Was Saul Too Good To Be King - Or Not Nearly Good Enough?<\/p>\r\n
Was he humble and merciful? Or weak and indecisive? What makes a good king anyway?<\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":50016,"alt":"","title":"dt8-question","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/dt8-question.png","width":771,"height":1280,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/dt8-question-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/dt8-question-181x300.png","medium-width":181,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/dt8-question-617x1024.png","medium_large-width":617,"medium_large-height":1024,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/dt8-question-617x1024.png","large-width":617,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/dt8-question.png","1536x1536-width":771,"1536x1536-height":1280,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/dt8-question.png","2048x2048-width":771,"2048x2048-height":1280,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/dt8-question-723x1200.png","post_full_size-width":723,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/dt8-question-253x420.png","home_baner-width":253,"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":"Read the posts for today's chapter that explore the question:","tile_main_caption":"Was Saul Too Good To Be King - Or Not Nearly Good Enough?","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Was he humble and merciful? Or weak and indecisive? What makes a good king anyway?","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":50016,"alt":"","title":"dt8-question","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/dt8-question.png","width":771,"height":1280,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/dt8-question-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/dt8-question-181x300.png","medium-width":181,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/dt8-question-617x1024.png","medium_large-width":617,"medium_large-height":1024,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/dt8-question-617x1024.png","large-width":617,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/dt8-question.png","1536x1536-width":771,"1536x1536-height":1280,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/dt8-question.png","2048x2048-width":771,"2048x2048-height":1280,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/dt8-question-723x1200.png","post_full_size-width":723,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/dt8-question-253x420.png","home_baner-width":253,"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":"","old_create_date":"","links":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"I Samuel","chapter":"9","chapter_main_number":"241","date":"20260802","wall_id":"241"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":3,"id":"111119","color":"#f6edf6","size":"2","name":"Saul The Benjaminite ","post_title":"Saul The Benjaminite","slug":"saul-the-benjaminite","old_id":"111119","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":78133,"post_title":"Josh Blechner","slug":"josh-blechner","old_id":"78133","first_name":"Josh ","last_name":"Blechner ","description":"Josh first finished the Tanach during Yeshiva in Mevaseret Zion. 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","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":78134,"alt":"","title":"josh blechner","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","width":276,"height":351,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner-236x300.jpg","medium-width":236,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","medium_large-width":276,"medium_large-height":351,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","large-width":276,"large-height":351,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","1536x1536-width":276,"1536x1536-height":351,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","2048x2048-width":276,"2048x2048-height":351,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","post_full_size-width":276,"post_full_size-height":351,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","home_baner-width":276,"home_baner-height":351}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"241","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Righting historic wrongs, and moving forward with divine guidance\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"
Judges ended on a very sour note. The Sodom redux story led to eleven tribes almost wiping out the tribe of Benjamin. The country was leaderless, and the text repeated the reason over and over again: \u201cAt that time there was no king in Israel. Each person did as they pleased.\u201d Now, there will be a king.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n But in a twist, the king does not come from the tribe of Judah. Instead, the king comes from the tribe of Benjamin. Perhaps God chooses the first king from Benjamin to test the people\u2019s request. Saul was a direct descendant of the families that survived the massacre, as he says that he was from one of the youngest families in all of Israel. His family was a symbol of the lowest point in Israelite history in the new land. If the people truly wanted a new king, they would have to accept that their new ruler is a descendant of the tribe they tried to erase.<\/span><\/p>\r\n Saul will also be a constant reminder of what happened to the nation when they did not have a king at all. It is also a chance for the tribe of Benjamin to right the wrongs of the \u201cConcubine of Gibeah\u201d story (see Judges, chapters <\/span>19<\/span><\/a>, <\/span>20<\/span><\/a> and <\/span>21<\/span><\/a>).. A tribe that acted as evil as the city of Sodom now has a representative who is tasked with righting the ship of the nation.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n There is a second metaphor in this chapter; one that is directed specifically to Saul. The nation was lost at the time of the story of the concubine and her murder. They are now searching for stability, and hope to achieve that in a new king. A king alone is not enough. A king will need others to help them. The chapter begins with Saul searching for his lost donkeys. He had to go to Samuel to seek assistance. The message is clear. For him to help the people, he is also going to need the guidance of Samuel. Samuel now transitions from Judge to prophet, and divine counsel to the king. It is up to the king to listen.<\/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":"Saul The Benjaminite","tile_main_caption":"Samuel transitions from Judge to prophet, and divine counsel to the king. 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","post_title":"Will Samuel Become Too Attached To Saul?","slug":"will-samuel-become-too-attached-to-saul","old_id":"111128","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":"241","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Looking forward to Saul\u2019s eventual demise, and Samuel\u2019s eventual reactions\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":" In today\u2019s chapter, God predicts to his prophet Samuel that the man that he is about to meet, is being sent to him to be anointed as king of Israel: \u201cAt this time tomorrow, I will send a man to you from the territory of Benjamin, and you shall anoint him ruler of My people Israel\u2026\u201d (verse 16). And then, just as God had foretold: <\/span>\u201c<\/b>As soon as Samuel saw Saul, the LORD declared to him, \u201cThis is the man that I told you would govern My people\u201d (17).<\/span><\/p>\r\n Despite Samuel\u2019s having initially attempted to dissuade the people from pursuing the idea of a king altogether (8:6), and not investing anything personally in identifying Saul as the one (9:15-7), when God later decides to replace Saul because he hadn\u2019t lived up to Divine expectations, Samuel complains all night (chap. 15:11), and is very \u201caggrieved\u201d :<\/span><\/p>\r\n Samuel grieved over Saul, because the LORD regretted that He had made Saul king over Israel (15:35)... And the LORD said to Samuel, \u201cHow long will you grieve over Saul, since I have rejected him as king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil and set out; I am sending you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have decided on one of his sons to be king\u201d (16:1).