabbi Dr Bradley Shavit Artson","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Rabbi-Dr-Bradley-Shavit-Artson-e1532029361140.png","width":204,"height":199,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Rabbi-Dr-Bradley-Shavit-Artson-e1532029361140-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Rabbi-Dr-Bradley-Shavit-Artson-256x300.png","medium-width":256,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Rabbi-Dr-Bradley-Shavit-Artson-e1532029361140.png","medium_large-width":204,"medium_large-height":199,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Rabbi-Dr-Bradley-Shavit-Artson-e1532029361140.png","large-width":204,"large-height":199,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Rabbi-Dr-Bradley-Shavit-Artson-e1532029361140.png","1536x1536-width":204,"1536x1536-height":199,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Rabbi-Dr-Bradley-Shavit-Artson-e1532029361140.png","2048x2048-width":204,"2048x2048-height":199,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Rabbi-Dr-Bradley-Shavit-Artson-e1532029361140.png","post_full_size-width":204,"post_full_size-height":199,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Rabbi-Dr-Bradley-Shavit-Artson-e1532029361140.png","home_baner-width":204,"home_baner-height":199}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"226","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Violent, self-centered, a mess of urges and emotions: what can we learn from Samson?","post_main_content_content":"

One of the characteristics of the Hebrew Bible, easy to take for granted to those familiar with its cast of characters, is the presentation of one flawed leader after another. So many of the world\u2019s wisdom traditions present their heroes as perfect, indeed as divine. But the Tanakh goes out of its way to present the shortcomings, errors, deficits, and deficiencies of almost every biblical leader. The Rock from which we come may be perfect, but like all of God\u2019s creations, we humans are not.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

And in that crew of flawed figures, one leader stands out as particularly deficient: the judge Samson. A brute of a man, he makes his way by raw force, imposed on his friends and loved ones, wreaking great damage to those around him and most intensely on his enemies. Yet, somehow, this flawed figure is the regular recipient of divine bounty and favor. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

In Chapter 15, that brutish behavior is manifest in his using 300 wild foxes to burn the fields of the Philistines, and at chapter\u2019s end, using the jawbone of an ass to decimate his Philistine attackers. So egotistical is he that his song of thanksgiving afterward takes all the credit for himself and doesn\u2019t even mention God at all: \u201cWith the jaw of an ass, mass upon mass! With the jaw of an ass I have slain a thousand men.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Violent, self-centered, a mess of urges and emotions and yearning. That\u2019s Samson.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

And yet: when a group of men from the tribe of Judah come to tell him that due to his actions they are being terrorized by the ruling Philistines, he goes with them willingly, only asking them to promise that they won\u2019t themselves attack him. Apparently, even this brutish Samson retains loyalty to his own people: he won\u2019t fight his fellow Israelites.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

In an age of tribal resurgence, of groupthink and nationalist assertions of \u201cmy side right or wrong,\u201d and in an age of smothering internationalism that expects people to erase their particularism in favor of some false universalism, what are we to make of a man who holds on to his love of his own people, yet also asserts his rather startling idiosyncrasies and his need to live his own life as he sees fit?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Temples may tumble as a result of his choices, but Samson\u2019s complicated life complicates any simple answers or neat solutions. Life just doesn\u2019t work that way.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Image: Guido Reni, Sansone Victorious<\/em> (1611-1612), Bologna, National Art Gallery.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":56142,"alt":"","title":"jud15-the-victorious-samson","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud15-the-victorious-samson.jpg","width":2024,"height":2522,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud15-the-victorious-samson-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud15-the-victorious-samson-241x300.jpg","medium-width":241,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud15-the-victorious-samson-768x957.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":957,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud15-the-victorious-samson-822x1024.jpg","large-width":822,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud15-the-victorious-samson.jpg","1536x1536-width":1233,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud15-the-victorious-samson.jpg","2048x2048-width":1644,"2048x2048-height":2048,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud15-the-victorious-samson-963x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":963,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud15-the-victorious-samson-337x420.jpg","home_baner-width":337,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"A Flawed Leader","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Violent, self-centered, a mess of urges and emotions: what can we learn from Samson?","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":56142,"alt":"","title":"jud15-the-victorious-samson","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud15-the-victorious-samson.jpg","width":2024,"height":2522,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud15-the-victorious-samson-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud15-the-victorious-samson-241x300.jpg","medium-width":241,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud15-the-victorious-samson-768x957.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":957,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud15-the-victorious-samson-822x1024.jpg","large-width":822,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud15-the-victorious-samson.jpg","1536x1536-width":1233,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud15-the-victorious-samson.jpg","2048x2048-width":1644,"2048x2048-height":2048,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud15-the-victorious-samson-963x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":963,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud15-the-victorious-samson-337x420.jpg","home_baner-width":337,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"tile_link_for_pay":"0","send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"Judges","chapter":"15","chapter_main_number":"226","date":"20260712","wall_id":"226"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"388","name":"Virtue","old_id":"788"},{"term_id":"770","name":"Perfection","old_id":"1170"},{"term_id":"878","name":"Samson;","old_id":"1278"}]},{"order":4,"id":"56219","color":"#f6f5de","size":"1","name":"Intimacy and Deception In Relationships ","post_title":"Intimacy And Deception In Relationships","slug":"intimacy-and-deception-in-relationships","old_id":"56219","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":55161,"post_title":"Aderet Fishbane","slug":"aderet-fishbane","old_id":"55161","first_name":"Aderet ","last_name":"Fishbane ","description":"Aderet Fishbane is a sophomore at SAR High School in Riverdale, NY. She is a staff writer for the school\u2019s newspaper and is particularly interested in studying the psychological aspects of Tanakh profiles and stories, which she does often in her Tanakh class.","short_description":"Aderet Fishbane is a sophomore at SAR High School in Riverdale, NY.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":55162,"alt":"","title":"Aderet Fishbane","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Aderet-Fishbane.jpg","width":750,"height":1334,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Aderet-Fishbane-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Aderet-Fishbane-169x300.jpg","medium-width":169,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Aderet-Fishbane-576x1024.jpg","medium_large-width":576,"medium_large-height":1024,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Aderet-Fishbane-576x1024.jpg","large-width":576,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Aderet-Fishbane.jpg","1536x1536-width":750,"1536x1536-height":1334,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Aderet-Fishbane.jpg","2048x2048-width":750,"2048x2048-height":1334,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Aderet-Fishbane-675x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":675,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Aderet-Fishbane-236x420.jpg","home_baner-width":236,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"227","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Which is the more human quality: hiding our vulnerabilities, or hiding from our vulnerabilities?","post_main_content_content":"

