{"id":56064,"date":"2018-07-09T17:42:50","date_gmt":"2018-07-09T14:42:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wall\/wall-227\/"},"modified":"2022-12-19T09:03:43","modified_gmt":"2022-12-19T07:03:43","slug":"wall-227","status":"publish","type":"wall","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wall\/wall-227\/","title":{"rendered":"chapter-Prophets-Judges-16"},"parent":0,"template":"","acf":{"type":"chapter","wall_id":"227","date":"20260713","book":"Judges","chapter":"16","chapter_main_number":"227","books_group":"Prophets","hide_acf":true,"home_image":false,"home_posts":false,"home_posts_title":"","posts_home":[],"static_cube_title":"","static_cube_brief":"","static_cube_color":"","posts":[{"order":1,"id":"56070","color":"#f8ebe3","size":"1","name":"Judges Chapter 16 - Read by Jonathan Roumie ","post_title":"Judges Chapter 16 - Read by Jonathan Roumie","slug":"judges-chapter-16-read-by-jonathan-roumie","old_id":"56070","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":34686,"post_title":"Soundcloud","slug":"soundcloud","old_id":"34686","first_name":"","last_name":"","description":"","short_description":"","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":34656,"alt":"","title":"491","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","width":300,"height":300,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","medium_large-width":300,"medium_large-height":300,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","large-width":300,"large-height":300,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","1536x1536-width":300,"1536x1536-height":300,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","2048x2048-width":300,"2048x2048-height":300,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","post_full_size-width":300,"post_full_size-height":300,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","home_baner-width":300,"home_baner-height":300}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"227","type_929":"4","show_author_image":true,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"","post_main_content_content":"","post_main_content_image":"","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":"JPS Audio Bible","tile_main_caption":"Judges 16","tile_main_caption_size":"2","tile_sub_caption":"read by Jonathan Roumie","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":"","tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"https:\/\/soundcloud.com\/929-bible\/JPS_Audio_Bible_Judges_Chapter_16_read_by_Jonathan_Roumie","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":"","old_create_date":"","links":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"Judges","chapter":"16","chapter_main_number":"227","date":"20260713","wall_id":"227"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":2,"id":"110111","color":"#f6edf6","size":"2","name":"Samson\u2019s Revenge Suicide ","post_title":"Samson\u2019s Revenge Suicide","slug":"samsons-revenge-suicide","old_id":"110111","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":62571,"post_title":"Yaakov Bieler","slug":"yaakov-bieler","old_id":"62571","first_name":"Yaakov ","last_name":"Bieler ","description":"Rabbi Yaakov Bieler has been involved in Jewish education and the synagogue Rabbinate in New York, NY and Silver Spring, MD since being ordained by Yeshiva University in 1974. He has lectured and written extensively on Modern Orthodoxy, and blogs daily at https:\/\/yaakovbieler.wordpress.com ","short_description":"Rabbi Yaakov Bieler has been involved in Jewish education and the synagogue Rabbinate in New York, NY and Silver Spring, MD since being ordained by Yeshiva University. ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":62572,"alt":"","title":"OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/yaakov-bieler.jpg","width":141,"height":180,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/yaakov-bieler-141x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":141,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/yaakov-bieler.jpg","medium-width":141,"medium-height":180,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/yaakov-bieler.jpg","medium_large-width":141,"medium_large-height":180,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/yaakov-bieler.jpg","large-width":141,"large-height":180,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/yaakov-bieler.jpg","1536x1536-width":141,"1536x1536-height":180,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/yaakov-bieler.jpg","2048x2048-width":141,"2048x2048-height":180,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/yaakov-bieler.jpg","post_full_size-width":141,"post_full_size-height":180,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/yaakov-bieler.jpg","home_baner-width":141,"home_baner-height":180}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"227","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Not very Jewish - but all part of the divine plan\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

Judges 16 describes the ignominious ending of Samson\u2019s life.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Although he resisted Delilah\u2019s initial queries numerous times regarding the source of his prodigious strength (v. 6-14,) her persistence proved successful, and Samson eventually disclosed his secret (v. 17.) Delilah promptly relayed this information to her Philistine handlers, and they proceeded to summarily capture, handicap, and enslave Samson, who had killed so many of their countrymen: \u201cThe Philistines seized him and gouged out his eyes. They brought him down to Gaza and shackled him in bronze fetters, and he became a mill slave in the prison\u201d (verse 21).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

But Samson had one more trick \u201cup his sleeve\u201d for doing away with as many Philistines as possible:<\/span><\/p>\r\n

He embraced the two middle pillars that the temple rested upon, one with his right arm and one with his left, and leaned against them; Samson cried, \u201cLet me die with the Philistines!\u201d and he pulled with all his might. The temple came crashing down on the lords and on all the people in it. Those who were slain by him as he died outnumbered those who had been slain by him when he lived (verses 29-30).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

While no one disputes Samson\u2019s heroism concerning this final act, he died by his own hand, a very \u201cun-Jewish\u201d thing to do. Taking one\u2019s life is prohibited among the seven Noachide Commandments (see Gen. 9:5; Bava Kamma 91b.) Furthermore, the text in Judges implies that God empowered Samson to die in this manner!\u00a0 And finally, Samson wanted to take revenge (verse 28), an attitude prohibited to the followers of the Torah (see Lev. 19:18).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Gersonides attempts to put a \u201cpositive spin\u201d on Samson\u2019s final action:<\/span><\/p>\r\n