<\/span><\/p>\r\n Malbim (on 16:1) presents two rationales for Samuel\u2019s\u00a0 being upset over Saul\u2019s failure:<\/span><\/p>\r\n Samuel had finally accepted God\u2019s directive to appoint a king for the Jewish people (8:22), and he was mourning how this had all ended badly. But Samuel\u2019s somber mood is countered by God, Who simply no longer wished for Saul to be king, and He thinks that this should have been a good enough reason for Samuel to do God\u2019s bidding.<\/span><\/p>\r\n Implied is that Samuel is defying God by continuing to react negatively to a divine decision.<\/span><\/p>\r\n Or:<\/span><\/p>\r\n Samuel thought that a better candidate than Saul couldn\u2019t be found, at least in terms of physical attributes (9:2). God directs his prophet to stop grieving and prepare himself to anoint a son of Jesse, in Saul\u2019s stead.<\/span><\/p>\r\n This suggests that instead of being depressed by Saul\u2019s being Divinely deposed, Samuel was expected to help God promote the \u201cnext man up.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n Serving as God\u2019s prophet is fraught. From the many stories in Tanach that describe the efforts of prophets, beginning with Abraham, it is clearly difficult for these individuals to always know what God wishes them to do and how to react to the struggles that will inevitably result from human beings attempting to carry out the Divine will. At times, the decisions that prophets are expected to advance appear, at least to them, arbitrary and willful. The level of\u00a0<\/span>hitbatlut<\/span><\/em> (\"<\/span>self-abnegation\"<\/span>) that is required on their part is difficult to imagine.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":57725,"alt":"","title":"isam13-samuel and 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But underneath the story of this quest, the storyteller supplies us with an inventory of other, future losses; he shows us everything that Saul will lose in later years.<\/span><\/p>\r\n Saul the youth was good, \u2018tov<\/em>\u2019, a word that overflows with promise. God saw that the light was \u2018tov<\/em>\u2019 (Genesis 1:4) and went on with the world\u2019s creation. Moshe\u2019s mother saw that he was \u2018tov<\/em>\u2019 (Exodus 2:2) and went on to hide him, sowing the seeds of Israel\u2019s salvation. What might we expect from a man who is introduced to us as \u2018tov<\/em>\u2019 not once, but twice in one verse (1 Samuel 9:3)?<\/span><\/p>\r\n But later, when God will reject him, the \u2018good\u2019 Saul will be driven to horrible acts by an evil spirit, \u2018<\/span>ruach ra\u2019a<\/span><\/em>\u2019.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\r\n Saul the youth had people to guide him well: a father to send him on his way, a servant to give him counsel, encouragement and even funds, girls to give him directions, and a prophet to set him on a grander quest.<\/span><\/p>\r\n But Saul the king will seek guidance to his detriment. When the people\u2019s desires will guide him to act against Samuel\u2019s orders, he will lose God\u2019s favor. When Doeg\u2019s advice will prompt him to massacre a city, he will lose his honor. And when his desperate need for counsel will lead him to the forbidden art of calling upon the dead, he won\u2019t find comfort, but rather the knowledge of his own impending death.<\/span><\/p>\r\n Even the quest itself will come to represent a loss. The youth who embarked on a simple, innocent search for lost asses will be called upon to embark on a much harder task: pursuing an entire nation\u2019s welfare. But just as he lost the ability to complete his first quest (since others found his asses), Saul won\u2019t be able to complete his grander one. His failure will push him to further ruin himself in an obsessive quest to destroy David, whom he loved.<\/span><\/p>\r\n \u201cThe art of losing isn\u2019t hard to master,\u201d writes Elizabeth Bishop in beautiful poem about loss, pain and denial. \u201cLose something every day\u2026 Then practice losing farther, losing faster:\/ places, and names, and where it was you meant\/to travel. None of these will bring disaster.\u201d Saul the youth doesn\u2019t know it yet in 1 Samuel 9, but the lost asses are merely his initiation into a lifetime of losing things \u2018farther and faster.\u2019 His losses will take him very far away from where he meant to go, and belie Bishop\u2019s ironic denial: Saul\u2019s losses will bring about disaster. <\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":57472,"alt":"","title":"isam9-donkey 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By collaborating with community centers to exhibit her work, and drawing upon her experience as both an artist and educator, her art acts as a bridge which connects past and present and viewers with one another.\r\nMichal dedicates her work in memory to her father Shamai Zweigreich z\u201dl and her grandfather Yisrael Zweigreich z\u201dl, who loved studying Bible and Talmud.","short_description":"Michal Nachmany is a self-taught artist and educator","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":56635,"alt":"","title":"michal nachmany picture","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/michal-nachmany-picture.jpg","width":157,"height":243,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/michal-nachmany-picture-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/michal-nachmany-picture.jpg","medium-width":157,"medium-height":243,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/michal-nachmany-picture.jpg","medium_large-width":157,"medium_large-height":243,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/michal-nachmany-picture.jpg","large-width":157,"large-height":243,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/michal-nachmany-picture.jpg","1536x1536-width":157,"1536x1536-height":243,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/michal-nachmany-picture.jpg","2048x2048-width":157,"2048x2048-height":243,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/michal-nachmany-picture.jpg","post_full_size-width":157,"post_full_size-height":243,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/michal-nachmany-picture.jpg","home_baner-width":157,"home_baner-height":243}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"241","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"He had a son whose name was Saul, an excellent young man; no one among the Israelites was handsomer than he; he was a head taller than any of the people.","post_main_content_content":" Mixed-media work by Michal Nachmany, courtesy of the artist<\/p>\r\n Michal dedicates her work in memory to her father Shamai Zweigreich z\u201dl \u00a0and her grandfather \u00a0Yisrael Zweigreich z\u201dl, who loved studying Bible and Talmud.<\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":57374,"alt":"","title":"i sam 9","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/i-sam-9.jpg","width":1024,"height":949,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/i-sam-9-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/i-sam-9-300x278.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":278,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/i-sam-9-768x712.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":712,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/i-sam-9-1024x949.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":949,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/i-sam-9.jpg","1536x1536-width":1024,"1536x1536-height":949,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/i-sam-9.jpg","2048x2048-width":1024,"2048x2048-height":949,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/i-sam-9.jpg","post_full_size-width":1024,"post_full_size-height":949,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/i-sam-9-453x420.jpg","home_baner-width":453,"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":"I Sam 9:2","tile_main_caption":"Saul, An Excellent Young Man","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"No one among the Israelites was handsomer than he","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":57374,"alt":"","title":"i sam 9","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/i-sam-9.jpg","width":1024,"height":949,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/i-sam-9-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/i-sam-9-300x278.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":278,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/i-sam-9-768x712.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":712,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/i-sam-9-1024x949.