The human aversion to vulnerability is undeniable. We deal with it daily, in every conversation and commitment and handshake. It is said that we fear the other, but we fear ourselves just as much, if not more.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The story of Samson and Delilah plays out through seemingly simple characters in a deeply complex relationship, filled with deceit and unresolved vulnerability.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Samson, a supernaturally powerful man, falls totally in love with Delilah.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Their relationship is, from the get-go, emotionally charged. Samson\u2019s love goes unquestioned, but Delilah never verbalizes any feelings for him, even as their narrative progresses. It\u2019s true that she only enters a relationship with the man who loves her so that she can manipulate him, but what\u2019s interesting here is that, throughout the course of their entire relationship, she never uses her own emotional investments in him as a manipulative tool. She instead chooses to use his feelings for her as a way to manipulate him, completely circumnavigating any need for her to become emotionally dependent.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Samson never shies away from expressing his love for Delilah, but as the story progresses, we see that he is capable of hiding his own vulnerabilities from her. He does not hesitate to lie to her about his weaknesses, even when he does not know that she\u2019s conspiring against him. His immediate responses to her intimate questions are lies. In this narrative, Samson is incapable of giving of himself beyond a certain point. He sees his insecurities as something to be hidden away, even from the one he loves.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Delilah, too, is incapable of making herself vulnerable. The difference between them is that they have divergent understandings of vulnerability. Delilah believes that emotional intimacy - pronunciations of love, emotional dependency, etc - make a person vulnerable, and so she stays far away from any intimacy. She protects herself. Samson believes that it\u2019s the step beyond emotional attachment that constitutes real vulnerability. He feels unsafe only when his own insecurities are brought to light, not when he\u2019s being intimate with another person.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Their relationship invites the question: which is the more human quality - hiding our vulnerabilities, or hiding from our vulnerabilities?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

When we approach Samson and Delilah as embodiments of the human condition, and not just players in a story about heroes and villains, we come to understand an entirely new side of emotional intimacy. Samson and Delilah are an honest and open reflection on human connection through fear of vulnerability. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

Through their story, we come to see that the most human intimate connection is one that exists in spite of all these insecurities. To live a life unafraid of vulnerability, where one never hid from or hid away those vulnerabilities, would be living an inhuman life. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

Image by: Jos\u00e9 Echenagusia Errazquin: Samson and Delilah<\/em>, 1887 \/ 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Student Corner","tile_main_caption":"Intimacy And Deception In Relationships","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Which is the more human quality: hiding our vulnerabilities, or hiding from our vulnerabilities?","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":56204,"alt":"","title":"jud16-Jos\u00e9_Echenagus\u00eda_-_Samson_and_Delilah","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud16-Jos\u00e9_Echenagus\u00eda_-_Samson_and_Delilah.jpg","width":663,"height":599,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud16-Jos\u00e9_Echenagus\u00eda_-_Samson_and_Delilah-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud16-Jos\u00e9_Echenagus\u00eda_-_Samson_and_Delilah-300x271.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":271,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud16-Jos\u00e9_Echenagus\u00eda_-_Samson_and_Delilah.jpg","medium_large-width":663,"medium_large-height":599,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud16-Jos\u00e9_Echenagus\u00eda_-_Samson_and_Delilah.jpg","large-width":663,"large-height":599,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud16-Jos\u00e9_Echenagus\u00eda_-_Samson_and_Delilah.jpg","1536x1536-width":663,"1536x1536-height":599,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud16-Jos\u00e9_Echenagus\u00eda_-_Samson_and_Delilah.jpg","2048x2048-width":663,"2048x2048-height":599,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud16-Jos\u00e9_Echenagus\u00eda_-_Samson_and_Delilah.jpg","post_full_size-width":663,"post_full_size-height":599,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud16-Jos\u00e9_Echenagus\u00eda_-_Samson_and_Delilah-465x420.jpg","home_baner-width":465,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"tile_link_for_pay":"0","send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"Judges","chapter":"16","chapter_main_number":"227","date":"20260713","wall_id":"227"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"381","name":"love","old_id":"781"},{"term_id":"468","name":"Relationships","old_id":"868"},{"term_id":"878","name":"Samson;","old_id":"1278"}]},{"order":5,"id":"56226","color":"#efefef","size":"1","name":"The True Source of Strength ","post_title":"The True Source Of Strength","slug":"the-true-source-of-strength","old_id":"56226","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":49419,"post_title":"Josh Weiner","slug":"josh-weiner","old_id":"49419","first_name":"Josh ","last_name":"Weiner ","description":"Rabbi Josh Weiner has worked as a social worker, tour guide and kindergarten teacher. He is currently the assistant rabbi at the Adath Shalom community in Paris, teaches halacha at the Zacharias Frankel college, a new conservative rabbinical seminary in Berlin, and supports entrepreneurial Jewish education in both cities. \r\n\r\n","short_description":"Rabbi Josh Weiner is currently the assistant rabbi at the Adath Shalom community in Paris and teaches halacha at the Zacharias Frankel college in Berlin.\r\n","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":49420,"alt":"","title":"josh weinder","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/josh-weinder-e1550144676287.jpg","width":360,"height":448,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/josh-weinder-e1550144676287-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/josh-weinder-e1550144676287-241x300.jpg","medium-width":241,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/josh-weinder-768x768.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":768,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/josh-weinder-e1550144676287.jpg","large-width":360,"large-height":448,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/josh-weinder-e1550144676287.jpg","1536x1536-width":360,"1536x1536-height":448,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/josh-weinder-e1550144676287.jpg","2048x2048-width":360,"2048x2048-height":448,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/josh-weinder-e1550144676287.jpg","post_full_size-width":360,"post_full_size-height":448,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/josh-weinder-e1550144676287-338x420.jpg","home_baner-width":338,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"227","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"It turns out that divine strength wasn't a function of long hair or secret magical practices","post_main_content_content":"

