{"id":57504,"date":"2018-07-09T17:43:23","date_gmt":"2018-07-09T14:43:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wall\/wall-1049\/"},"modified":"2023-01-13T13:03:37","modified_gmt":"2023-01-13T11:03:37","slug":"wall-1049","status":"publish","type":"wall","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wall\/wall-1049\/","title":{"rendered":"weekend-from-20230108-to-20230114"},"parent":0,"template":"","acf":{"type":"weekend","wall_id":"1049","date_from":"20230108","date_to":"20230114","book":"I Samuel","books_group":"Prophets","hide_acf":true,"home_image":false,"home_posts":false,"home_posts_title":"","posts_home":[],"posts":[{"order":1,"id":"40574","color":"#effaea","size":"1","name":"We Are An Exodus People ","post_title":"We Are An Exodus People","slug":"we-are-an-exodus-people","old_id":"40574","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":40575,"post_title":"Sharon Brous","slug":"sharon-brous","old_id":"40575","first_name":"Sharon","last_name":"Brous","description":"","short_description":"","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":40576,"alt":"","title":"\u05d4\u05d5\u05e8\u05d3","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/\u05d4\u05d5\u05e8\u05d3.jpg","width":225,"height":225,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/\u05d4\u05d5\u05e8\u05d3-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/\u05d4\u05d5\u05e8\u05d3.jpg","medium-width":225,"medium-height":225,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/\u05d4\u05d5\u05e8\u05d3.jpg","medium_large-width":225,"medium_large-height":225,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/\u05d4\u05d5\u05e8\u05d3.jpg","large-width":225,"large-height":225,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/\u05d4\u05d5\u05e8\u05d3.jpg","1536x1536-width":225,"1536x1536-height":225,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/\u05d4\u05d5\u05e8\u05d3.jpg","2048x2048-width":225,"2048x2048-height":225,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/\u05d4\u05d5\u05e8\u05d3.jpg","post_full_size-width":225,"post_full_size-height":225,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/\u05d4\u05d5\u05e8\u05d3.jpg","home_baner-width":225,"home_baner-height":225}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"51","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"It is the God of Exodus who teaches humankind to respond to injustice with hope, courage and determination","post_main_content_content":"

The Torah begins in \"gan eden\" \u2014 the Garden of Eden, a place of pure perfection in which there is no suffering, no longing, no loss. But from the height of physical and spiritual fulfillment, the Book of Genesis goes on to narrate one story after another of descent and exile. It is a book of expulsion, punishment, and global destruction, of conflict within families and conflict between nations. Genesis concludes with the Israelite people\u2019s descent into Egypt, setting the stage for generations of slavery and suffering.<\/p>\r\n

But our story doesn\u2019t end with the Book of Genesis. We immediately turn to Exodus, a book that begins with the Israelites thrust into slavery, degraded, humiliated and tortured. But it quickly turns to a story of miracles, of plagues and wonders, of a fiery partnership between God and humankind, rooted in holiness in time (Shabbat) and in space (mishkan, the tabernacle). In contrast to Genesis, this book tells a story of ascent, of redemption. It is a story in which\u2014 from depths of darkness\u2014 we affirm the possibility of light. A story in which the people, for generations squeezed in the narrowness of Mitzrayim, Egypt, come to embody the expansiveness of human potential. A light unto the nations\u2014 a symbol for all time of the impossible made possible.<\/p>\r\n

It is the God of Exodus who teaches humankind to respond to injustice with hope, courage and determination. And it is the story of the Exodus that offers the most potent and undeniable counter-testimony to the reality of our world. Just when the darkness seems to eclipse any light, just when we\u2019re spent, ready to succumb to the triumph of evil, we\u2019re called to remember the great dream that was born with the writing of this epic story.<\/p>\r\n

Because the Jewish people ultimately is not a Genesis people. We are an Exodus people.<\/p>\r\n