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":949,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/i-sam-9.jpg","1536x1536-width":1024,"1536x1536-height":949,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/i-sam-9.jpg","2048x2048-width":1024,"2048x2048-height":949,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/i-sam-9.jpg","post_full_size-width":1024,"post_full_size-height":949,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/i-sam-9-453x420.jpg","home_baner-width":453,"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":"I Samuel","chapter":"9","chapter_main_number":"241","date":"20260802","wall_id":"241"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"369","name":"Visual Arts","old_id":"769"}]},{"order":8,"id":"57468","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Saul and Purim ","post_title":"Saul And Purim","slug":"saul-and-purim","old_id":"57468","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":57331,"post_title":"Josh and Leora Blechner","slug":"josh-and-leora-blechner","old_id":"57331","first_name":"Josh and Leora ","last_name":"Blechner","description":"Josh and Leora Blechner have been learning Tanach together since Leora was five years old. Josh is an in-house attorney in New Jersey and Leora is a middle school student at SAR academy.","short_description":"Josh and Leora Blechner have been learning Tanach together since Leora was five years old. Josh is an in-house attorney in New Jersey and Leora is a middle school student at SAR academy.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":57484,"alt":"","title":"blechner","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/blechner-1.jpg","width":501,"height":509,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/blechner-1-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/blechner-1-295x300.jpg","medium-width":295,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/blechner-1.jpg","medium_large-width":501,"medium_large-height":509,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/blechner-1.jpg","large-width":501,"large-height":509,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/blechner-1.jpg","1536x1536-width":501,"1536x1536-height":509,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/blechner-1.jpg","2048x2048-width":501,"2048x2048-height":509,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/blechner-1.jpg","post_full_size-width":501,"post_full_size-height":509,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/blechner-1-413x420.jpg","home_baner-width":413,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"241","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"What this son of Kish doesn\u2019t accomplish here, another one will 500 years hence","post_main_content_content":" When studying Tanach, it is important to pay attention to language, word choice, and sentence structure. Different books of Tanach will mimic the language from other books of Tanach in order to teach us a lesson or convey a theme. At the very beginning of our chapter, Saul is introduced in a way that is mimicked by the introduction of another famous leader of the Jewish people over 500 years later in Persia. <\/span><\/p>\r\n Saul is introduced first through the lineage of his father Kish as follows \"There was a man from the tribe Benjamin and his name was Kish the son of Aviel the son of Tzror the son of Bechorot the son of Afiach the son of a Benjamite.\" \u00a0(Samuel I 9:1)<\/span><\/p>\r\n Saul himself is introduced based on his good looks as \"an excellent young man; no one among the Israelites was handsomer than he; he was a head taller than any of the people\" (Samuel I 9:2).<\/span><\/p>\r\n This structure and word choice appears almost identically in the Book of Esther. <\/span><\/p>\r\n In the Book of Esther, Mordecai is introduced in the same way as Kish - \"There was a Jewish man in Shushan and his name was Mordechai the son Yair, the son of Kish (a different Kish), a man from the tribe of Benjamin\" (Esther 2:5)<\/span><\/p>\r\n Esther is then introduced in the same manner that Saul himself is introduced- by a description of her good looks \"and the maiden was beautiful and good looking\" (Esther 2:7).<\/span><\/p>\r\n The Book of Esther is written with the Book of Samuel in mind. The Book of Esther wants to invoke the handsome first king of Israel for a reason. Why connect the three figures and the two books?<\/span><\/p>\r\n (Spoiler alert!) The rule of Saul is ultimately defined by Saul's inability to properly defeat Amalek, by taking Agag -the King of Amalek- hostage instead of immediately killing him. This angers God who decrees that as a result of this miscalculation Saul will be deposed. The Purim story is about the defeat of the descendant of Agag, Haman. (According to Gemara Megillah 13a, Agag was able to procreate during the extra day he was left alive by Saul, and Haman emerged from that line).<\/span><\/p>\r\n By connecting the story of Purim to Saul, the Book of Esther is trying to show that the heirs of Saul both in lineage and in good looks are finally able to right the wrong of Saul and defeat Amalek in the form of Haman. <\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":57469,"alt":"","title":"isam9-drama","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam9-drama.png","width":1280,"height":1156,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam9-drama-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam9-drama-300x271.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":271,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam9-drama-768x694.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":694,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam9-drama-1024x925.png","large-width":1024,"large-height":925,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam9-drama.png","1536x1536-width":1280,"1536x1536-height":1156,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam9-drama.png","2048x2048-width":1280,"2048x2048-height":1156,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam9-drama-1200x1084.png","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":1084,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam9-drama-465x420.png","home_baner-width":465,"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":"Saul And Purim","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"What this son of Kish doesn\u2019t accomplish here, another one will 500 years hence","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":57469,"alt":"","title":"isam9-drama","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam9-drama.png","width":1280,"height":1156,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam9-drama-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam9-drama-300x271.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":271,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam9-drama-768x694.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":694,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam9-drama-1024x925.png","large-width":1024,"large-height":925,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam9-drama.png","1536x1536-width":1280,"1536x1536-height":1156,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam9-drama.png","2048x2048-width":1280,"2048x2048-height":1156,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam9-drama-1200x1084.png","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":1084,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam9-drama-465x420.png","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":"I Samuel","chapter":"9","chapter_main_number":"241","date":"20260802","wall_id":"241"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"515","name":"Purim","old_id":"915"},{"term_id":"885","name":"Saul","old_id":"1285"},{"term_id":"887","name":"Mordechai","old_id":"1287"},{"term_id":"888","name":"Haman","old_id":"1288"}]},{"order":9,"id":"57475","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Saul\u2019s Beginnings: The Eyes Have It ","post_title":"Saul\u2019s Beginnings: The Eyes Have It","slug":"sauls-beginnings-the-eyes-have-it","old_id":"57475","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":38322,"post_title":"James A. Diamond","slug":"james-a-diamond","old_id":"38322","first_name":"James ","last_name":"Diamond ","description":"Prof. James A. Diamond holds the Joseph and Wolf Lebovic Chair of Jewish Studies at the University of Waterloo. His most recent book is \u201cJewish Theology Unbound\u201d published by Oxford University Press. ","short_description":"Prof. James A. 