Many people have a hard time with the stories of Samson, and there is something beautiful in that. If this were any other book - well, first of all, we wouldn't spend three years painstakingly reading a chapter a day! - but we would also let the characters simply be, and not get so bothered by the implications of their lifestyle for us. But the Tanach is different. Speaking for myself now, I'm committed to making this book relevant to my life, seeing these words as guides. So what to do with this manic, violent superhero Samson?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

This chapter consists of two stories. The first is small, three verses, and is funny! We can picture Samson waking at night, leaving the nameless prostitute and carrying the very gates of the city, all the way from Gaza to Hebron.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The main story of the chapter bounces off this first short one. This time, the woman has a name, Delilah, and this time, he \"loves\" her. Her three attempts to trick him set up a strong rhythm that hints at the inevitable end. When he tells her that his strength lies in his Nazirite lifestyle, the game is over. Samson is shaved, overcome, bound, and tortured.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The first story on its own suggests a fundamentalist religious maniac, drunk - not with wine, but with his seeming invincibility. There seems to be no responsibility that goes along with keeping his one 'mitzva', the laws of the Nazirite. We've all met people who treat religion in this way.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The twist, where I draw inspiration from, is in his final prayer at the end of the chapter. When Samson opens his heart to God, his strength returns. It turns out that divine strength wasn't a function of long hair or secret magical practices, but a gift that could be given at any point. There might be an important lesson here about religious life in general. Taken as empty practices for our own self-improvement, to make us strong, the laws of the Torah often turn rotten. But these same laws also have the potential for becoming an important force in the world, when they remain as examples or pathways to a relationship with God, not as an end in themselves.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Image by Gordon Johnson from Pixabay<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":56227,"alt":"","title":"jud16-strength","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud16-strength.png","width":954,"height":1280,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud16-strength-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud16-strength-224x300.png","medium-width":224,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud16-strength-763x1024.png","medium_large-width":763,"medium_large-height":1024,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud16-strength-763x1024.png","large-width":763,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud16-strength.png","1536x1536-width":954,"1536x1536-height":1280,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud16-strength.png","2048x2048-width":954,"2048x2048-height":1280,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud16-strength-894x1200.png","post_full_size-width":894,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud16-strength-313x420.png","home_baner-width":313,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"The True Source Of Strength","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"It turns out that divine strength wasn't a function of long hair or secret magical practices","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":56227,"alt":"","title":"jud16-strength","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud16-strength.png","width":954,"height":1280,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud16-strength-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud16-strength-224x300.png","medium-width":224,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud16-strength-763x1024.png","medium_large-width":763,"medium_large-height":1024,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud16-strength-763x1024.png","large-width":763,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud16-strength.png","1536x1536-width":954,"1536x1536-height":1280,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud16-strength.png","2048x2048-width":954,"2048x2048-height":1280,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud16-strength-894x1200.png","post_full_size-width":894,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud16-strength-313x420.png","home_baner-width":313,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"tile_link_for_pay":"0","send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"Judges","chapter":"16","chapter_main_number":"227","date":"20260713","wall_id":"227"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"437","name":"Prayer","old_id":"837"},{"term_id":"475","name":"Humor","old_id":"875"},{"term_id":"878","name":"Samson;","old_id":"1278"}]},{"order":6,"id":"56271","color":"#f2e9df","size":"1","name":"Lawless Times ","post_title":"Lawless Times","slug":"lawless-times","old_id":"56271","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":34243,"post_title":"Moshe Sokolow","slug":"moshe-sokolow","old_id":"34243","first_name":"Moshe","last_name":"Sokolow","description":"Dr. Moshe Sokolow is Associate Dean of the Azrieli Graduate School of Jewish Education and Administration, Yeshiva University, and teaches a weekly class in parashat hashavu`a at Lincoln Square Synagogue. He is the author of TANAKH: An Owner\u2019s Manual (Jerusalem: Urim\/Ktav, 2015).\r\n\r\n","short_description":"Dr. Moshe Sokolow is Associate Dean of the Azrieli Graduate School of Jewish Education and Administration, Yeshiva University","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":34244,"alt":"","title":"sokolow","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/sokolow.jpg","width":302,"height":300,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/sokolow-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/sokolow-300x298.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":298,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/sokolow.jpg","medium_large-width":302,"medium_large-height":300,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/sokolow.jpg","large-width":302,"large-height":300,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/sokolow.jpg","1536x1536-width":302,"1536x1536-height":300,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/sokolow.jpg","2048x2048-width":302,"2048x2048-height":300,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/sokolow.jpg","post_full_size-width":302,"post_full_size-height":300,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/sokolow.jpg","home_baner-width":302,"home_baner-height":300}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"228","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Chronological and real anarchy, with a twist of surprising syncretism","post_main_content_content":"

Our chapter raises a most grievous issue: idolatry. Micah, or Michayhu, was a man from the Ephraim hill country (v.1) about whom we know nothing save that his wealthy mother gave 200 silver pieces that she had dedicated to God to a silversmith to fashion a graven image and a molten image (<\/span>pesel u-masekha<\/span><\/em>, 3-4). Micah set up a private sanctuary, fashioned priestly vestments (ephod<\/em>) and paraphernalia (terafim<\/em>), appointed his son as priest (5), and later hired a professional holy-man, a Levite, to augment his clergy (12), creating a kind of sacral oxymoron: a Levi-Kohen (13).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

At this juncture, there are several things we need to recall. First, Ephraim has played an outsized role thus far in the book. Ehud\u2019s posse came from Ephraim (chapter 3), Deborah lived in the Ephraim hill country (chapter 4) as did the later judge Tola ben Puah (10), Gideon\u2019s army came from Ephraim (7-8), and Jephthah\u2019s failure to use Ephraimite soldiers led to a civil war (12). It will also help to recall that we have encountered something similar earlier in Judges apropos Gideon. In chapter eight, we read that Gideon instructed his followers to turn over the golden earrings they had taken as spoils (24) and he fashioned from them a \u201cgolden <\/span>ephod<\/span><\/em>\u201d (apron?), \u201cand all Israel went astray after it, and it became an obstacle to Gideon and his family\u201d (27).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