The dream of the Exodus\u2014with its promise that the trajectory of our lives is from darkness to light, grief to celebration, degradation to dignity\u2014 has kept the Jewish people alive. It has given us the strength to survive years of scarcity and suffering, and the direction to live with gratitude and meaning in the years of abundance and blessing. Rav Kook taught that the whole world stands on our ability to dream great dreams. This story reminds us that our very survival rests on our ability to dream bold, impossible dreams.<\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":65337,"alt":"","title":"is11-peace-justice-world","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is11-peace-justice-world.jpg","width":1920,"height":730,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is11-peace-justice-world-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is11-peace-justice-world-300x114.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":114,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is11-peace-justice-world-768x292.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":292,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is11-peace-justice-world-1024x389.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":389,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is11-peace-justice-world.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":584,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is11-peace-justice-world.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":730,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is11-peace-justice-world-1200x456.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":456,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is11-peace-justice-world-1105x420.jpg","home_baner-width":1105,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"We Are An Exodus People","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"It is the God of Exodus who teaches humankind to respond to injustice with hope, courage and 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Enter the site to explore 2,500 years of Biblical interpretation and enjoy a rich, multi-dimensional, learning experience.\r\n","short_description":"ALHATORAH.ORG Re-envisioning the way Torah can be studied and taught","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":37929,"alt":"","title":"shutterstock_473208484","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/shutterstock_473208484.jpg","width":10000,"height":10000,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/shutterstock_473208484-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/shutterstock_473208484-300x300.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/shutterstock_473208484-768x768.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":768,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/shutterstock_473208484-1024x1024.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/shutterstock_473208484.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/shutterstock_473208484.jpg","2048x2048-width":2048,"2048x2048-height":2048,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/shutterstock_473208484-1200x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/shutterstock_473208484-420x420.jpg","home_baner-width":420,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"52","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"","post_main_content_content":"

The story of Moses' killing of the Egyptian in Exodus 2:11-12 serves to introduce the reader to the adult Moses, and helps shape one's initial perceptions of the leader. Thus, commentators -- \u00a0artists amongst them -- have much to say about the incident, questioning Moses\u2019 motivation, justification, and the details of the story itself. The contrast between the two artworks displayed here, the image from Arthur Szyk's <\/span>Haggadah<\/em> <\/span>(1932-1938) and the engraving from Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld's <\/span>Picture Bible<\/span><\/em> (1851-1860) serves to highlight many of the issues and ambiguities of the narrative.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

\"\"<\/p>\r\n

Szyk chooses to dress Moses in garb similar to the Egyptian whom he is striking. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

\"\"<\/p>\r\n

Schnorr, in contrast, sets Moses apart both from the Hebrew slaves and from the taskmaster, adorning him with a full cloak and thus marking him as higher-class. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

These different portrayals make one question both how Moses viewed himself and how he was perceived by others at this stage of the narrative. Did Moses identify as Egyptian or Jew? Were his actions motivated by a feeling of brotherhood or just a strong sense of justice? Did anyone else know he was Israelite or had he been fully integrated into the royal family?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Adapted from: ALHATORAH.ORG<\/span><\/p>\r\n

For fuller analysis, see: <\/span>http:\/\/alhatorah.org\/Moshe_Killing_the_Egyptian_in_Art<\/span><\/a><\/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":"Two Views","tile_main_caption":"Moses Killing the Egyptian in Art","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Did Moses identify as Egyptian or 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response of sacred and undiluted presence, a readiness to receive and respond, brave and humble","post_main_content_content":"

One day, when Moses was tending his flock in the wilderness, having fled from Egypt and now living with his wife and sons in Midian, he came upon an unusual site: a lone bush among the desert scruff, ablaze. So he paused to look at it. And as he stood a while gazing upon the bush, he slowly began to realize that this was not just an unusual site (nothing else around it was burning); it was astonishing: a bush aflame but not being consumed. Riveted by this vision, he chose to draw closer, to get a better look.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

And it was in that moment that God seemed to finally choose Moses.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Perhaps it was because of his intense curiosity, his ability to bear witness to the inexplicable and not shrink from its presence.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Perhaps it was because Moses held off judgment, refusing to give in to superstitions or conjure up easy or fantastical explanations but rather chose to be present to the moment of awe and mystery.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Or perhaps it was because this time, Moses chose not to run away from power and danger but toward it.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Whatever it was, God chose Moses and called his name. \u201cMoses, Moses.\u201d And Moses answered, as did Abraham and Jacob before him and Samuel after him: \u201cHineni, here I am.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