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":"241","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"The people see only Saul\u2019s towering silhouette, but not through to the fecklessness behind it","post_main_content_content":" The monarchy, Israel\u2019s new political institution, does not look promising. A close reading of Saul\u2019s beginnings indicates that he is not equipped to correct the dismal environment described at the close of the book of Judges when \u201cevery man did what was right in his own eyes.\u201d Saul\u2019s characterization casts a shadow on the viability of the monarchy as an alternative to the political chaos signified by those anarchic eyes.<\/span><\/p>\r\n The Hebrew root for the word \u201csee\u201d is a key term, or what Martin Buber termed a l<\/em><\/span>eitw\u00f6rt<\/span><\/em>, <\/span><\/i>that points to a world where appearance yields only illusion. The sole physical description of Saul is his height, assumedly an advantage for a leader, being \u201ctaller from the shoulders up than everyone\u201d (9:2) He is thus visible to others while able himself to see beyond their range. <\/span><\/p>\r\n Yet he is hopelessly stymied in his very first task as a young man, one as mundane as recovering his father\u2019s stray asses. The narrative repeatedly emphasizes failure to see and find. Even worse for the prospects of a future political leader is that a frustrated Saul is ready to quit only to be persuaded by his servant to persist. The leader is led by his follower. God <\/span>sees<\/em> <\/span>his nation in trouble (9:16). Samuel <\/span>the seer<\/span><\/em> (9:9) <\/span>sees<\/em> <\/span>Saul, who in turn cannot identify the <\/span>seer<\/span><\/em>, the very one he asks for the seer\u2019s whereabouts. Saul literally cannot make out what is directly in front of him (9:18\u201319).<\/span><\/p>\r\n Once lots are cast singling out Saul as God\u2019s chosen monarch, he is nowhere to be found. He disappears at the very moment of his coronation, \u201chiding among the baggage\u201d (10:22). The people literally drag him to his throne, at which point the verse curiously repeats his extraordinary height, \u201ctaller from the shoulders up than everyone.\u201d Physical stature is inconsequential when not supported by strength of character. <\/span><\/p>\r\n Samuel then directs the people to \u201csee\u201d their new king, ambiguously proclaiming his uniqueness, \u201cthere is none like him among all the people.\u201d (10:24) The people see only Saul\u2019s towering silhouette, but are blind to Samuel\u2019s negative entendre, directing them to see through to the fecklessness that stands before them.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n Anti-Saul grumbling and conspiracy immediately begins yet Saul remains oblivious and unresponsive to it. Saul failed to see, the people cannot see him, and he remains mute. It is no surprise then that the very first crisis Saul faces as a king is an invader\u2019s threat to blind the right eyes of the inhabitants of an entire village (11:2). Saul succeeds in thwarting the menace, but perhaps this momentary achievement was a tease prompting a tally of the negative connotations eyes have raised so far. <\/span><\/p>\r\n All in all, the eyes have it against Saul. If the people\u2019s \u201ceyes\u201d at the conclusion of Judges were in desperate need of a corrective new form of government, then the narrative of the monarchy\u2019s origins raises serious doubts as to whether it offers the right prescription.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":57476,"alt":"","title":"isam9-silhouette","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam9-silhouette.png","width":640,"height":1280,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam9-silhouette-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam9-silhouette-150x300.png","medium-width":150,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam9-silhouette-512x1024.png","medium_large-width":512,"medium_large-height":1024,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam9-silhouette-512x1024.png","large-width":512,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam9-silhouette.png","1536x1536-width":640,"1536x1536-height":1280,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam9-silhouette.png","2048x2048-width":640,"2048x2048-height":1280,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam9-silhouette-600x1200.png","post_full_size-width":600,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam9-silhouette-210x420.png","home_baner-width":210,"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":"Saul\u2019s Beginnings: The Eyes Have It","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"The people see only Saul\u2019s towering silhouette, but not through to the fecklessness behind it","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":57476,"alt":"","title":"isam9-silhouette","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam9-silhouette.png","width":640,"height":1280,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam9-silhouette-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam9-silhouette-150x300.png","medium-width":150,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam9-silhouette-512x1024.png","medium_large-width":512,"medium_large-height":1024,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam9-silhouette-512x1024.png","large-width":512,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam9-silhouette.png","1536x1536-width":640,"1536x1536-height":1280,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam9-silhouette.png","2048x2048-width":640,"2048x2048-height":1280,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam9-silhouette-600x1200.png","post_full_size-width":600,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam9-silhouette-210x420.png","home_baner-width":210,"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":"I Samuel","chapter":"9","chapter_main_number":"241","date":"20260802","wall_id":"241"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"795","name":"Vision","old_id":"1195"},{"term_id":"835","name":"King","old_id":"1235"},{"term_id":"885","name":"Saul","old_id":"1285"}]},{"order":10,"id":"57439","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"A Man Of Character ","post_title":"A Man Of Character","slug":"a-man-of-character","old_id":"57439","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":57315,"post_title":"Jesse Paikin","slug":"jesse-paikin","old_id":"57315","first_name":"Jesse ","last_name":"Paikin ","description":"Rabbi Jesse Paikin is a teacher, spiritual leader, and strategic consultant. Most recently, he held a Fellowship from the Jewish Emergent Network, through which he served as a rabbi at Sixth & I Historic Synagogue in Washington, DC. He is currently a Masters candidate in Clinical Psychology, Education and Spirituality at Columbia University, and is a Research Fellow with M\u00b2, the Institute for Experiential Jewish Education. He\u2019s also the creator and host of the short-form explainer podcast, Shoot! ","short_description":"Rabbi Jesse Paikin is a teacher, spiritual leader, and strategic consultant. ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":57316,"alt":"","title":"jessie paikin","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/jessie-paikin.jpg","width":297,"height":446,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/jessie-paikin-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/jessie-paikin-200x300.jpg","medium-width":200,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/jessie-paikin.jpg","medium_large-width":297,"medium_large-height":446,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/jessie-paikin.jpg","large-width":297,"large-height":446,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/jessie-paikin.jpg","1536x1536-width":297,"1536x1536-height":446,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/jessie-paikin.jpg","2048x2048-width":297,"2048x2048-height":446,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/jessie-paikin.jpg","post_full_size-width":297,"post_full_size-height":446,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/jessie-paikin-280x420.jpg","home_baner-width":280,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"241","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Saul not only looked good, he was good\u2026","post_main_content_content":" The opening chapters of I Samuel, and the introduction of (not yet king) Saul, can come as something of a surprise for those mostly familiar with the subsequent narrative of King David and his tragic relationship with Saul. We\u2019re almost primed from the get-go to view Saul as an archetypal villain: one who resorts to heresy, who mistreats his son, and who \u2013 spurred on by a jealous fit \u2013 pursues David with murderous intent. <\/span><\/p>\r\n But here in these early chapters, we meet an entirely different version of Saul. At first, the Tanakh dwells on his physical appearance, describing him as \"a good (<\/span>tov<\/span><\/em>) young man; no one among the Israelites was more handsome (<\/span>tov<\/span><\/em>) than he\u2026\u201d (9:2) While it\u2019s typically understood that <\/span>tov<\/em> <\/span>here indeed refers to Saul\u2019s pleasing appearance, the Malbim (19<\/span>th<\/span> Century, Russian Empire), comments that the doubling of <\/span>tov<\/em> <\/span>indicates both a goodness of appearance, <\/span>and <\/span><\/i>a goodness of character (Malbim on I Samuel 9:2).