How could Micah, the Levite, or anyone else involved in our chapter reconcile a private sanctuary, priestly vestments, etc., with dedication to God? Was there not an obvious\u2014and odious\u2014clash with the Tabernacle at Shiloh? The answer seems to arise out of verse 6 (which repeats itself in 18:1 and 21:25, the closing verse of the book): \u201cIn those days there was no king in Israel; every man did that which was right in his own eyes.\u201d According to rabbinic chronology, the events reported in the final chapters of the Book of Judges actually transpired at the very beginning of that era, preceding those of Ehud, Deborah, Gideon, etc. The absence of authority\u2014political or religious\u2014allowed for what scholars call \u201csyncretism,\u201d the specious combination of genuine religious devotion and superstitious practice. As to the chronological anarchy, we shall have more to say about it in the next chapter.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":56273,"alt":"","title":"jud17-lawlessness","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud17-lawlessness.png","width":503,"height":205,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud17-lawlessness-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud17-lawlessness-300x122.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":122,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud17-lawlessness.png","medium_large-width":503,"medium_large-height":205,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud17-lawlessness.png","large-width":503,"large-height":205,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud17-lawlessness.png","1536x1536-width":503,"1536x1536-height":205,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud17-lawlessness.png","2048x2048-width":503,"2048x2048-height":205,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud17-lawlessness.png","post_full_size-width":503,"post_full_size-height":205,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud17-lawlessness.png","home_baner-width":503,"home_baner-height":205}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"Lawless Times","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Chronological and real anarchy, with a twist of surprising syncretism","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":56273,"alt":"","title":"jud17-lawlessness","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud17-lawlessness.png","width":503,"height":205,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud17-lawlessness-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud17-lawlessness-300x122.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":122,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud17-lawlessness.png","medium_large-width":503,"medium_large-height":205,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud17-lawlessness.png","large-width":503,"large-height":205,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud17-lawlessness.png","1536x1536-width":503,"1536x1536-height":205,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud17-lawlessness.png","2048x2048-width":503,"2048x2048-height":205,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud17-lawlessness.png","post_full_size-width":503,"post_full_size-height":205,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud17-lawlessness.png","home_baner-width":503,"home_baner-height":205}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"tile_link_for_pay":"0","send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"Judges","chapter":"17","chapter_main_number":"228","date":"20260714","wall_id":"228"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"429","name":"Idolatry","old_id":"829"}]},{"order":7,"id":"56324","color":"#f6edf6","size":"1","name":"Transgression In Disguise ","post_title":"Transgression In Disguise","slug":"transgression-in-disguise","old_id":"56324","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":34245,"post_title":"Rachel Sharansky Danziger","slug":"rachel-sharansky-danziger","old_id":"34245","first_name":"Rachel Sharansky","last_name":"Danziger","description":"Rachel Sharansky Danziger is a Jerusalem-born writer and speaker who blogs about Judaism, parenting, and life in Israel. She currently lives in Boston, where she teaches about storytelling in the bible and the subversive depths of Hebrew words.\r\n","short_description":"Rachel Sharansky Danziger is a Jerusalem-born Boston-based writer and speaker about Judaism, parenting, and life in Israel. ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":34246,"alt":"","title":"RSDanziger","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/RSDanziger.jpg","width":1171,"height":1769,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/RSDanziger-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/RSDanziger-199x300.jpg","medium-width":199,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/RSDanziger-678x1024.jpg","medium_large-width":678,"medium_large-height":1024,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/RSDanziger-678x1024.jpg","large-width":678,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/RSDanziger.jpg","1536x1536-width":1017,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/RSDanziger.jpg","2048x2048-width":1171,"2048x2048-height":1769,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/RSDanziger-794x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":794,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/RSDanziger-278x420.jpg","home_baner-width":278,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"229","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Unprovoked violence, theft, and idolatry belie the pious veneer","post_main_content_content":"

Stories are, by their nature, deceptive. Without pushing us to form the wrong expectations, they can\u2019t surprise, amaze, or devastate us by upending them. They can\u2019t generate wonder, angst or suspense. They can\u2019t, in short, be stories.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Sometimes stories lie by making us suspect the wrong character or expect the wrong outcome. Sometimes they lie by making us share a character\u2019s narrow perspective. And sometimes, like in Judges 18, they present negative developments in what appears, for a time, to be a positive light.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

At first glance, the Danite enterprise in Judges 18 is a tikkun of past wrongs. The troubles of the Israelites in Judges started when they failed to complete the conquest of their lands. \u201cWhich of us shall be the first to go up (ya\u2019aleh) against the Canaanites and attack them,\u201d they asked in Judges 1:1, but then failed to follow through with their plans. The Danites seem to correct this tragic error: when the Danite scouts encourage their brethren to \u201cgo up (na\u2019aleh) at once and attack them,\u201d they use the same Hebrew root (ayin lamed he \u2013 to go up) that preceded the failure of their ancestors. But this time around, their tribe acts on these words.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

In fact, the Danite enterprise seems to correct an even older error: the Israelite response to Moshe\u2019s scouts in the desert. Back when those scouts discouraged the people from going to Canaan, Caleb used the root \u2018a.l.h to counter their advice: \u201cLet us by all means go up (\u2018aloh na\u2019aleh), and we shall gain possession of it, for we shall surely overcome it.\u201d (Numbers 13:30) In Judges 18 all the scouts seem to take Caleb\u2019s position, and unlike in the desert, their tribe indeed \u2018goes up\u2019.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