It is to make us know how powerful Divine Supervision is, to the degree that a single prisoner, unarmed for warfare, was able to kill many enemies, since there is no standing in God\u2019s way when it comes to saving both many and few (To\u2019eliyot HaRalbag #20 on Shoftim 16:29:).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

God \u201cused\u201d Samson as a means for successfully attacking the Philistines and keeping them at bay, during the judge\u2019s leadership over the course of twenty years. To borrow Adin Steinsaltz\u2019 solicitous turn of phrase, Samson was \u201ca prophet of power\u201d (rather than words). While many of the recorded interactions that Samson engaged in were questionable, to say the least, it was also a time when \"every man did as he pleased.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Perhaps, while nothing can, and even should, be learned with respect to individual moral and ethical practice from the stories associated with Samson, God\u2019s power and His overt interventions in human history are demonstrated without question. To be able to discern when to derive personal lessons from a biblical story, and when to keep it \u201cat arm\u2019s length,\u201d is one of the myriad questions that reflective Tanach study entails.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

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Stop me if you\u2019ve heard this before: boy meets girl, boy falls in love with girl, girl\u2019s countrymen want to kill boy, girl\u2019s countrymen try to get girl to get boy in a vulnerable situation. Boy narrowly escapes. This story of Samson repeats over and over again. But this time, the third time, was the charm for the Philistines. The first wife revealed his riddle, but she ended up burning up. The prostitute at the beginning of the chapter could not hold him inside the walls of the city, but Delilah finally gets him to reveal his secret.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

In the end, Samson reveals that he is nazir, and his strength is derived from his long hair. \u201cand he revealed his heart to her. He said to her,\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

No razor has ever touched my head, for I have been a nazirite to God since I was in my mother\u2019s womb. If my hair were cut, my strength would leave me and I should become as weak as an ordinary man. Sensing that he had revealed his heart to her, Delilah sent for the lords of the Philistines\u2026\u2019\u201d (verse 17-18).\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

This is a very revealing moment for Samson. Throughout his entire life, he never talked about his nazirite life. His parents also disappear from the story after his first encounter with the lion and honey. The tough, strong, powerful Samson has a moment of emotional vulnerability and Delilah picks up on this immediately. She realizes that he has finally revealed the truth to her.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

What makes Samson do this? Delilah clearly was trying to trap him. Perhaps Samson was tired. Tired of his solitary life as a nazir. Tired of his solitary life as a judge of a wayward nation. Tired of his endless quest for companionship that kept ending in disaster. Tired of the burden placed upon him by his mother. But then why does God leave him?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The message seems backwards. Is Samson really punished for a moment of vulnerability? Perhaps this is yet more commentary on monarchy. Samson did not choose to be a judge. He was given this task from birth, like a king. Like a king, he must carry this burden his whole life. Monarchy means that rulers are pushed into a lifestyle they may or may not want. But once crowned king, that choice goes away. God\u2019s people are too important for a king to allow their personal life to distract from their duty. God does hear Samson\u2019s cry. He helps him not only by restoring his strength to exact revenge, but also by allowing Samson\u2019s family to bury him in his father\u2019s tomb: together again with his family.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

image:\u00a0Alleged site of Samson's tomb in the Zorah (Tzora) forest (wikimedia)<\/p>\r\n

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The Anti-King","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"His revelation to Delilah is\u2026 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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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In the book of Judges, we find a society and a system sprawling out of control, and encounter characters full of promise and ability, yet, who are continuously unable to rise to the occasion and fulfill their Divinely-inspired prophecies. No character better epitomizes the ongoing systematic chaos than Samson, the dashingly handsome and long-locked warrior of the Jewish people. Like many biblical characters, he is a two-sided character. Despite being a priest and a judge, he fails time and time again to live up to the requirements of such positions. Nonetheless, he is larger than life character, who challenges gender norms, masculinity, and responsibility. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

He is the idealized warrior while simultaneously failing morally as a man and a military leader; he revels in his long and luscious hair but is easily weakened through his sexual drive and need for meaningful and emotional connection via Delilah. He is all powerful but vulnerable, the figure of a leader, but without depth and vision.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

In Chapter 16, we see this sensuality on full display which leads to him falling in love with Delilah, who then betrays him at the behest of the Philistines who reward her with lavish riches. As the only woman whom he ever loved, Delilah is able to subvert his power and weakens him. But, she also brings him to his ultimate climactic and heroic moment in which he destroys the Philistine Temple and serves as a sacrifice for the wellbeing and survival of the Jewish people. It is at his moment of death that he finally takes on the role of hero.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Samson serves as a model for the monumental power we all possess and the potential we all have. More importantly, he shows us that we must have self- understanding, and the proper awareness needed when we implement our power. Samson is a cautionary character whose downfall illustrates the importance of using our gifts, skills and the opportunities we are presented responsibly and with careful attention. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

image:\u00a0Samson Imprisoned<\/i>\u00a0by Annibale Carracci, 1595 \/ wikipedia<\/p>\r\n

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and Delilah: The Difference between Night and Day ","post_title":"Samson And Delilah: The Difference Between Night And Day","slug":"samson-and-delilah-the-difference-between-night-and-day","old_id":"56200","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":"227","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"A man of the sun, and a woman of the darkness...","post_main_content_content":"