<\/span><\/p>\r\n Indeed, Saul\u2019s character appears unblemished in his introduction. We meet him on a quest to find and retrieve his father\u2019s lost donkeys \u2013 a particularly lengthy journey; one comparatively tamer than when he gives chase to David. Concerned at how long he has been away from home, Saul opens up to the servant who is with him: \u201cLet\u2019s go return, or else my father will stop worrying about his donkeys, and worry about <\/span>us<\/span><\/i>\u201d (9:5).<\/span><\/p>\r\n Our rabbis notice in this seemingly simple moment the depths of Saul\u2019s character at this moment in his life. Rather than a pragmatic statement of fact, they see a profound \u2013 and consequential \u2013 moment of humility and compassion. Since Saul says \u201c<\/span>us,<\/span><\/i>\u201d including his servant in his concern, he shows that he saw his servant as important as himself. It is for this, the Tosefta says, that Saul merited to become king of Israel (Tosefta <\/span>Berakhot<\/span><\/i> 4:16).<\/span><\/p>\r\n The beautiful thing about reading about Saul with fresh eyes is that we see how human he is. Knowing his inevitable downfall doesn\u2019t actually make his story any less compelling. Rather, it\u2019s precisely <\/span>because<\/span><\/em> we know what will happen to him, that the text is all the more penetrating. Saul is not a one-dimensional antagonist nor a melodramatic villain. He\u2019s a complex reminder of that very real human tendency to mess up completely.<\/span><\/p>\r\n So it\u2019s not an accident that the Tosefta pinpoints this as the moment which signifies Saul is worthy of great leadership \u2013 the ability to sublimate our own momentary desires is a hallmark of leadership with integrity. While it is David who ascends to become one of the most important figures of our tradition, it\u2019s here \u2013 in these tender moments with Saul that raise the stakes for what comes later \u2013 that we receive a crucial reminder of how fragile our relationships can be.<\/span><\/p>\r\n It\u2019s a poignant message of how seriously we must engage in a robust sense of self-examination, so that we might stay true to the goodness of character within each of us that we should always seek to raise up.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":57440,"alt":"","title":"isam9-character","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam9-character.png","width":1920,"height":1525,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam9-character-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam9-character-300x238.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":238,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam9-character-768x610.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":610,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam9-character-1024x813.png","large-width":1024,"large-height":813,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam9-character.png","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1220,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam9-character.png","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1525,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam9-character-1200x953.png","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":953,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam9-character-529x420.png","home_baner-width":529,"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 Man Of Character","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Saul not only looked good, he was 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Samuel","chapter":"9","chapter_main_number":"241","date":"20260802","wall_id":"241"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"721","name":"Text","old_id":"1121"},{"term_id":"885","name":"Saul","old_id":"1285"},{"term_id":"886","name":"Failure","old_id":"1286"}]},{"order":11,"id":"57394","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"The Saul Who Might Have Been ","post_title":"The Saul Who Might Have Been","slug":"the-saul-who-might-have-been","old_id":"57394","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":57387,"post_title":"Sienna Lotenberg","slug":"sienna-lotenberg","old_id":"57387","first_name":"Sienna ","last_name":"Lotenberg ","description":"Sienna Lotenberg is a rabbinical student at HUC-JIR in New York. Sienna has a bachelor\u2019s degree in History and Judaic Studies from Brown University, where she wrote her senior thesis on American Jewish feminist history. Sienna has served as student president of Brown RISD Hillel, a T'ruah Israel Fellow, and Judaic director at Camp Interlaken JCC.","short_description":"Sienna Lotenberg is a rabbinical student at HUC-JIR in New York.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":57388,"alt":"","title":"sienna lotenberg","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/sienna-lotenberg.png","width":246,"height":243,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/sienna-lotenberg-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/sienna-lotenberg.png","medium-width":246,"medium-height":243,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/sienna-lotenberg.png","medium_large-width":246,"medium_large-height":243,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/sienna-lotenberg.png","large-width":246,"large-height":243,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/sienna-lotenberg.png","1536x1536-width":246,"1536x1536-height":243,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/sienna-lotenberg.png","2048x2048-width":246,"2048x2048-height":243,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/sienna-lotenberg.png","post_full_size-width":246,"post_full_size-height":243,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/sienna-lotenberg.png","home_baner-width":246,"home_baner-height":243}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"241","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"He teaches us that we are our best selves when we are committed to those we love; not seeking out the grandeur of power","post_main_content_content":" In I Samuel 9 we first meet Saul, Israel\u2019s first king. Saul\u2019s first appearance might be his best, as he is briefly an exemplar of the humility and commitment to others necessary for true leadership. It is complicated to look to Saul, whose failure defines him much more than success, as a positive example; however, the Saul of this chapter is the Saul who might have been, the Saul who had the potential to be a great leader.<\/span><\/p>\r\n When the prophet Samuel informs Saul that he will rule the Israelites, he responds, \u201cBut I am only a Benjaminite, from the smallest of the tribes of Israel, and my clan is the least of all the clans of the tribe of Benjamin! Why do you say such things to me?\u201d (9:21).<\/span><\/p>\r\n This reaction recalls Moses\u2019 response to God upon hearing that he is to lead the Israelites out of Egypt: \u201cWho am I that I should go to Pharaoh and free the Israelites from Egypt?\u201d (Ex. 3:11). Moreover, God says to both Moses and Samuel that \u201c<\/span>tza\u2019akat b\u2019nei Yisrael ba\u2019ah elai<\/span><\/em>\u201d (Ex. 3:9) \/ \u201c<\/span>ba\u2019ah tza\u2019akato elai<\/span><\/em>\u201d (I Sam. 9:16)\u2014\u201cIsrael\u2019s cry has come to Me.\u201d God hears the cry of the enslaved Israelites and enlists Moses to free them, and hears the cry of the Israelites suffering under poor leadership and, through Samuel, enlists Saul to become king. Only a leader with the capacity for greatness would so resemble Moses and his characteristic humility.