But this promising turn of events is a transgression in disguise. The Danites conquer, but their conquest isn\u2019t sanctioned. Instead of conquering the lands that were allotted to them, they march north and attack a peaceful people without God\u2019s approval or consent. They take what they want, be it an idol or land, and they don\u2019t hesitate to resort to unprovoked violence. They do what is right in their eyes, not in God\u2019s.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The contrast between the positive veneer and the negative nature of the Danite enterprise draws our attention to an important distinction: the problem in Judges 1 was not the failure to conquer in and of itself. It was rather the failure to conquer when and what God said to conquer; it was the failure to act out God\u2019s plan.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":56325,"alt":"","title":"jud18-camouflage","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud18-camouflage.png","width":1200,"height":1280,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud18-camouflage-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud18-camouflage-281x300.png","medium-width":281,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud18-camouflage-768x819.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":819,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud18-camouflage-960x1024.png","large-width":960,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud18-camouflage.png","1536x1536-width":1200,"1536x1536-height":1280,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud18-camouflage.png","2048x2048-width":1200,"2048x2048-height":1280,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud18-camouflage-1125x1200.png","post_full_size-width":1125,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud18-camouflage-394x420.png","home_baner-width":394,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"Transgression In Disguise","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Unprovoked violence, theft, and idolatry belie the pious veneer","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":56325,"alt":"","title":"jud18-camouflage","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud18-camouflage.png","width":1200,"height":1280,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud18-camouflage-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud18-camouflage-281x300.png","medium-width":281,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud18-camouflage-768x819.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":819,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud18-camouflage-960x1024.png","large-width":960,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud18-camouflage.png","1536x1536-width":1200,"1536x1536-height":1280,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud18-camouflage.png","2048x2048-width":1200,"2048x2048-height":1280,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud18-camouflage-1125x1200.png","post_full_size-width":1125,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud18-camouflage-394x420.png","home_baner-width":394,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"tile_link_for_pay":"0","send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"Judges","chapter":"18","chapter_main_number":"229","date":"20260715","wall_id":"229"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"501","name":"Deception","old_id":"901"}]},{"order":8,"id":"56266","color":"#e0e9ef","size":"1","name":"Underneath Superficial Piety Lies A Deep Depravity ","post_title":"Underneath Superficial Piety Lies A Deep Depravity","slug":"underneath-superficial-piety-lies-a-deep-depravity","old_id":"56266","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":37404,"post_title":"Jennifer Raskas","slug":"jennifer-raskas","old_id":"37404","first_name":"Jennifer ","last_name":"Raskas ","description":"Jennifer Raskas is the Washington D.C. Manager for the Shalom Hartman Institute of North America. She teaches classes widely on Hebrew literary approaches to readings in Tanakh. Jennifer received her Bachelor of Arts from Columbia University and her Master's in Public Policy from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.","short_description":"Jennifer Raskas is the Washington D.C. Manager for the Shalom Hartman Institute of North America. ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":37405,"alt":"","title":"Jennifer Raskas","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Jennifer-Raskas-e1533908320483.jpg","width":1680,"height":1647,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Jennifer-Raskas-e1533908320483-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Jennifer-Raskas-e1533908320483-300x294.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":294,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Jennifer-Raskas-e1533908320483-768x753.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":753,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Jennifer-Raskas-e1533908320483-1024x1004.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":1004,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Jennifer-Raskas-e1533908320483.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1506,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Jennifer-Raskas-e1533908320483.jpg","2048x2048-width":1680,"2048x2048-height":1647,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Jennifer-Raskas-e1533908320483-1200x1176.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":1176,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Jennifer-Raskas-e1533908320483-428x420.jpg","home_baner-width":428,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"228","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Judges as Context and Counterpoint","post_main_content_content":"

The book of Ruth starts with the words, \u201cVayehi Bi\u2019ymei Sh\u2019fot Hashoftim<\/em>\u201d, \u201cAnd it came to pass in the days that the judges judged\u201d (Ruth 1:1). These words set the book of Ruth in the time period of the Shoftim, Judges. When we take a deeper look at the last five chapters of the book of Judges, we see many signs that the book of Ruth actually serves as a \u201ctikkun<\/em>\u201d, or correction, for many of the terrible acts that the Israelites perform in Judges chapters 17-21.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Though these terrible acts will include lying, rape, stealing, killing and civil war, the people in the text often perceive their own actions as virtuous. In that way the stories describe a society where on the surface everything is fine, but beyond the surface lies depravity and sin. \u00a0In contrast, the book of Ruth is largely about Israelites meeting a woman, Ruth, who on the surface is a foreigner of little concern, and then discovering what a true \u201ceshet chayil<\/em>\u201d, woman of valor, she is (Ruth 3:11). In this way the Israelites learn to look beyond the surface and recognize true virtue.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

In our chapter of Judges, chapter 17, for example, we meet Micah, who returns missing money to his mother. His mother, proud of her son, exclaims, \u201cBlessed be my son to God\u201d (Judges 17:2) and then dedicates the money to the Lord. On the surface, this seems like a great pious, familial tale of righteousness. However, when we dig deeper and look at the other details, we see that Micah knows where the money is because he stole it from his mother, and they use the money to build a \u201cgraven image\u201d (17:3). Just this short episode contains multiple violations of the Ten Commandments!<\/span><\/p>\r\n

In contrast, in the book of Ruth we will see acts of pure generosity, family standing loyally beside one another, and no less than five different episodes of people blessing others to God, each after an actual virtuous act. \u00a0These blessings include Boaz\u2019s servants blessing him (Ruth 2:4), Naomi twice blessing Boaz (2:19, 20), Boaz blessing Ruth (3:10), and all the women present at the end of the book blessing God over the acts he performed for Naomi (4:14).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

What is an ultimate sign that we may be meant to read these texts in contrast to one another? While the last five chapters of the Book of Judges contain the refrain, \u201cthere was no king in Israel, every man did what was right in their own eyes\u201d (see Judges 17:6 for example), the Book of Ruth ends with the pronouncement of a new era of leadership for Israel, the birth, through Ruth, of King David.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Join us over the next four days as we analyze how the same words are used differently in each text and we continue to discover contrasts and lessons that can be learned by reading these texts together.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

*<\/span> For a fuller exploration about the contrast between the end of the Book of Judges and the Book of Ruth, see: Raskas, Jennifer R.<\/span> \u201cThe Book of Ruth: A Contrast to the End of the Book of Judges.\u201d<\/span><\/a> Jewish Bible Quarterly. Volume 43:4 (2015): p. 223-232<\/span><\/em><\/p>\r\n