Our chapter chronicles the denouement of the Samson saga. His infatuation with Delilah (v.4) was manipulated by the Philistines to expose the secret of his strength (5-6). After toying with them three times (7-9, 10-12, 13-14), he finally succumbed to her incessant nagging and revealed that he was a Nazirite, and that if his hair were cut \u201cMy strength would leave me, I would be weakened, and likened to any other man\u201d (17).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Delilah recognized that this time he has told her the truth (\u201call his heart,\u201d 18), recognition coming either because \u201cone instinctively recognizes the truth\u201d (Rashi) or in consequence of the fact that on the three previous occasions he admitted only to human weakness while this time he explicitly said \u201cmy strength would leave\u201d (Radak). After cutting his hair, the Philistines blinded him and imprisoned him at hard labor (21) and his hair gradually grew back (22). At a festival, they brought him out to make sport of him and, as is well-known, he literally brought the house down, giving his own life to take those of three thousand Philistines, \u201cslaying more in death than he had in life\u201d (30).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The symbolism inherent in the names of the protagonists of this last chapter is fascinating. The name <\/span>Shimshon<\/span><\/em> is derived from the Hebrew word for the sun (<\/span>shemesh<\/span><\/em>), implying purity and goodness, while if we take the \u201cD\u201d of <\/span>Delilah<\/span><\/em> \u00a0<\/em>to be a possessive prefix (which it is in Aramaic), then she was a woman of the night (<\/span>layla<\/span><\/em>), with the concomitant implications of evil and malevolence. If these were not their actual names, they were certainly well-chosen for serving as one another\u2019s nemesis.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":56201,"alt":"","title":"jud16-sun-night","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud16-sun-night.png","width":1280,"height":1280,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud16-sun-night-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud16-sun-night-300x300.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud16-sun-night-768x768.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":768,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud16-sun-night-1024x1024.png","large-width":1024,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud16-sun-night.png","1536x1536-width":1280,"1536x1536-height":1280,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud16-sun-night.png","2048x2048-width":1280,"2048x2048-height":1280,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud16-sun-night-1200x1200.png","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud16-sun-night-420x420.png","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":"","tile_main_caption":"Samson 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going down with you!\u201d He leaned his head \/ The temple pillars crashed. They all were dead","post_main_content_content":"

Samson went to Gaza with a whore<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>Outside the bedroom \u2013 Philistines in wait.<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>But Samson, who was smart, woke up before.<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>He lifted on his shoulders the town gate. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

He then married Delilah. How she tried<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>To find what was the secret of his strength!<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>She coaxed and begged, but each time Samson lied<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>And wisely kept his wife at his arm\u2019s length. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

\u2018Til finally, relenting, he said, \u201cHair!\u201d<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>So when he slept, they cut it, made him weak.<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>They gouged his eyes, now Samson was ensnared<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>He danced inside their temple like a freak. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

\u201cI\u2019m going down with you!\u201d He leaned his head.<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>The temple pillars crashed. They all were dead.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

image:\u00a0Anthony van Dyck, Samson and Delilah, c. 1630 \/ wikipedia<\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":56160,"alt":"","title":"Jud16-Anthonis_van_Dyck","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Jud16-Anthonis_van_Dyck.jpg","width":800,"height":455,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Jud16-Anthonis_van_Dyck-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Jud16-Anthonis_van_Dyck-300x171.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":171,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Jud16-Anthonis_van_Dyck-768x437.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":437,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Jud16-Anthonis_van_Dyck.jpg","large-width":800,"large-height":455,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Jud16-Anthonis_van_Dyck.jpg","1536x1536-width":800,"1536x1536-height":455,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Jud16-Anthonis_van_Dyck.jpg","2048x2048-width":800,"2048x2048-height":455,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Jud16-Anthonis_van_Dyck.jpg","post_full_size-width":800,"post_full_size-height":455,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Jud16-Anthonis_van_Dyck-738x420.jpg","home_baner-width":738,"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":"Samson Sonnet Sequence IV","tile_main_caption":"Samson\u2019s End","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"\u201cI\u2019m going down with you!\u201d He leaned his head \/ The temple pillars crashed. 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He taught at the Hebrew Union College (Jerusalem), The Hebrew University in Jerusalem, the Schechter Institute for Judaic Studies in Jerusalem, and at the Ben-Gurion University in Beer Sheba, Israel. During 1993 he was Visiting Associate Professor at Yale University, and during 1996 he was the Stroum Professor of Jewish Studies and Visiting Research Fellow at the University of Washington in Seattle. During 2005, Bregman served as the Harry Starr Fellow in Judaica at Harvard University and was awarded a Teaching Fellowship at the Center for Advanced Judaic Studies at the University of Pennsylvania. He also has served as Forchheimer Visiting Professor in the Faculty of Humanities at The Hebrew University in Jerusalem. He is the author of The Tanhuma-Yelammedenu Literature: Studies in the Evolution of the Versions (Gorgias Press, 2003). In 2006, Bregman was appointed the Herman and Zelda Bernard Distinguished Professor of Jewish Studies at the University of North Carolina in Greensboro, where he also headed the program in Jewish Studies, until 2013. Bregman retired from UNCG as of July 31, 2017. He has now returned to Jerusalem where he is continuing his research and teaching activities.","credit":"","image_url":"","short_description":"Marc Bregman is the Herman and Zelda Bernard Distinguished Professor of Jewish Studies emeritus, at the University of North Carolina in Greensboro.","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":33878,"alt":"Marc Bregman","title":"Marc Bregman","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Bregman.jpg","width":361,"height":488,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Bregman-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Bregman-222x300.jpg","medium-width":222,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Bregman.jpg","medium_large-width":361,"medium_large-height":488,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Bregman.jpg","large-width":361,"large-height":488,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Bregman.jpg","1536x1536-width":361,"1536x1536-height":488,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Bregman.jpg","2048x2048-width":361,"2048x2048-height":488,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Bregman.jpg","post_full_size-width":361,"post_full_size-height":488,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Bregman-311x420.jpg","home_baner-width":311,"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":"From the Tanach, through Milton, Handel, and Cecil B. DeMille","post_main_content_content":"