<\/span><\/p>\r\n While the words of humility that Moses and Saul utter are powerful, what most strongly characterizes these interactions with God\u2019s will is that they occur at mundane moments, in which Moses tends his father-in-law\u2019s sheep and Saul travels the region searching for his father\u2019s missing donkeys. Moses and Saul encounter destiny while serving their families\u2019 day-to-day needs.<\/span><\/p>\r\n Saul\u2019s descent into paranoia and madness in later chapters proves God\u2019s warning at the end of chapter 8, that any king would abuse his power. The rhetorical power of Saul\u2019s character development relies on this first encounter with the Saul who searches the land for three days to find his father\u2019s animals and belittles himself rather than leaping at the opportunity to wield great power. This Saul is one who teaches us that we are our best selves when we are committed to those we love, and not when we seek out the grandeur of power. <\/span><\/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":"","tile_main_caption":"The Saul Who Might Have Been","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"He teaches us that we are our best selves when we are committed to those we love; not seeking out the grandeur of power","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":57395,"alt":"","title":"isam9-donkeys","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam9-donkeys.jpg","width":1920,"height":1440,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam9-donkeys-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam9-donkeys-300x225.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":225,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam9-donkeys-768x576.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":576,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam9-donkeys-1024x768.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":768,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam9-donkeys.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1152,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam9-donkeys.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1440,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam9-donkeys-1200x900.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":900,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam9-donkeys-560x420.jpg","home_baner-width":560,"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":"I Samuel","chapter":"9","chapter_main_number":"241","date":"20260802","wall_id":"241"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"503","name":"Power","old_id":"903"},{"term_id":"643","name":"Humility","old_id":"1043"},{"term_id":"885","name":"Saul","old_id":"1285"}]},{"order":12,"id":"57397","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"An Expectation Left Unfulfilled ","post_title":"An Expectation Left Unfulfilled","slug":"an-expectation-left-unfulfilled","old_id":"57397","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":56490,"post_title":"Gary Rendsburg","slug":"gary-rendsburg","old_id":"56490","first_name":"Gary ","last_name":"Rendsburg ","description":"Gary Rendsburg serves as the Blanche and Irving Laurie Professor of Jewish History in the Department of Jewish Studies at Rutgers University. His teaching and research focus on \u2018all things ancient Israel\u2019 \u2013 primarily language and literature, though also history and archaeology. His secondary interests include post-biblical Judaism, the Dead Sea Scrolls, and the medieval Hebrew manuscript tradition. Rendsburg\u2019s most recent book is How the Bible Is Written (Hendrickson, 2019), with particular attention to the use of language to create literature.\r\n\r\n","short_description":"Gary Rendsburg serves as the Blanche and Irving Laurie Professor of Jewish History in the Department of Jewish Studies at Rutgers University.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":56491,"alt":"","title":"Gary_A_Rendsburg","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Gary_A_Rendsburg.jpg","width":220,"height":314,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Gary_A_Rendsburg-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Gary_A_Rendsburg-210x300.jpg","medium-width":210,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Gary_A_Rendsburg.jpg","medium_large-width":220,"medium_large-height":314,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Gary_A_Rendsburg.jpg","large-width":220,"large-height":314,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Gary_A_Rendsburg.jpg","1536x1536-width":220,"1536x1536-height":314,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Gary_A_Rendsburg.jpg","2048x2048-width":220,"2048x2048-height":314,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Gary_A_Rendsburg.jpg","post_full_size-width":220,"post_full_size-height":314,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Gary_A_Rendsburg.jpg","home_baner-width":220,"home_baner-height":314}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"241","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"And thus becomes a foreshadowing of unfulfilled promises to come","post_main_content_content":" Robert Alter (University of California, Berkeley), is the world\u2019s leading scholar of the literary approach to the Bible. All of us who engage in this aspect of Biblical Studies, the present writer included, have learned much from his penetrating studies and analyses beginning in the late 1970s and continuing until the present day.<\/span><\/p>\r\n One of Alter\u2019s most brilliant discoveries during the course of his research is the typescene. \u00a0This term, borrowed from Homeric scholarship, refers to the manner in which ancient Israelite authors would use the same ingredients over and over again to create a recurrent scene, albeit with different characters. The best example is: the Israelite bachelor in a foreign land encounters an eligible woman drawing water at the well. The reader does not need to read further, for he\/she knows simply through these ingredients that the two characters will marry. <\/span><\/p>\r\n The standard examples are: Jacob\u2019s encountering Rachel at the well in the land of Aram (Genesis 29), and Moses\u2019 encountering Zipporah (amongst the seven daughters of Jethro) in the land of Midian (Exod 2:15-22). A variation on the theme occurs in Genesis 24, where the unnamed servant of Abraham (serving as surrogate for Isaac) encounters Rebekah at the well in the land of Aram. All three of these result in the marriage of the principal characters. <\/span><\/p>\r\n Alter further identified the inverted typescene in the book of Ruth. In this story, all is inverted, so that an eligible non-Israelite woman (Ruth) encounters her intended (Boaz) at a well in the land of Israel (see Ruth 2:9 especially) \u2013 and they too become married.<\/span><\/p>\r\n When we read of Saul\u2019s encounter with the young women in 1 Sam 9:11, accordingly, we are primed to anticipate the marriage of Saul with one of the lasses. This helps explain the geographical details presented in v. 5, with the reference to \u201cthe district of Zuph\u201d serving to inform the reader that Saul had traversed the boundary of his home territory of Benjamin, and had arrived in the \u201cforeign\u201d territory of Ephraim \u2013 which is to say, Saul is now an eligible bachelor in a \u201cforeign\u201d land, who encounters the young women leaving the city to draw water at the well.<\/span><\/p>\r\n But the expectation of the reader is dashed. \u00a0For, instead of marrying one of the young women, they have only a brief encounter and conversation and then go their separate ways. \u00a0As Alter astutely observes, the typescene is aborted, as an adumbration of (spoiler alert!) Saul\u2019s aborted kingship.<\/span><\/p>\r\n image:\u00a0The Daughters of Jethro<\/em>,\u00a0Th\u00e9ophile Hamel, ca 1850 \/ wikimedia<\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":57398,"alt":"","title":"isam9-women at well","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam9-women-at-well.jpg","width":800,"height":953,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam9-women-at-well-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam9-women-at-well-252x300.jpg","medium-width":252,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam9-women-at-well-768x915.