Image by: Mariusz Prusaczyk from Pixabay<\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":56267,"alt":"","title":"jud17-below","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud17-below.jpg","width":1920,"height":1920,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud17-below-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud17-below-300x300.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud17-below-768x768.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":768,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud17-below-1024x1024.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud17-below.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud17-below.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1920,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud17-below-1200x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud17-below-420x420.jpg","home_baner-width":420,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"Special Series: The Tikkun of Ruth I","tile_main_caption":"Underneath Superficial Piety Lies A Deep Depravity","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Judges as Context and Counterpoint","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":56267,"alt":"","title":"jud17-below","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud17-below.jpg","width":1920,"height":1920,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud17-below-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud17-below-300x300.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud17-below-768x768.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":768,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud17-below-1024x1024.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud17-below.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud17-below.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1920,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud17-below-1200x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud17-below-420x420.jpg","home_baner-width":420,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"tile_link_for_pay":"0","send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"Judges","chapter":"17","chapter_main_number":"228","date":"20260714","wall_id":"228"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"337","name":"Ruth","old_id":"737"},{"term_id":"407","name":"Tikkun","old_id":"807"},{"term_id":"837","name":"Judges","old_id":"1237"}]},{"order":9,"id":"56309","color":"#faeed8","size":"1","name":"Selfish v. Selfless ","post_title":"Selfish v. Selfless","slug":"selfish-v-selfless","old_id":"56309","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":37404,"post_title":"Jennifer Raskas","slug":"jennifer-raskas","old_id":"37404","first_name":"Jennifer ","last_name":"Raskas ","description":"Jennifer Raskas is the Washington D.C. Manager for the Shalom Hartman Institute of North America. She teaches classes widely on Hebrew literary approaches to readings in Tanakh. Jennifer received her Bachelor of Arts from Columbia University and her Master's in Public Policy from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.","short_description":"Jennifer Raskas is the Washington D.C. Manager for the Shalom Hartman Institute of North America. ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":37405,"alt":"","title":"Jennifer Raskas","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Jennifer-Raskas-e1533908320483.jpg","width":1680,"height":1647,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Jennifer-Raskas-e1533908320483-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Jennifer-Raskas-e1533908320483-300x294.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":294,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Jennifer-Raskas-e1533908320483-768x753.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":753,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Jennifer-Raskas-e1533908320483-1024x1004.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":1004,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Jennifer-Raskas-e1533908320483.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1506,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Jennifer-Raskas-e1533908320483.jpg","2048x2048-width":1680,"2048x2048-height":1647,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Jennifer-Raskas-e1533908320483-1200x1176.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":1176,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Jennifer-Raskas-e1533908320483-428x420.jpg","home_baner-width":428,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"229","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Judges as Context and Counterpoint","post_main_content_content":"

There is much we can continue to learn by comparing the last chapters of Judges and the Book of Ruth. \u00a0We begin Chapter 18 by noting the familiar phrase, \u201cIn those days there was no King\u201d (18:1). This will serve as a direct contrast to Ruth, which ends with the birth of King David.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Chapter 18 tells the story of the tribe of Dan searching for a place to \u201cla\u2019shevet\u201d to dwell in. \u00a0The book of Ruth will similarly start with Naomi\u2019s family looking for a place to \u201cshev\u201d, settle, as well as Naomi\u2019s resettling in her home in Beth-lehem (Ruth 1:4,22). The way those in Judges and Ruth choose to \u201csettle\u201d, however, show vast differences in moral priorities and piousness.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The Tribe of Dan, in searching for a place of their own, first steal Micah\u2019s idols and convince Micah\u2019s priest to abandon him. They do not repent when Micah confronts them. When they arrive at Laish, the city they desire, where the \u201cpeople are quiet and secure,\u201d the people of Dan \u201cput them to the sword and burned down the town\u201d (Judges 18:27). They then rename the city Dan and set up Micah\u2019s idols in the city. The people of Dan find a place to settle, therefore, through stealing, idolatry, killing innocent people and setting a quiet city on fire, all deplorable acts. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

In contrast, when Naomi seeks to re-settle in Beth-lehem, she first releases her widowed Moabite daughters-in-law from coming with her, putting their needs first as she explains, she has no more sons to give them. Ruth then chooses the virtuous act of helping others over remaining settled in her home of Moab, as she \u2018sticks\u2019 to Naomi, and proclaims, \u201cwherever you lodge, I will lodge\u201d <\/span>(1:16). Boaz praises Ruth for these actions by implicitly comparing Ruth to Abraham: \u201chow you left your father and mother and the land of your birth and came to a people you had not known before\u201d (2:11). <\/span><\/p>\r\n

In this way the actions of Naomi and Ruth serve as a contrast and \u201cTikkun\u201d for those in Judges. While the tribe of Dan puts their own need to \u201csettle\u201d before the needs and lives of an entire city, Naomi and Ruth demonstrate putting others first, and create a home together through bonds of righteousness and loyalty. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

All of these actions foreshadow additional parts to the ending of each book. At the end of Judges after a gruesome civil war, everyone will separate and disperse, \u201cevery man to his tribe and to his family\u201d (Judges 21:24). The Book of Ruth, in contrast, will end with the public celebration of a union of a new home, that of Ruth and Boaz, which will lead to the birth of King David.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