Our chapter concludes the Biblical narrative of Samson (Judges, Chapters 13-16). \u00a0Samson (Shimshon<\/em> -- \u201cman of the sun\u201d -- shemesh<\/em>) was the last of the Israelite \u201cJudges\u201d. Samson was a Nazarite from birth, whose head was not to be touched by a razor, who was destined to deliver Israel from the hands of the Philistines (Judges 13:5). Samson\u2019s superhuman strength is demonstrated by his overcoming a lion with his bare hands (Judges 14:5-6), breaking the bonds of two new ropes used to bind him and killing 1000 Philistines with the \u201cfresh jawbone of a donkey\u201d (Judges 15:13-17). <\/span><\/p>\r\n

Samson\u2019s final demise comes when he goes down to Gaza to visit a prostitute. The Philistines hear of this and lay in wait to kill him. But, Samson rises in the middle of the night and tears out the enormous city gate of Gaza, which he carries off on his shoulders \u201cto the top of the hill that faces Hebron\u201d (Judges 16:1-3). The Philistines then employ a kind of modern-day Mata Hari, named Delilah, to discover the secret of Samson\u2019s strength. In the end, Samson gives in to Delilah\u2019s nagging and tells her that the true secret of his strength is his unshorn Nazarite hair. This leads to his downfall and imprisonment by the Philistines.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The Talmud (Sotah 9b-10b) elaborates on Samson\u2019s enormous size and strength. The width between his shoulders is said to be 60 cubits (about 75 feet)! He is said to have uprooted the two great mountains of Zorah and Eshtaol and ground them against one another. The Rabbinic Sages extol not only Samson\u2019s physical strength, but also his sexual prowess, saying that \u201chis seed was like a fast-flowing stream\u201d. On the basis of the biblical verse (Judges 16:21) telling that the Philistines made Samson \u201cgrind grain in prison (\u201cgrind\u201d, Hebrew \u201ctochen<\/em>\u201d being a biblical euphemism for sexual intercourse), it is said that the Philistines brought their wives to Samson in prison, for \u201cconnubial visits\u201d, so that they might bear children as strong as him.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The legend of Samson continues to provide material for literary, musical and cinematic creation. In 1671, the English poet, John Milton included \u201cSamson Agonistes\u201d in his Paradise Regain\u2019d<\/em>. Inspired by this text, George Frideric Handel composed his 1735 opera \u201cSamson\u201d, followed by Camille Saint-Sa\u00ebns\u2019 1877 opera \u201cSamson and Delilah\u201d. \u00a0The year 1949 saw the release of the film \u201cSamson and Delilah\u201d, directed by Cecil B. DeMille and starring Victor Mature and Hedy Lamarr in the title roles.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The former Israeli Prime Minister, Levi Eshkol, ironically referred to Samson as \u201cShimshon der Nebechdiker<\/em>,\u201d (Yiddish for \u201cSamson the weakling\u201d), paradoxically expressing our continuing fear of annihilation, despite the growing military strength of the State of Israel.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

image:\u00a0Victor Mature and Hedy Lamarr as\u00a0Samson and Delilah\u00a0<\/em>(1949) \/ wikipedia<\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":56209,"alt":"","title":"jud16-Victor_Mature_and_Hedy_Lamarr_as_Samson_and_Delilah","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud16-Victor_Mature_and_Hedy_Lamarr_as_Samson_and_Delilah.jpg","width":462,"height":599,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud16-Victor_Mature_and_Hedy_Lamarr_as_Samson_and_Delilah-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud16-Victor_Mature_and_Hedy_Lamarr_as_Samson_and_Delilah-231x300.jpg","medium-width":231,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud16-Victor_Mature_and_Hedy_Lamarr_as_Samson_and_Delilah.jpg","medium_large-width":462,"medium_large-height":599,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud16-Victor_Mature_and_Hedy_Lamarr_as_Samson_and_Delilah.jpg","large-width":462,"large-height":599,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud16-Victor_Mature_and_Hedy_Lamarr_as_Samson_and_Delilah.jpg","1536x1536-width":462,"1536x1536-height":599,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud16-Victor_Mature_and_Hedy_Lamarr_as_Samson_and_Delilah.jpg","2048x2048-width":462,"2048x2048-height":599,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud16-Victor_Mature_and_Hedy_Lamarr_as_Samson_and_Delilah.jpg","post_full_size-width":462,"post_full_size-height":599,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud16-Victor_Mature_and_Hedy_Lamarr_as_Samson_and_Delilah-324x420.jpg","home_baner-width":324,"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":"Samson \u2013 Then And Now","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"From the Tanach, through Milton, Handel, and Cecil B. 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Her particular area of interest is biblical leadership. Molly participates in the 929 initiative with a dedicated group from the Beth Avraham Yoseph of Toronto congregation. \r\n\r\n","short_description":"Molly Morris holds a Masters degree in Leadership and Community Engagement. Molly participates in the 929 initiative with a dedicated group from the Beth Avraham Yoseph of Toronto congregation. \r\n\r\n","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":92561,"alt":"","title":"molly morris","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris.jpg","width":2192,"height":2488,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris-264x300.jpg","medium-width":264,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris-768x872.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":872,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris-902x1024.jpg","large-width":902,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris.jpg","1536x1536-width":1353,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris.jpg","2048x2048-width":1804,"2048x2048-height":2048,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris-1057x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":1057,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris-370x420.jpg","home_baner-width":370,"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":"Without it, the descent into anarchy and chaos is swift...","post_main_content_content":"