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":915,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam9-women-at-well.jpg","large-width":800,"large-height":953,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam9-women-at-well.jpg","1536x1536-width":800,"1536x1536-height":953,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam9-women-at-well.jpg","2048x2048-width":800,"2048x2048-height":953,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam9-women-at-well.jpg","post_full_size-width":800,"post_full_size-height":953,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam9-women-at-well-353x420.jpg","home_baner-width":353,"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":"An Expectation Left Unfulfilled","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"And thus becomes a foreshadowing of unfulfilled promises to come","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":57398,"alt":"","title":"isam9-women at well","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam9-women-at-well.jpg","width":800,"height":953,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam9-women-at-well-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam9-women-at-well-252x300.jpg","medium-width":252,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam9-women-at-well-768x915.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":915,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam9-women-at-well.jpg","large-width":800,"large-height":953,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam9-women-at-well.jpg","1536x1536-width":800,"1536x1536-height":953,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam9-women-at-well.jpg","2048x2048-width":800,"2048x2048-height":953,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam9-women-at-well.jpg","post_full_size-width":800,"post_full_size-height":953,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam9-women-at-well-353x420.jpg","home_baner-width":353,"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":"I Samuel","chapter":"9","chapter_main_number":"241","date":"20260802","wall_id":"241"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"373","name":"Literature","old_id":"773"},{"term_id":"522","name":"Marriage","old_id":"922"},{"term_id":"721","name":"Text","old_id":"1121"},{"term_id":"885","name":"Saul","old_id":"1285"}]},{"order":13,"id":"57380","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Saul, The Unlikely King ","post_title":"Saul, The Unlikely King","slug":"saul-the-unlikely-king","old_id":"57380","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":56443,"post_title":"Moshe Halbertal","slug":"moshe-halbertal","old_id":"56443","first_name":"Moshe ","last_name":"Halbertal ","description":"Prof. Moshe Halbertal is a professor of Jewish thought and philosophy at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and a professor of law at New York University (NYU) and the Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya. His latest book, co-authored with Stephen Holmes, The Beginning of Politics: Power in the Biblical Book of Samuel was published by Princeton University Press in 2017. Halbertal was the recipient of the Michael Bruno Memorial Award of the Rothschild Foundation and the Goldstein-Goren Book Award for the best book in Jewish thought in the years 1997 to 2000. In 2010, Halbertal was named a member of Israel\u2019s Academy for the Sciences and the Humanities.","short_description":"Prof. Moshe Halbertal is a professor of Jewish thought and philosophy at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and a professor of law at New York University (NYU) and the Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya. ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":56444,"alt":"","title":"Moshe-Halbertal","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Moshe-Halbertal.png","width":500,"height":500,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Moshe-Halbertal-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Moshe-Halbertal-300x300.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Moshe-Halbertal.png","medium_large-width":500,"medium_large-height":500,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Moshe-Halbertal.png","large-width":500,"large-height":500,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Moshe-Halbertal.png","1536x1536-width":500,"1536x1536-height":500,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Moshe-Halbertal.png","2048x2048-width":500,"2048x2048-height":500,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Moshe-Halbertal.png","post_full_size-width":500,"post_full_size-height":500,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Moshe-Halbertal-420x420.png","home_baner-width":420,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"241","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Saul is artfully portrayed as the diametrical opposite of a political schemer consumed by naked ambition","post_main_content_content":" Saul makes his first appearance in the chapter that follows the request of Israel for a king, and God\u2019s initially indignant and ultimately resigned acquiescence. Introduced as the son of Kish from the tribe of Benjamin, Saul is described as \u201ca fine and goodly young fellow, and no man of the Israelites was goodlier than he, head and shoulders taller than all the people\u201d (1 Sam 9:2). Saul has the physical stature of a leader, but the sequence of events that follows makes clear that he was anything but an ambitious young man craving power and political authority. <\/span><\/p>\r\n It is no accident that the narrative of Saul\u2019s journey away from home - a journey that leads to his anointment by Samuel as the future king - began with Saul seeking something trivial; he was sent by his father with one of his lads to retrieve some lost asses. After searching a large terrain and failing to locate the asses, Saul exhibited a sensitivity and uncertainty incompatible with crassly cynical ambition or a burning lust for power. He addressed the accompanying lad: Come, let us turn back, lest my father cease worrying about the asses and worry about us\u201d (1 Sam 9:5-6). Saul was a considerate and decent son, worrying about his father\u2019s worrying. So the lad, his inferior, took the lead, making sure that the quest did not end prematurely: \u201cLook, pray, there is a man of God in this town, and the man is esteemed - whatever he says will surely come to pass. Now then, let us go there. Perhaps he will tell us of our way on which we have gone\u201d (1 Sam 9:6-7). <\/span><\/p>\r\n Drawing a sharp contrast between Saul\u2019s irresolution and his lad\u2019s initiative, our narrator has Saul voice an additional worry: \u201cBut look, if we are to go, what shall we bring to the man? For the bread is gone from our kits and there is no gift to bring to the man of God. What do we have? And the lad answers: \u201cLook, I happen to have at hand a quarter of a shekel of silver that I can give to the man of God, that he may tell us our way\u201d (1 Sam 9:7-8). Not Saul but the lad carried the cash that could be offered to the man of God (who happened to be Samuel), and Saul merely followed his lead. <\/span><\/p>\r\n Although tapped to become king, Saul is artfully portrayed as the diametrical opposite of a political schemer consumed by naked ambition. Before acceding to the throne, he bears absolutely no psychological resemblance to the voracious monarchs whose insatiable craving for ever-greater power at the expense of their people\u2019s well-being was the subject of Samuel\u2019s prophetic warnings.<\/span><\/p>\r\n Excerpts from The Beginning of Politics: Power in the Biblical Book of Samuel<\/em>\u00a0\u2013 Moshe Halbertal and Stephen Holmes, Princeton University Press, 2017, pp.18-20. By permission of the author.<\/span><\/p>\r\n <\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":56668,"alt":"","title":"halbertal-book cover.jpg","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/halbertal-book-cover.jpg.png","width":2000,"height":2000,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/halbertal-book-cover.jpg-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/halbertal-book-cover.jpg-300x300.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/halbertal-book-cover.jpg-768x768.