A stunning response. \u201cHineni\u201d is a pure, astonished, unguarded affirmation given before all the facts are known. It is a spontaneous, unequivocal commitment promising: \u201cI am <\/span>here<\/b>\u201d, where and as you found me, fully attentive, focused, all in. And \u00a0even more, \u201c<\/span>I <\/b>am here\u201d- all of me, with all that I am and all that I can be.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

\u201cHineni\u201d is a response of sacred and undiluted presence, a response in which the self sheds all reservations, which expands the boundaries of self, indicating a readiness to receive and respond to whatever experience is about to unfold. It is brave and humble.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

It is the kind of response we offer only a few times in our lives. When we promise ourselves to the one we love not knowing what the future might bring; when we gaze into a newborn\u2019s eyes and promise we will never let them down. When we promise ourselves \u2013 as we enter a new era of our lives - to be all that we can be.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

It is no doubt the kind of response God was hoping for. The story of the Jewish people could now continue. <\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":56946,"alt":"","title":"isam3-hineni","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam3-hineni.jpg","width":200,"height":201,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam3-hineni-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam3-hineni.jpg","medium-width":200,"medium-height":201,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam3-hineni.jpg","medium_large-width":200,"medium_large-height":201,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam3-hineni.jpg","large-width":200,"large-height":201,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam3-hineni.jpg","1536x1536-width":200,"1536x1536-height":201,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam3-hineni.jpg","2048x2048-width":200,"2048x2048-height":201,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam3-hineni.jpg","post_full_size-width":200,"post_full_size-height":201,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam3-hineni.jpg","home_baner-width":200,"home_baner-height":201}},"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 Deepest Meanings of Hineini","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"A response of sacred and undiluted presence, a readiness to receive and respond, brave and humble","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":56946,"alt":"","title":"isam3-hineni","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam3-hineni.jpg","width":200,"height":201,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam3-hineni-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam3-hineni.jpg","medium-width":200,"medium-height":201,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam3-hineni.jpg","medium_large-width":200,"medium_large-height":201,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam3-hineni.jpg","large-width":200,"large-height":201,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam3-hineni.jpg","1536x1536-width":200,"1536x1536-height":201,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam3-hineni.jpg","2048x2048-width":200,"2048x2048-height":201,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam3-hineni.jpg","post_full_size-width":200,"post_full_size-height":201,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam3-hineni.jpg","home_baner-width":200,"home_baner-height":201}},"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":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","links":false,"send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Exodus","chapter":"3","chapter_main_number":"53","date":"20251111","wall_id":"53"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"608","name":"Promise","old_id":"1008"}]},{"order":4,"id":"40801","color":"#effaea","size":"1","name":"Ehyeh: Jewish vs. Greek Understandings ","post_title":"Ehyeh: Jewish vs. Greek Understandings","slug":"ehyeh-jewish-vs-greek-understandings","old_id":"40801","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":33923,"post_title":"Jonathan Sacks","slug":"rabbi-lord-jonathan-sacks","old_id":"33923","first_name":"Jonathan ","last_name":"Sacks","description":"An international religious leader, philosopher, and award-winning author of over 35 books, Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks served as the International President of 929.\r\nRabbi Sacks served as the Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth years between 1991 and 2013, and was knighted by Her Majesty The Queen in 2005 and made a Life Peer. Rabbi Sacks passed away on 7th November 2020, aged 72. He was one of the greatest Jewish thinkers of the 20th century, who bridged the religious and secular world through his ground-breaking canon of work.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"short_description":"Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks z\"k (1948-2020) was the former Chief Rabbi of the Commonwealth, and the International 929 president.","link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":36222,"alt":"","title":"JSacks","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/JSacks-e1532858712594.jpg","width":437,"height":548,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/JSacks-e1532858712594-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/JSacks-e1532858712594-239x300.jpg","medium-width":239,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/JSacks-768x448.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":448,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/JSacks-1024x597.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":597,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/JSacks-e1532858712594.jpg","1536x1536-width":437,"1536x1536-height":548,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/JSacks-e1532858712594.jpg","2048x2048-width":437,"2048x2048-height":548,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/JSacks-e1532858712594.jpg","post_full_size-width":437,"post_full_size-height":548,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/JSacks-e1532858712594-335x420.jpg","home_baner-width":335,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"53","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"The God of Israel is the God of the future tense","post_main_content_content":"