As we began studying the Book of Judges \u2013 Shoftim \u2013 I wrote about Samuel\u2019s purpose in writing this book from the vantage point of a review and analysis, rather than foreshadowing events yet to unroll, as might be expected of a prophet. Where chapter 1 was an introduction to the Israelites as a nation, the book continues with Samuel\u2019s hypothesis, proof, and finally, as we are coming to now, the conclusion.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Samuel\u2019s introduction to this period demonstrated the necessity of the Israelites working together. It was only through their unified endeavours that the Israelites were successful in conquering their individual tribal inheritances. That hypothesis of unity breeding nationhood persisted through the almost 360 years of judicial\/prophetic rule and has developed to include a second factor for successful, productive nationhood: a framework for national leadership. The proof that leadership must be broad and unified has been evidence-based throughout these chapters of cyclical leadership, national strength and falling from grace. And the solution began to develop in chapter 8 with hints of monarchic rule.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

In these later chapters we are given evidence of the need for a new kind of leadership from the flip side. What happens when a leader does not unite the people \u2013 when you have an Avimelech, a Jephthah and now a Marvel-like Samson who leads individualistically even if on behalf of his people? Samson goes it alone in his attempts, sometimes acting defensively and sometimes seeking vengeance, but always as a lone-ranger without mustering an army or engaging his community. \u00a0Samson single-handedly, or maybe better labeled double-handedly, since his super-hero powers were from the hand of God, took on the Philistines. Samson\u2019s downfall was also derived single-handedly by the betrayal by Delilah.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

With the emerging decline into chaos and anarchy, Samuel\u2019s thesis on leadership, if that\u2019s at least in part what the Book of Judges is meant to be, is almost complete. These concluding chapters offer strong support for the \u00a0hypothesis of a need for a transformative leadership change, from individual prophets to monarchic rule: not an elected monarchy as the Israelites were promoting in chapter 8, but a monarch chosen by God, who will bring the Israelite to righteous nationhood. <\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":56233,"alt":"","title":"jud16-leadership","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud16-leadership.png","width":1280,"height":963,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud16-leadership-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud16-leadership-300x226.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":226,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud16-leadership-768x578.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":578,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud16-leadership-1024x770.png","large-width":1024,"large-height":770,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud16-leadership.png","1536x1536-width":1280,"1536x1536-height":963,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud16-leadership.png","2048x2048-width":1280,"2048x2048-height":963,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud16-leadership-1200x903.png","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":903,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud16-leadership-558x420.png","home_baner-width":558,"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 Recipe: National Unity And Leadership","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Without it, the descent into anarchy and chaos is swift...","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":56233,"alt":"","title":"jud16-leadership","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud16-leadership.png","width":1280,"height":963,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud16-leadership-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud16-leadership-300x226.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":226,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud16-leadership-768x578.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":578,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud16-leadership-1024x770.png","large-width":1024,"large-height":770,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud16-leadership.png","1536x1536-width":1280,"1536x1536-height":963,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud16-leadership.png","2048x2048-width":1280,"2048x2048-height":963,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud16-leadership-1200x903.png","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":903,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud16-leadership-558x420.png","home_baner-width":558,"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":"402","name":"Leadership","old_id":"802"}]},{"order":10,"id":"56226","color":"#e2f4fa","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":11,"id":"56229","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Samson: Incredible Hulk Or Divine Prophet? ","post_title":"Samson: Incredible Hulk Or Divine Prophet?","slug":"samson-incredible-hulk-or-divine-prophet","old_id":"56229","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":51424,"post_title":"Bracha Jaffe","slug":"bracha-jaffe","old_id":"51424","first_name":"Bracha ","last_name":"Jaffe ","description":"Rabbanit Bracha Jaffe serves as Community Educator and Director of Mercaz Center for Adult Education in Beth Tfiloh synagogue in Baltimore, MD. As a graduate of Yeshivat Maharat, she has interned in shuls in New York and Houston as well as participating in chaplaincy programs at New York Presbyterian Hospital and at a maximum security women's prison. ","short_description":"Rabbanit Bracha Jaffe serves as Community Educator and Director of Mercaz Center for Adult Education in Beth Tfiloh synagogue in Baltimore, MD.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":51425,"alt":"","title":"bracha jaffe","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/bracha-jaffe.jpg","width":1107,"height":1085,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/bracha-jaffe-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/bracha-jaffe-300x294.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":294,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/bracha-jaffe-768x753.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":753,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/bracha-jaffe-1024x1004.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":1004,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/bracha-jaffe.jpg","1536x1536-width":1107,"1536x1536-height":1085,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/bracha-jaffe.jpg","2048x2048-width":1107,"2048x2048-height":1085,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/bracha-jaffe.jpg","post_full_size-width":1107,"post_full_size-height":1085,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/bracha-jaffe-429x420.jpg","home_baner-width":429,"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":"His legacy lives on well after his death","post_main_content_content":"