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":768,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/halbertal-book-cover.jpg-1024x1024.png","large-width":1024,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/halbertal-book-cover.jpg.png","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/halbertal-book-cover.jpg.png","2048x2048-width":2000,"2048x2048-height":2000,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/halbertal-book-cover.jpg-1200x1200.png","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/halbertal-book-cover.jpg-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":"Excerpts from:\u201cThe Beginning of Politics: Power in the Biblical Book of Samuel\u201d ","tile_main_caption":"Saul, The Unlikely King","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Saul is artfully portrayed as the diametrical opposite of a political schemer consumed by naked ambition","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":56668,"alt":"","title":"halbertal-book cover.jpg","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/halbertal-book-cover.jpg.png","width":2000,"height":2000,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/halbertal-book-cover.jpg-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/halbertal-book-cover.jpg-300x300.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/halbertal-book-cover.jpg-768x768.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":768,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/halbertal-book-cover.jpg-1024x1024.png","large-width":1024,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/halbertal-book-cover.jpg.png","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/halbertal-book-cover.jpg.png","2048x2048-width":2000,"2048x2048-height":2000,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/halbertal-book-cover.jpg-1200x1200.png","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/halbertal-book-cover.jpg-420x420.png","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":"I Samuel","chapter":"9","chapter_main_number":"241","date":"20260802","wall_id":"241"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"423","name":"Politics","old_id":"823"},{"term_id":"503","name":"Power","old_id":"903"},{"term_id":"885","name":"Saul","old_id":"1285"}]},{"order":14,"id":"111141","color":"#f6edf6","size":"1","name":"The Tanakh Podcast-ISam9 ","post_title":"The Tanakh Podcast-ISam9","slug":"the-tanakh-podcast-isam9","old_id":"111141","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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It caught the audience\u2019s attention, as I had expected, but then I had to elaborate. I drew their attention to chapter one verses 27-28, in which Hannah explained to Eli:<\/span><\/p>\r\n I prayed for this child. God granted me the request I asked of him. So I have put him on loan to God; all the days of his being he will be on loan to God.<\/span><\/p>\r\n The verbal root <\/span>SH-\u2018-L<\/span><\/i>, to request or to borrow, repeats itself no fewer than four times in these two verses, most prominently in the concluding phrase which, taken quite literally, actually says \u201call the days of his being he will be <\/span>sha\u2019ul<\/span><\/em> to God.\u201d There you have it: Hannah\u2019s son was intended to be Shaul\/Saul; since he turned out, instead, to be Samuel, they must have been switched at birth.<\/span><\/p>\r\n Let us look at the circumstances in which Samuel and Saul first met. Saul\u2019s father had lost some donkeys and dispatched Saul and one of his servants to seek them. Just as Saul was about to give up, the servant suggested a visit to Samuel. At first glance, this appears odd. Samuel was a circuit judge and a prophet, but not a lost and found. The servant, however, knew otherwise; he referred to Samuel as \u201cthe man of God\u201d (6), and even produced what seems to have been the price of admission for an audience with him: a silver quarter (8).<\/span><\/p>\r\n The critical verse follows: \u201cAforetime in Israel, when a man went to inquire of God, he would say: 'Come and let us go to the seer'; for he that is now called a prophet was aforetime called a seer\u201d (9). The association of prophecy (<\/span>navi<\/span><\/em>) with seeing (<\/span>ro\u2019eh<\/span><\/em>) is reinforced by our observation that prophetic communication is oftentimes called a sight (<\/span>mar\u2019eh<\/span><\/em>) and, otherwise, a vision (<\/span>hazon<\/span><\/em>).<\/span><\/p>\r\n But whose words are these? Rashi inferred that they were not spoken by Saul\u2019s servant but were interpolated by \u201cthe scribe (<\/span>sofer<\/span><\/em>) who wrote the Book of Samuel.\u201d Radak elaborated on the seeming incongruity of \u201caforetime\u201d when this encounter occurred shortly before the deaths of both protagonists, and explained that \u201caforetime\u201d refers to an earlier era in which prophets were known for the ability to foretell events or disclose hidden things. By the era of Samuel, however, the definition had evolved to identify a <\/span>navi<\/span><\/em> as an interlocutor (<\/span>niv sefatayim<\/span><\/em>): one who bore divine messages to the people.<\/span><\/p>\r\n image: Samuel Blessing Saul<\/em>, Gustav Dore \/ 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Arts","old_id":"769"}]},{"order":18,"id":"57376","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Saul\u2019s First Uncertain Steps ","post_title":"Saul\u2019s First Uncertain Steps","slug":"sauls-first-uncertain-steps","old_id":"57376","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":54356,"post_title":"Robert Alter","slug":"robert-alter","old_id":"54356","first_name":"Robert ","last_name":"Alter","description":"Robert Alter is the Class of 1937 Professor of Hebrew and Comparative Literature at the University of California at Berkeley, where he has taught since 1967. He has written over twenty books, focusing on such topics as the European novel from the 18th century to the present, contemporary American fiction, and modern Hebrew literature. He has also written extensively on the literary aspects of the Bible. His most recent work is his monumental three volume translation of the entire Hebrew Bible - The Hebrew Bible, W. W. Norton & Co., 2019 - from which the selections in 929 are taken. ","short_description":"Robert Alter is the Class of 1937 Professor of Hebrew and Comparative Literature at the University of California at Berkeley, and author of the three-volume translation of the entire Hebrew Bible - The Hebrew Bible, W. W. Norton & Co., 2019.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":54357,"alt":"","title":"robert alter","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/robert-alter.jpg","width":184,"height":275,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/robert-alter-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/robert-alter.jpg","medium-width":184,"medium-height":275,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/robert-alter.jpg","medium_large-width":184,"medium_large-height":275,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/robert-alter.jpg","large-width":184,"large-height":275,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/robert-alter.jpg","1536x1536-width":184,"1536x1536-height":275,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/robert-alter.jpg","2048x2048-width":184,"2048x2048-height":275,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/robert-alter.jpg","post_full_size-width":184,"post_full_size-height":275,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/robert-alter.jpg","home_baner-width":184,"home_baner-height":275}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"241","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"A future king who needs prodding and direction","post_main_content_content":" \"They were coming into the region of Zuf when Saul said to his lad who was with him, 'Come, let us turn back, lest my father cease worrying about the asses and worry about us.'\u201d (9:5)<\/span><\/p>\r\n Commentary: <\/span>Come, let us turn back<\/span><\/i><\/p>\r\n According to the general principle of biblical narrative that the first reported speech of a character is a defining moment of characterization, Saul\u2019s first utterance reveals him as a young man uncertain about pursuing his way, and quite concerned about his father. This concern, especially in light of the attention devoted to tense relations between fathers and sons in the ensuing narrative, is touching, and suggests that the young Saul is a sensitive person- an attribute that will be woefully submerged by his experience of political power. But as this first dialogue unfolds, it is Saul\u2019s uncertainty that comes to the fore because at every step he has to be prodded and directed by his own servant. <\/span><\/p>\r\n From: Robert Alter, <\/span>The Hebrew Bible<\/span><\/em>