For a fuller exploration about the contrast between the end of the Book of Judges and the Book of Ruth, please see: Raskas, Jennifer R.<\/span> \u201cThe Book of Ruth: A Contrast to the End of the Book of Judges.\u201d<\/span><\/a> Jewish Bible Quarterly. Volume 43:4 (2015): p. 223-232<\/span>.<\/span><\/em><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":56310,"alt":"","title":"jud18-me-we","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud18-me-we.jpg","width":1920,"height":1603,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud18-me-we-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud18-me-we-300x250.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":250,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud18-me-we-768x641.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":641,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud18-me-we-1024x855.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":855,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud18-me-we.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1282,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud18-me-we.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1603,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud18-me-we-1200x1002.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":1002,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud18-me-we-503x420.jpg","home_baner-width":503,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"Special Series: The Tikkun of Ruth II","tile_main_caption":"Selfish v. Selfless","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Judges as Context and Counterpoint","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":56310,"alt":"","title":"jud18-me-we","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud18-me-we.jpg","width":1920,"height":1603,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud18-me-we-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud18-me-we-300x250.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":250,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud18-me-we-768x641.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":641,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud18-me-we-1024x855.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":855,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud18-me-we.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1282,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud18-me-we.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1603,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud18-me-we-1200x1002.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":1002,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud18-me-we-503x420.jpg","home_baner-width":503,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"tile_link_for_pay":"0","send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"Judges","chapter":"18","chapter_main_number":"229","date":"20260715","wall_id":"229"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"337","name":"Ruth","old_id":"737"},{"term_id":"407","name":"Tikkun","old_id":"807"},{"term_id":"837","name":"Judges","old_id":"1237"}]},{"order":10,"id":"56400","color":"#e6f5f3","size":"1","name":"We Don't Always Know The Right Thing To Do ","post_title":"We Don't Always Know The Right Thing To Do","slug":"we-dont-always-know-the-right-thing-to-do","old_id":"56400","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":49419,"post_title":"Josh Weiner","slug":"josh-weiner","old_id":"49419","first_name":"Josh ","last_name":"Weiner ","description":"Rabbi Josh Weiner has worked as a social worker, tour guide and kindergarten teacher. He is currently the assistant rabbi at the Adath Shalom community in Paris, teaches halacha at the Zacharias Frankel college, a new conservative rabbinical seminary in Berlin, and supports entrepreneurial Jewish education in both cities. \r\n\r\n","short_description":"Rabbi Josh Weiner is currently the assistant rabbi at the Adath Shalom community in Paris and teaches halacha at the Zacharias Frankel college in Berlin.\r\n","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":49420,"alt":"","title":"josh weinder","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/josh-weinder-e1550144676287.jpg","width":360,"height":448,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/josh-weinder-e1550144676287-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/josh-weinder-e1550144676287-241x300.jpg","medium-width":241,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/josh-weinder-768x768.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":768,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/josh-weinder-e1550144676287.jpg","large-width":360,"large-height":448,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/josh-weinder-e1550144676287.jpg","1536x1536-width":360,"1536x1536-height":448,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/josh-weinder-e1550144676287.jpg","2048x2048-width":360,"2048x2048-height":448,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/josh-weinder-e1550144676287.jpg","post_full_size-width":360,"post_full_size-height":448,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/josh-weinder-e1550144676287-338x420.jpg","home_baner-width":338,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"230","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"No God, no king, no positive social norms, no moral clarity","post_main_content_content":"

This is where the story starts to get really messy. The second half of this book, basically since the story of Gideon, has had a strong pro-monarchic, pro-establishment message. The repeating trope in this part of the book warns us: \"There was no king in Israel at that time, everyone did as they pleased.\"<\/span><\/p>\r\n

This story has an eerie, uncomfortable feeling. The nameless protagonists, the strange prolonged stay with the girl's father, the encounter with the old man. It\u2019s not entirely clear what's wrong with these incidents, but they don't feel right. There are no 'good guys' in this story, no heroes to identify with. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

If only there was a king to tell people how to act, protect the weak, punish the haughty!<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Maimonides sees the rule of law on the individual level as a manifestation of the strength of the state. In the Guide to the Perplexed, he brings the example of an old, weak and fragile money-changer, who can tell a strong muscular beggar to get lost. This is proof that a king exists! There is a law, it is respected. The opposite of this story.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The Gibeonites here closely parallel the violent townspeople in Sodom, back in the book of Genesis. But the midrash makes an important distinction: here, the people were lawless and evil, and there, in Sodom, the law itself was evil. So it's not just a matter of having a strong state: as the twentieth century reminded us, doing the right thing is sometimes above the law.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Yet even that is too simplistic. The messy reality that we live in, and that the Tanach also acknowledges, is that we don't always know the right thing to do. Surely murder and rape are horrific, but more everyday decisions are often ambiguous. Should the Levite have trusted the Jebusites and stayed in Jerusalem? Should he have stayed with his father-in-law? How should he have appeased his concubine? What's the right thing to do?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Absent from this story is God. Sure, God is mentioned by the Levite, who brags about going to the sanctuary in Bethlehem. But this is using God as an object, a path to status. Perhaps a real relationship with God would have brought moral clarity; at the very least, a perspective touched by this relationship would have brought some modesty and kindness into play, and a tempering of the ego.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Image: Amnon Beker, Concubine of Givah<\/em>, 2000, by courtesy of the artist<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":56401,"alt":"","title":"723","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/723.jpg","width":1654,"height":1367,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/723-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/723-300x248.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":248,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/723-768x635.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":635,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/723-1024x846.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":846,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/723.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1269,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/723.jpg","2048x2048-width":1654,"2048x2048-height":1367,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/723-1200x992.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":992,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/723-508x420.jpg","home_baner-width":508,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"We Don't Always Know The Right Thing To Do","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"No God, no king, no positive social norms, no moral clarity","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":56401,"alt":"","title":"723","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/723.jpg","width":1654,"height":1367,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/723-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/723-300x248.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":248,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/723-768x635.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":635,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/723-1024x846.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":846,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/723.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1269,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/723.jpg","2048x2048-width":1654,"2048x2048-height":1367,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/723-1200x992.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":992,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/723-508x420.jpg","home_baner-width":508,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"tile_link_for_pay":"0","send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"Judges","chapter":"19","chapter_main_number":"230","date":"20260716","wall_id":"230"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"503","name":"Power","old_id":"903"},{"term_id":"543","name":"Violence","old_id":"943"},{"term_id":"724","name":"Trust","old_id":"1124"},{"term_id":"762","name":"Murder","old_id":"1162"}]},{"order":11,"id":"56393","color":"#f7e9e9","size":"1","name":"From Hostility To Hospitality ","post_title":"From Hostility To Hospitality","slug":"from-hostility-to-hospitality","old_id":"56393","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":37404,"post_title":"Jennifer Raskas","slug":"jennifer-raskas","old_id":"37404","first_name":"Jennifer ","last_name":"Raskas ","description":"Jennifer Raskas is the Washington D.C. Manager for the Shalom Hartman Institute of North America. She teaches classes widely on Hebrew literary approaches to readings in Tanakh. Jennifer received her Bachelor of Arts from Columbia University and her Master's in Public Policy from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.","short_description":"Jennifer Raskas is the Washington D.C. Manager for the Shalom Hartman Institute of North America. ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":37405,"alt":"","title":"Jennifer Raskas","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Jennifer-Raskas-e1533908320483.jpg","width":1680,"height":1647,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Jennifer-Raskas-e1533908320483-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Jennifer-Raskas-e1533908320483-300x294.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":294,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Jennifer-Raskas-e1533908320483-768x753.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":753,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Jennifer-Raskas-e1533908320483-1024x1004.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":1004,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Jennifer-Raskas-e1533908320483.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1506,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Jennifer-Raskas-e1533908320483.jpg","2048x2048-width":1680,"2048x2048-height":1647,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Jennifer-Raskas-e1533908320483-1200x1176.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":1176,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Jennifer-Raskas-e1533908320483-428x420.jpg","home_baner-width":428,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"230","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Judges as Context and Counterpoint","post_main_content_content":"