Our chapter brings the story of Samson to a close. After a colorful and tumultuous life sprinkled with acts of heroism and supernatural strength as well as promiscuity, Samson redeems his name by repenting and literally bringing down the (Philistine) house with his death. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

What kind of hero was Samson? Was he just another version of The Incredible Hulk?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Rav Adin Steinsaltz doesn\u2019t think so. He suggests that Samson was actually a <\/span>navi<\/span><\/i> - a prophet. Wait - what? Isn\u2019t a prophet someone who speaks the word of God by chastising and making predictions? Samson was a man of action, not a man of word!<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Rav Steinsaltz has a broader vision of a prophet: one who transmits God\u2019s message in the world. True - this is most often through the spoken word but not exclusively so. In Samson\u2019s case God transmits His message to Israel and the Philistines through Samson\u2019s amazing displays of power and might. His unique role as a mighty hero cows the Philistines into submission where words would have failed.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

I would suggest the following, that Samson\u2019s actions and influence lasted long after his death. Looking carefully at the end of the chapter, we see a hint to this when we notice Samson\u2019s epitaph in the last verse:<\/span><\/p>\r\n

... And he judged Israel twenty years (Judges 16:31)<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Why would the text repeat this piece of information? We already know this from the previous chapter!<\/span><\/p>\r\n

And he judged Israel in the days of the Philistines twenty years (Judges 15:20)<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Perhaps we can understand it this way: Samson was a judge, prophet and leader for twenty years during his lifetime. Yet even after his death, Samson continued to \u201cjudge\u201d and lead Israel to another twenty years of peace through the legacy he left behind that continued to instill fear in the hearts of the Philistines. It took another twenty years for the Philistines to dare fight Israel, giving the Jews some respite from war and strife.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Each of us have our own way of manifesting God in the world. Samson is an intriguing and compelling model of how we can do just that.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Image: Giorgione, Samson captured by the Philistines<\/em>, 1510 \/ wikiart<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":56230,"alt":"","title":"jud16-samson-captured-by-the-philistines","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud16-samson-captured-by-the-philistines.jpg","width":484,"height":600,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud16-samson-captured-by-the-philistines-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud16-samson-captured-by-the-philistines-242x300.jpg","medium-width":242,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud16-samson-captured-by-the-philistines.jpg","medium_large-width":484,"medium_large-height":600,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud16-samson-captured-by-the-philistines.jpg","large-width":484,"large-height":600,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud16-samson-captured-by-the-philistines.jpg","1536x1536-width":484,"1536x1536-height":600,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud16-samson-captured-by-the-philistines.jpg","2048x2048-width":484,"2048x2048-height":600,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud16-samson-captured-by-the-philistines.jpg","post_full_size-width":484,"post_full_size-height":600,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud16-samson-captured-by-the-philistines-339x420.jpg","home_baner-width":339,"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":"Samson: 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After Samson's Death ","post_title":"Delilah, After Samson's Death","slug":"delilah-after-samsons-death","old_id":"56198","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":36669,"post_title":"Yakov Azriel","slug":"yakov-azriel","old_id":"36669","first_name":"Yakov ","last_name":"Azriel","description":"Yakov Azriel, who lives in Israel, has published five books of poetry in the USA and hundreds of poems in journals and magazines. His poems have won twenty-two prizes in international poetry competitions, and he has twice been awarded fellowships from the Memorial Foundation for Jewish Culture.","short_description":"Yakov Azriel is an English language poet who lives in Israel","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":36670,"alt":"","title":"Yakov.Azriel.Photo","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Yakov.Azriel.Photo_-e1533158407668.jpg","width":1099,"height":1519,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Yakov.Azriel.Photo_-e1533158407668-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Yakov.Azriel.Photo_-e1533158407668-217x300.jpg","medium-width":217,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Yakov.Azriel.Photo_-e1533158407668-741x1024.jpg","medium_large-width":741,"medium_large-height":1024,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Yakov.Azriel.Photo_-e1533158407668-741x1024.jpg","large-width":741,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Yakov.Azriel.Photo_-e1533158407668.jpg","1536x1536-width":1099,"1536x1536-height":1519,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Yakov.Azriel.Photo_-e1533158407668.jpg","2048x2048-width":1099,"2048x2048-height":1519,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Yakov.Azriel.Photo_-e1533158407668-868x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":868,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Yakov.Azriel.Photo_-e1533158407668-304x420.jpg","home_baner-width":304,"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":"His hair was long \/ His life was short","post_main_content_content":"

Write this down.<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>The man I loved<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>Is dead. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

Write this down.<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>The man I loved<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>Was a good man.<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>A gentle man.<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>Others saw only his strength,<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>The large, taut biceps on his arms,<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>His massive shoulders.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