[When Moses] encounters God at the burning bush, God summons him to lead the Israelites out of Egypt, but Moses is reluctant. Who am I, he asks, to be worthy of such a task? God reassures him, and then Moses asks, Who are you? When the Israelites ask, who has sent you, what shall I say? God replies in a cryptic three word phrase, <\/span>Ehyeh asher ehyeh<\/span><\/em> (Ex. 3: 14).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

It is fascinating to see how Christian Bibles translate this clause. Here are some recent examples:<\/span><\/p>\r\n

I am who I am.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

I am what I am.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

I am that I am.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

I am \u2013 that is who I am.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

These are all mistranslations, and the error is there from the beginning. In Greek, \u00a0<\/span>Ehyeh asher ehyeh<\/span><\/i> became <\/span>ego eimi ho on<\/span><\/i>, and in Latin, <\/span>ego sum qui sum<\/span><\/i>: 'I am he who is.' To early and medieval Christians alike, this was God's way of describing himself as 'Being-itself, timeless, immutable, incorporeal, understood as the subsisting act of all existing.' The mistake of all these translations is obvious to the merest beginner in Hebrew. The phrase means, 'I will be what I will be.' The verb <\/span>does not use the present tense<\/span><\/i>\u2026<\/span><\/p>\r\n

God does <\/span>not<\/span><\/i> describe himself as the non-Jewish translations would have it. 'I am that I am' is a translation that owes everything to the philosophical tradition of ancient Greece, and nothing to the thought of ancient Israel. The God of pure being, first cause, prime mover, necessary existence, is the god of the philosophers, not the God of the prophets.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

What then is the meaning of 'I will be what I will be'? What this means is that God cannot be predicted or controlled. He cannot be confined to categories or known in advance. He is telling Moses, 'You cannot know how I will appear <\/span>until<\/span><\/i> I appear; how I will act <\/span>until<\/span><\/i> I act. My mercy, my compassion, my strategic interventions into history, cannot be controlled or foretold. I will be what, when and how I choose to be. I am the God of the radically unknowable future, the God of surprises. You will know me when you see me, but not before.'<\/span><\/p>\r\n

To be sure, in one sense, the future is connected to the past. God keeps his promises. That is an essential element of Jewish faith. But this very fact reveals the difference between <\/span>predictability<\/span><\/i> on the one hand, and <\/span>faithfulness<\/span><\/i> on the other. Objects fall, gas expands, particles combine: these things are predictable. But people freely honour obligations they have undertaken because they are faithful. That is the difference God never fails to teach Moses and the prophets. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

God's name tells us that he is not an entity knowable by philosophy or science, deducible from the past. God awaits us in the unknown and unknowable future. That is the first stage of the argument: <\/span>the God of Israel is the God of the future tense.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\r\n

Excerpted from: Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, <\/span>Future Tense<\/span><\/i><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":104143,"alt":"","title":"-625d3abce3da7--625d3abce3da9ex3-clocks time 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Jewish vs. Greek Understandings","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"The God of Israel is the God of the future tense","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":104143,"alt":"","title":"-625d3abce3da7--625d3abce3da9ex3-clocks time 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Sacks","old_id":"754"}]},{"order":5,"id":"40871","color":"#effaea","size":"1","name":"Hardening The Hearts For The Sake Of Free Choice ","post_title":"Hardening The Hearts For The Sake Of Free Choice","slug":"hardening-the-hearts-for-the-sake-of-free-choice","old_id":"40871","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":38047,"post_title":"Shoshana Michael Zucker","slug":"shoshana-michael-zucker","old_id":"38047","first_name":"Shoshana Michael ","last_name":"Zucker ","description":"Shoshana Michael Zucker is a translator and editor by profession, but would much rather be learning and teaching Torah. A graduate of Barnard College, she made aliyah in 1983 and now lives in Kfar Saba where she is an active member of the Masorti Congregation Hod veHadar. ","short_description":"Shoshana Michael Zucker is a translator and editor and lives in Kfar Saba \r\n","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":38048,"alt":"","title":"Shoshana Michael Zucker","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Shoshana-Michael-Zucker.jpg","width":231,"height":310,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Shoshana-Michael-Zucker-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Shoshana-Michael-Zucker-224x300.jpg","medium-width":224,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Shoshana-Michael-Zucker.jpg","medium_large-width":231,"medium_large-height":310,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Shoshana-Michael-Zucker.jpg","large-width":231,"large-height":310,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Shoshana-Michael-Zucker.jpg","1536x1536-width":231,"1536x1536-height":310,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Shoshana-Michael-Zucker.jpg","2048x2048-width":231,"2048x2048-height":310,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Shoshana-Michael-Zucker.jpg","post_full_size-width":231,"post_full_size-height":310,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Shoshana-Michael-Zucker.jpg","home_baner-width":231,"home_baner-height":310}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"55","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"It takes hard work to break bad habits","post_main_content_content":"