Judges chapter 19 is a powerful story of immoral hospitality that ultimately leads to civil war. \u00a0The Hebrew root \u201c<\/span>l-y-n<\/span><\/em>\u201d, to lodge, is a <\/span>leitwort<\/span><\/em> or recurring word, appearing 12 times. \u00a0When we compare this story to episodes in the book of Ruth that use the root \u201c<\/span>l-y-n<\/span><\/em>\u201d, we see how Boaz and Ruth provide a \u201cTikkun\u201d, corrective, for these morally corrupt acts of hospitality. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

In our chapter, as in chapters 17 and 18, the characters\u2019 actions at first appear moral. The story begins with a Levite who has followed his concubine to her father's house and is repeatedly offered hospitality by her father. Upon leaving, the Levite and concubine travel through the area of Benjamin, searching for new hospitality. \u00a0They find an old man from Ephraim who welcomes them into his home, feeds them and their donkeys and bathes their feet. That night the host seeks to protect the Levite when debased men demand to become intimate with him.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The hospitality takes a corrupt turn, however, when the host offers the depraved men his own virgin daughter and the Levite's concubine in return for keeping the Levite safe. The debased men then rape and abuse the concubine throughout the night. In the morning, the Levite, upon finding his assaulted concubine non-responsive, cuts her into 12 pieces and sends the pieces around Israel, ultimately initiating a civil war against the tribe of Benjamin. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

In contrast to the morally reprehensible acts in Judges 19, Boaz, in the book of Ruth, demonstrates how to virtuously treat a guest. Ruth, with Naomi\u2019s encouragement, secretly lies near Boaz at night, hoping he will offer to become her husband. When Boaz finds Ruth, he reassures her that she is safe by expressing how \u201call the elders of my town know what a fine woman you are\u201d<\/span> (Ruth 3:12).<\/span> Boaz then invites Ruth to stay with him [<\/span>lyni<\/span><\/i>] using that same Hebrew root featured in Judges 19. This root is also in the statement Ruth had uttered when she loyally told Naomi, \u201cwherever you lodge, I will lodge\u201d (Ruth 1:16). <\/span><\/p>\r\n

In further contrast between these texts, the depraved men who seek to assault the Levite, use the word, <\/span>ve-nedaenu<\/span><\/em>, that we may <\/span>know<\/span><\/em> him, to convey their depraved intentions (Judges 19:22). \u00a0Boaz in contrast, uses a similar word when he states that all the men <\/span>yodeah<\/span>, <\/span>know<\/span><\/em> what a fine woman Ruth is (Ruth 3:12). Boaz then devises a plan to ensure Ruth\u2019s safety by sending her back before it becomes <\/span>known<\/span>, <\/span>yi-vadeh<\/span><\/em>, where she was. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

While the actions of hospitality on the surface of Judges 19 seem at first righteous, they end in depravity. \u00a0In contrast, in the book of Ruth, Boaz demonstrates virtuous hospitality by reassuring, protecting and ultimately redeeming his guest, Ruth. It is no surprise that Judges 19 opened with the familiar refrain of anarchy; \u201cIn those days when there was no king in Israel\u201d (Judg. 19:1) while the book of Ruth will end with the birth of King David.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

For a fuller exploration about the contrast between the end of the Book of Judges and the Book of Ruth, please see: Raskas, Jennifer R.<\/span> \u201cThe Book of Ruth: A Contrast to the End of the Book of Judges.\u201d<\/span><\/a> Jewish Bible Quarterly. Volume 43:4 (2015): p. 223-232<\/span><\/em><\/p>\r\n

image:\u00a0Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld: Ruth in Boaz's Field<\/em>, 1828 \/ 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Chapter 19 of Judges mimics Chapter 19 of Genesis and the story of Sodom. Visitors are taken in by someone in a city. In the middle of the night, townsfolk surround the house demanding the visitor be sent out for nefarious purposes. Someone inside the house offers up another victim to the crowd.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

There are numerous parallel terms and phrases:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

\u201cDo not on any account spend the night in the square\u201d (verse 20) and \u201cBut they said, \u2018No, we will spend the night in the square\u2019\u201d (Gen. 19:2).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

\u201cThey bathed their feet and ate and drank\u201d (verse 21) and \u201cand bathe your feet; then you may be on your way early\u201d (Gen. 19:4).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

\u201cThe men of the town, a depraved lot, had gathered about the house\u201d (verse 22) and \u201cThey had not yet lain down, when the town council [and] the militia of Sodom<\/span>, <\/span>young and old alike, the whole assembly without exception\u2014gathered about the house\u201d (Gen. 19:4).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

\u201cBring out the man who has come into your house, so that we can know him\u201d (verse 22) and \u201cWhere are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us, that we may know them\u201d (Gen. 19:5).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

\u201cThe owner of the house went out\u201d (verse 23) and \u201cSo Lot went out to them to the entrance\u201d (Gen. 19:6).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

\u201cPlease, my friends, do not commit such a wrong\u201d (verse 23) and \u201cI beg you, my friends, do not commit such a wrong\u201d (Gen. 19:7).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

\u201cLook, here is my virgin daughter, and his concubine. Let me bring them out to you. Have your pleasure of them, do what you like with them; but don\u2019t do that outrageous thing to this man\u201d (verse 24) and \u201cLook, I have two daughters who have not known a man. Let me bring them out to you, and you may do to them as you please; but do not do anything to the others\u201d (Gen. 19:8).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The text intentionally framed this chapter to reference the evil of Sodom.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

But there is more. This time, there are no angels to save the family. The man seems completely indifferent to the plight of his concubine. She collapses on the front steps, and he only notices her when he arises in the morning from a restful sleep and tries to open the door. There is also the added prologue of the aborted stop-off in Jerusalem, and how the man did not want to spend the night in that non-Israelite town. The text piles on the messaging here. The man and his concubine would have been safer in the non-Israelite town of Jerusalem.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

That is how far the Israelites have fallen. Moreover, no one at all looks good in this story. Both the townsfolk and the man look depraved and indifferent. 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