I saw his fingers<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>Tender as they stroked my eyes,<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>Tender<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>As they stroked my wind, my cloud, my sky,<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>Tender<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>As he inscribed our names together<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>In the sand<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>Before the storm.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Others saw him burn fields of ripe grain<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>With torches of foxtails.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

I saw him light a slender candle<\/span>
\r\n<\/span> To give me light in the growing dusk,<\/span>
\r\n<\/span> Light to my star,<\/span>
\r\n<\/span> Light to my moon,<\/span>
\r\n<\/span> Light to a dream I didn't know I had dreamt.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Others saw him kill a lion.<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>Others saw him wield a donkey's jawbone as a sword.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

I saw him give life<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>To my whispers, life to my shadow,<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>Life to a prayer I didn't know I prayed,<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>Life to the echo of a song I didn't know I sang.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Of all the many men I've known,<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>He alone never became a drunkard,<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>Never beat a woman,<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>Never slapped my face. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

He spoke to me in a quiet voice.<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>He looked at me with quiet eyes. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

Out of the strong<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>Came forth sweetness. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

His hair was long.<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>His life was short.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The man I loved<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>Is dead.<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>I threw his life away.<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>Write this down.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

 <\/p>","post_main_content_image":"","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":"929 Poetry Corner","tile_main_caption":"Delilah, After Samson's Death","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"His hair was long \/ His life was short","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":"","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":"362","name":"Poetry","old_id":"762"},{"term_id":"878","name":"Samson;","old_id":"1278"}]},{"order":13,"id":"56223","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Samson \u2013 A Lot Like Us! ","post_title":"Samson \u2013 A Lot Like Us!","slug":"samson-a-lot-like-us","old_id":"56223","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":"227","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Unearned connection to the divine, often squandered by seeking the approval of those unworthy of our aspirations","post_main_content_content":"

Everybody knows the end of the story of Samson: his passionate affair with the Philistine woman Delilah, his surreptitious haircut and losing all his strength, his captivity, prayers for one last miracle, and bringing the Philistine Temple down on himself, his captives, and into eternal fame.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

What are we to make of this weird example: a brute of a man hardly worth elevating to the halls of religious heroism, one who ultimately is brought down by his enemies (unique among the judges of the entire book), yet one whose story cries out as a stellar exemplar of pride resurgent, the power of faith to liberate even at great cost, the ways that the covenant can advance even through a regrettable and questionable cad of a person.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

In the end, I believe that Samson\u2019s story has such resilience because he is so like us.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The Jewish people have always been a reckless and tumultuous people. We bicker and feud with each other, except for rare interludes of unity and harmony, often imposed on us by terrorizing enemies from without. We often find ourselves whoring after the very worst aspects of contemporary non-Jewish culture, rising to the leadership of pretty much any movement that offers simple answers to complex phenomena, however extreme, however unpopular, however self-contradictory. And we recurrently have moments of awakening, in which we acknowledge the consequences of our extremism (in all directions) and our avoidance of the rich nuance and life-affirming wisdom that a humane read of our tradition can make possible.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Read in that light, the story of Samson is the story of the Jewish people. Uncanny and unearned connection to the divine, often squandered by seeking the love and approval of those unworthy of our aspirations. We have a history of the most elevated insights into how to bring holiness into the world, and an equal history of fleeing from those very insights, flattening them into rigid rules of judgment and power, either to be embraced without question or abandoned equally without question.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Samson\u2019s story is a warning for the Jews, placed front and center in our holiest of literature. Lurch through life like Samson, and the end will be disaster. Sacrifice our own standards of judgment for the indiscriminate yearning for approval of Gentile overlords or cultural fads and we will find ourselves chained to the results of our own abandonment. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

We, like Samson, have a rich heritage that can link us to God and renewed humanity if we can embrace it in a nuanced and measured way. As always, the choice is ours.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":56224,"alt":"","title":"jud16-selfimage","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud16-selfimage.png","width":241,"height":232,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud16-selfimage-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud16-selfimage.png","medium-width":241,"medium-height":232,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud16-selfimage.png","medium_large-width":241,"medium_large-height":232,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud16-selfimage.png","large-width":241,"large-height":232,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud16-selfimage.png","1536x1536-width":241,"1536x1536-height":232,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud16-selfimage.png","2048x2048-width":241,"2048x2048-height":232,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud16-selfimage.png","post_full_size-width":241,"post_full_size-height":232,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud16-selfimage.png","home_baner-width":241,"home_baner-height":232}},"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":"Samson \u2013 A Lot Like Us!","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Unearned connection to the divine, often squandered by seeking the approval of those unworthy of our aspirations","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":56224,"alt":"","title":"jud16-selfimage","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud16-selfimage.png","width":241,"height":232,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud16-selfimage-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud16-selfimage.png","medium-width":241,"medium-height":232,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud16-selfimage.png","medium_large-width":241,"medium_large-height":232,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud16-selfimage.png","large-width":241,"large-height":232,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud16-selfimage.png","1536x1536-width":241,"1536x1536-height":232,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud16-selfimage.png","2048x2048-width":241,"2048x2048-height":232,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud16-selfimage.png","post_full_size-width":241,"post_full_size-height":232,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud16-selfimage.png","home_baner-width":241,"home_baner-height":232}},"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":"386","name":"Psychology","old_id":"786"},{"term_id":"537","name":"Jew","old_id":"937"},{"term_id":"878","name":"Samson;","old_id":"1278"}]},{"order":14,"id":"110207","color":"#f6edf6","size":"1","name":"The Tanakh Podcast-Ju16","post_title":"The Tanakh Podcast-Ju16","slug":"the-tanakh-podcast-ju16","old_id":"110207","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":33692,"post_title":"Alex Israel","slug":"33692-2","old_id":"33692","first_name":"Alex","last_name":"Israel","description":"Alex Israel teaches Tanakh at the Pardes Institute, Yeshivat Eretz Hatzvi and Matan, Jerusalem. 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\u201cSamson and Delilah: What's In A Name?\u201d<\/a> by Michael Howald: What does the etymology of names teach us about Biblical characters?<\/p>\r\n