Pharaoh sits on his throne and says: \u201cNo!\u201d<\/p>\r\n

\u201cI do not<\/strong> know the Eternal, and I will not<\/strong> will I let Israel go\u201d (Exodus 5:2).<\/p>\r\n

This declaration marks the beginning of the battle between Pharaoh\u200e and God, in which God strives not only to liberate the Israelites but also to produce a magnificent, albeit destructive, show of power intended to prove God\u2019s unique divinity to Egyptians and Israelites alike.<\/p>\r\n

Ten times during the story of the Exodus, the Torah tells us that Pharaoh hardened his heart. Another ten times, it says that God did the hardening. Between one hardening of the heart and another, Pharaoh relents and agrees to allow the Israelites to leave, but soon has second thoughts and hardens his heart again. Pharaoh\u2019s independent behavior is comprehensible. He takes a strong position of principle, responds to conditions in the field, and resumes his previous position when conditions improve; over and over again.<\/p>\r\n

But why did God harden Pharaoh\u2019s heart? Must proving divine power come at such a high cost?<\/p>\r\n

Maimonides, who declared free will a major foundational principle of Torah, explains that Pharaoh is denied his freedom as a punishment, after he sinned severely (Laws of Repentance, 6:3). Yet elsewhere Maimonides clearly states that God does not actively intervene in the world; Pharaoh was not deprived of his freedom. Rather he lost it by succumbing to his own bad habits. Likely this was not the first time he behaved in this manner, which allowed God to foresee the entire process, and tell Moses how it would progress even before the first plague.<\/p>\r\n

Another school of interpretation, represented by Rabbi Ovadia Sforno (Italy, 15-16th century) explains that hardening Pharaoh\u2019s heart was intended to give him an opportunity to make right decision for the right reason: \u201cIf his heart had not been hardened, Pharaoh surely would have released the Israelites but [only] because he could no longer tolerate the plagues.\u201d By this reading, Pharaoh\u2019s heart was hardened against suffering, but he still had the ability to make the correct choice.<\/p>\r\n