\u201cSorceresses, seductresses, and she-demons: Taboos on the female body in the Tanakh (and other sources)\u201d<\/a> by Sarah Binney: Explore mysterious, powerful women in Jewish sources.<\/p>","post_main_content_image":"","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":"Go deeper into the chapter....","tile_main_caption":"Sefaria Source Sheets - Judges 16","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Click to get links to learning resources","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":42232,"alt":"","title":"sefaria-words-sunburst","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sefaria-words-sunburst.png","width":608,"height":395,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sefaria-words-sunburst-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sefaria-words-sunburst-300x195.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":195,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sefaria-words-sunburst.png","medium_large-width":608,"medium_large-height":395,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sefaria-words-sunburst.png","large-width":608,"large-height":395,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sefaria-words-sunburst.png","1536x1536-width":608,"1536x1536-height":395,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sefaria-words-sunburst.png","2048x2048-width":608,"2048x2048-height":395,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sefaria-words-sunburst.png","post_full_size-width":608,"post_full_size-height":395,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sefaria-words-sunburst.png","home_baner-width":608,"home_baner-height":395}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"Sefaria word sunburst visualization","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":"","links":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"Judges","chapter":"16","chapter_main_number":"227","date":"20260713","wall_id":"227"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":17,"id":"56156","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Points to Ponder - Judges 16 ","post_title":"Points to Ponder - Judges 16","slug":"points-to-ponder-judges-16","old_id":"56156","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":38102,"post_title":"929-English","slug":"929-english","old_id":"38102","first_name":"","last_name":"929-English","description":"","short_description":"","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":38333,"alt":"","title":"\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5.png","width":1513,"height":860,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-300x171.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":171,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-768x437.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":437,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-1024x582.png","large-width":1024,"large-height":582,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5.png","1536x1536-width":1513,"1536x1536-height":860,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5.png","2048x2048-width":1513,"2048x2048-height":860,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-1200x682.png","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":682,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-739x420.png","home_baner-width":739,"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":"","post_main_content_content":"

    \r\n\t
  1. He who laughs last<\/span><\/i>\u2026 Samson mocks the Philistines in Gaza at the beginning of the chapter, when he takes the city gates (verse 3). The Gazans mick him back when they make \u00a0a valiant hero like him do woman\u2019s work, or a slave\u2019s, in grinding grain (verse 21). But Samson has the last laugh. Actually, on second thought - it\u2019s not that funny...<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t
  2. If this be love - it is tough, and painful<\/span><\/i>. There isn\u2019t a whole lot of love in the stories of couples in the Tanach. And when there is, it\u2019s not always symmetrical or requited, or the key to a happy life. In fact, sometimes the opposite. See under: Jacob, who loves Rachel, Michal who loves David, and here - Samson who loves Delilah.<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t
  3. For the fourth time<\/span><\/i>\u2026 It is on the 4th try that Delilah manages to get Samson to divulge his secret. The 4th time being a charm, and a turning point occurs often in Tanach. For instance, just 7 chapters ago, in the parable of Yotham (chapter 9), three worthy trees refused to accept the kingship - it was only the fourth, the bramble, who accepted. Remember this pattern - you\u2019ll see it again.<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t
  4. The source of strength<\/span><\/i>. If throughout the Samsohn cycle, there is a palpable tension between his sense of valor, and his awareness of the divine source of his strength, the last story comes to close that gap. Even without the hair, God gives hime the power.<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t
  5. Between birth and death<\/span><\/i>. Samson gets a spectacular birth story, and a spectacular death story. This has no parallel - certainly not in the Book of Judges.<\/span><\/li>\r\n<\/ol>","post_main_content_image":{"id":86314,"alt":"","title":"Points to ponder","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","width":1000,"height":1000,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-300x300.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-768x768.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":768,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","large-width":1000,"large-height":1000,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","1536x1536-width":1000,"1536x1536-height":1000,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","2048x2048-width":1000,"2048x2048-height":1000,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","post_full_size-width":1000,"post_full_size-height":1000,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-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":"Judges 16","tile_main_caption":"Points to Ponder","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Insights and questions for personal reflection and group discussion","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":86314,"alt":"","title":"Points to ponder","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","width":1000,"height":1000,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-300x300.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-768x768.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":768,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","large-width":1000,"large-height":1000,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","1536x1536-width":1000,"1536x1536-height":1000,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","2048x2048-width":1000,"2048x2048-height":1000,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","post_full_size-width":1000,"post_full_size-height":1000,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-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":"16","chapter_main_number":"227","date":"20260713","wall_id":"227"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false}]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wall\/56064"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wall"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/wall"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=56064"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}