None of us are Pharaoh but we each have our own bad habits. Sforno\u2019s reading alerts us to the strenuous effort needed to break those habits. We remain endowed with freedom of choice but using it requires hard work. The Torah will later commands us to choose life and good, but it never promises that it will be easy.<\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":53737,"alt":"","title":"jo11-hard-heart","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo11-hard-heart.png","width":330,"height":190,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo11-hard-heart-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo11-hard-heart-300x173.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":173,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo11-hard-heart.png","medium_large-width":330,"medium_large-height":190,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo11-hard-heart.png","large-width":330,"large-height":190,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo11-hard-heart.png","1536x1536-width":330,"1536x1536-height":190,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo11-hard-heart.png","2048x2048-width":330,"2048x2048-height":190,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo11-hard-heart.png","post_full_size-width":330,"post_full_size-height":190,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo11-hard-heart.png","home_baner-width":330,"home_baner-height":190}},"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":"Hardening The Hearts For The Sake Of Free Choice","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"It takes hard work to break bad habits","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":53737,"alt":"","title":"jo11-hard-heart","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo11-hard-heart.png","width":330,"height":190,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo11-hard-heart-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo11-hard-heart-300x173.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":173,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo11-hard-heart.png","medium_large-width":330,"medium_large-height":190,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo11-hard-heart.png","large-width":330,"large-height":190,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo11-hard-heart.png","1536x1536-width":330,"1536x1536-height":190,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo11-hard-heart.png","2048x2048-width":330,"2048x2048-height":190,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo11-hard-heart.png","post_full_size-width":330,"post_full_size-height":190,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo11-hard-heart.png","home_baner-width":330,"home_baner-height":190}},"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":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","links":false,"send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Exodus","chapter":"5","chapter_main_number":"55","date":"20251113","wall_id":"55"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"366","name":"Commentators","old_id":"766"},{"term_id":"384","name":"God","old_id":"784"},{"term_id":"386","name":"Psychology","old_id":"786"},{"term_id":"591","name":"Pharaoh","old_id":"991"}]},{"order":6,"id":"57471","color":"#f8ebe3","size":"1","name":"Saul The Lose-r ","post_title":"Saul The Lose-r","slug":"saul-the-lose-r","old_id":"57471","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":34245,"post_title":"Rachel Sharansky Danziger","slug":"rachel-sharansky-danziger","old_id":"34245","first_name":"Rachel Sharansky","last_name":"Danziger","description":"Rachel Sharansky Danziger is a Jerusalem-born writer and speaker who blogs about Judaism, parenting, and life in Israel. She currently lives in Boston, where she teaches about storytelling in the bible and the subversive depths of Hebrew words.\r\n","short_description":"Rachel Sharansky Danziger is a Jerusalem-born Boston-based writer and speaker about Judaism, parenting, and life in Israel. ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":34246,"alt":"","title":"RSDanziger","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/RSDanziger.jpg","width":1171,"height":1769,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/RSDanziger-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/RSDanziger-199x300.jpg","medium-width":199,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/RSDanziger-678x1024.jpg","medium_large-width":678,"medium_large-height":1024,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/RSDanziger-678x1024.jpg","large-width":678,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/RSDanziger.jpg","1536x1536-width":1017,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/RSDanziger.jpg","2048x2048-width":1171,"2048x2048-height":1769,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/RSDanziger-794x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":794,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/RSDanziger-278x420.jpg","home_baner-width":278,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"241","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Saul the youth doesn\u2019t know it yet, but the lost asses are merely his initiation into a lifetime of losing things ","post_main_content_content":"

Saul\u2019s walks onto the national stage when he seeks lost asses. 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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The Lose-r","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Saul the youth doesn\u2019t know it yet, but the lost asses are merely his initiation into a lifetime of losing things ","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":57472,"alt":"","title":"isam9-donkey 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Samuel","chapter":"9","chapter_main_number":"241","date":"20260802","wall_id":"241"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"466","name":"Goodness","old_id":"866"},{"term_id":"885","name":"Saul","old_id":"1285"},{"term_id":"886","name":"Failure","old_id":"1286"}]},{"order":7,"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":8,"id":"57475","color":"#f6f5de","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":9,"id":"57559","color":"#efefef","size":"1","name":"The Hope Of Mitzpah ","post_title":"The Hope Of Mitzpah","slug":"the-hope-of-mitzpah","old_id":"57559","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":42746,"post_title":"Michal Kohane","slug":"michal-kohane","old_id":"42746","first_name":"Michal ","last_name":"Kohane ","description":"Currently based in Israel, Rabbanit Michal Kohane is a graduate of Yeshivat Maharat, a writer, community leader and teacher of Talmud & Torah. She holds degrees in Israel studies , education and psychology, and has been a leader and educator in Northern California for over 25 years. Her first novel, Hachug (\"Extracurricular\") was published in Israel in 2016 and her weekly blog can be found at http:\/\/www.miko284.com\r\n\r\n\r\n","short_description":"Currently based in Israel, Rabbanit Michal Kohane is a graduate of Yeshivat Maharat, a writer, community leader and teacher of Talmud & Torah. ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":42747,"alt":"","title":"michal kohane","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/michal-kohane-e1540448078529.jpg","width":214,"height":226,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/michal-kohane-e1540448078529-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/michal-kohane-e1540448078529.jpg","medium-width":214,"medium-height":226,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/michal-kohane-e1540448078529.jpg","medium_large-width":214,"medium_large-height":226,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/michal-kohane-e1540448078529.jpg","large-width":214,"large-height":226,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/michal-kohane-e1540448078529.jpg","1536x1536-width":214,"1536x1536-height":226,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/michal-kohane-e1540448078529.jpg","2048x2048-width":214,"2048x2048-height":226,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/michal-kohane-e1540448078529.jpg","post_full_size-width":214,"post_full_size-height":226,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/michal-kohane-e1540448078529.jpg","home_baner-width":214,"home_baner-height":226}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"242","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"To bring the people together for a better future ahead","post_main_content_content":"

It's easy to sleep right through the 16.2 sqm town of Tonopah Nevada with its mostly monotonous desert views, but a tall sign stands out:<\/span> Mizpah Hotel<\/span><\/a>. Built in 1907, it is a product of the great Nevada silver boom when it was known as the \u201cGrand Old Lady\u201d for its elegant service, comfort, and amenities. The five-story hotel was the tallest building in Nevada until 1929 and featured the first electric elevator west of the Mississippi. What caught my eyes, though, was its name.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Mitzpah is the place where Samuel gathers the People to offer words of rebuke before speaking about the upcoming new king. Radak (R. David Kimchi) writes: \u201cWhy did the people gather there? Because an altar and a \u201c<\/span>beit tefilla<\/span><\/em>\u201d (house of prayer) were there\u201d. Last time they gathered at Mitzpah, they were called to repent before the war with the Philistines which, led by Samuel, they won. Maybe Samuel gathers them here again to remind them that it is not human kingship that will determine their fate but walking in God\u2019s path.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

It is most likely that this Mitzpah was in the tribe of Benjamin area, associated with two possible high points north of Jerusalem: Tel en-Nasbeh (8 miles away) and Nebi Samuel (4 miles away)<\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Mitzpah, which Samson Raphael Hirsch translates as watchtower (from <\/span>tz.p.h<\/span><\/em>.<\/em> to look out), first appears in the Tanach much earlier in the Book of Genesis (31:49) as a mark between Jacob and Laban, his father in law, when Jacob journeys back to the Land of his forefathers. The Vilna Ga\u2019on teaches that Jacob and Laban built a couple of monuments: a <\/span>Gal-ed<\/span><\/em> and the <\/span>Mitzpah<\/span><\/em>. Gal-ed<\/em> from the root of <\/span>g.l.h<\/span><\/em>.<\/span><\/i> \u2013 to reveal, and <\/span>Mitzpah<\/span><\/em> from <\/span>tz.f.n<\/span><\/em>. to hide (like <\/span>Tzafun<\/span><\/em> at the Pesach Seder, when we look for the <\/span>Afikoman<\/span><\/em>), symbolic of the need to set boundaries. This Mitzpah was most likely in Gilead, on the eastern side of the Jordan.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

For some, the word \u201c<\/span>Mizpah<\/span><\/a>\u201d has come to connote an emotional bond between people who are separated (either physically or by death). There is Mizpah jewelry which is often made in the form of a coin-shaped pendant cut in two with a zig-zag line bearing the words \"The LORD watch between me and thee, when we are absent one from another\".<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Samuel must have had the same hope: to bring the people together for a better future ahead. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

Image: www.themizpahhotel.com, Tonapah, Nevada<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":57560,"alt":"","title":"isam10-mizpah","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam10-mizpah.jpg","width":634,"height":346,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam10-mizpah-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam10-mizpah-300x164.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":164,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam10-mizpah.jpg","medium_large-width":634,"medium_large-height":346,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam10-mizpah.jpg","large-width":634,"large-height":346,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam10-mizpah.jpg","1536x1536-width":634,"1536x1536-height":346,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam10-mizpah.jpg","2048x2048-width":634,"2048x2048-height":346,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam10-mizpah.jpg","post_full_size-width":634,"post_full_size-height":346,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam10-mizpah.jpg","home_baner-width":634,"home_baner-height":346}},"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 Hope Of Mitzpah","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"To bring the people together for a better future ahead","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":57560,"alt":"","title":"isam10-mizpah","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam10-mizpah.jpg","width":634,"height":346,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam10-mizpah-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam10-mizpah-300x164.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":164,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam10-mizpah.jpg","medium_large-width":634,"medium_large-height":346,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam10-mizpah.jpg","large-width":634,"large-height":346,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam10-mizpah.jpg","1536x1536-width":634,"1536x1536-height":346,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam10-mizpah.jpg","2048x2048-width":634,"2048x2048-height":346,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam10-mizpah.jpg","post_full_size-width":634,"post_full_size-height":346,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam10-mizpah.jpg","home_baner-width":634,"home_baner-height":346}},"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":"10","chapter_main_number":"242","date":"20260803","wall_id":"242"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"361","name":"Hebrew language","old_id":"761"},{"term_id":"444","name":"History","old_id":"844"},{"term_id":"781","name":"America","old_id":"1181"},{"term_id":"839","name":"Samuel","old_id":"1239"}]},{"order":10,"id":"57499","color":"#f2e9df","size":"1","name":"Before The Power Takes Hold ","post_title":"Before The Power Takes Hold","slug":"before-the-power-takes-hold","old_id":"57499","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":"242","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"A handsome but ambitionless king-designate is grudgingly enthroned","post_main_content_content":"

Staged without witnesses on the outskirts of town, the clandestine anointment of Saul by Samuel is followed in the narrative by a public coronation at Mizpah which again serves to underscore Saul\u2019s natural reluctance to assume power that has been so unexpectedly thrust upon him. In the presence of all the people, a divination procedure was enacted in the form of casting a lot meant to reveal the monarch already selected by God. The lot fell first on the tribe of Benjamin, and then on the clan of Matrit, and finally, from among that clan, the lot fell on Saul. After the identity of the new king was this made known, a strangely embarrassing moment ensued. Saul, the chosen one, couldn\u2019t be located: \u201cand they sought him but he was not to be found\u201d (1 Sam 10:22). When he was discovered at last hiding among the gear, the people dragged Saul to a kingship that he had unequivocally never sought for himself:<\/span><\/p>\r\n

\u201cAnd they ran and fetched him from there, and he stood forth amidst the people, and he was head and shoulders taller than all the people. And Samuel said to all the people, \u201cHave you seen whom the Lord has chosen? For there is none like him in all the people.\u201d And all the people shouted and said, \u201cLong love the king!\u201d (1 Sam 10:23-24).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

In this oddly graceless coronation ceremony, distinguished by Samuel\u2019s residual resentment and Saul\u2019s embarrassingly humble demeanor, a handsome but ambitionless king-designate was grudgingly enthroned.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Unlike someone long preparing to assume power, Saul didn\u2019t move swiftly to exploit the momentum of his coronation and consolidate his authority. The public gathering at Mizpah ended in anticlimactic dispersal: \u201cSamuel sent all the people away to their homes. And Saul, too, returned to his home in Gibeah, and the stalwart fellows whose hearts God had touched went with him\u201d (1 Sam 10:26-27). It is no wonder that Saul\u2019s slinking back into private life was followed with words of derision spat out by some skeptical and oppositional voices among the people: \u201cAnd worthless fellows had said, \u2018How will this one deliver us?\u2019 And they spurned him and brought him no tribute, but he pretended to keep his peace\u201d (1 Sam 10:27). But why exactly does the author of Samuel make sure that we see Saul as wholly devoid of lofty ambition and craving for power? It is sometimes said that the only one who can be trusted with power is the one who doesn\u2019t seek it. Yet our author, in these passages, obviously wished to convey a diametrically contrary thought. The account of Saul\u2019s first two coronations prepares us to see how the intoxicating appeal of supreme power will overtake even a character as naturally uncalculating, unassuming and unenterprising as Saul. <\/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.20-22. By permission of the author.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

 <\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":56668,"alt":"","title":"halbertal-book 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Samuel","chapter":"10","chapter_main_number":"242","date":"20260803","wall_id":"242"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"374","name":"Humanity","old_id":"774"},{"term_id":"503","name":"Power","old_id":"903"},{"term_id":"835","name":"King","old_id":"1235"},{"term_id":"839","name":"Samuel","old_id":"1239"},{"term_id":"885","name":"Saul","old_id":"1285"}]},{"order":11,"id":"57590","color":"#f6edf6","size":"1","name":"An Additional Opportunity To Humiliate The Israelites ","post_title":"An Additional Opportunity To Humiliate The Israelites","slug":"an-additional-opportunity-to-humiliate-the-israelites","old_id":"57590","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":"243","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Cynical generosity","post_main_content_content":"

And the elders of Jabesh said to him, \u201cLeave us alone for seven days, that we may send messengers through all the territory of Israel, and if there is none to rescue us, we shall come out to you\u201d (11:3)<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Commentary: <\/span>Leave us alone for seven days<\/span><\/i><\/p>\r\n

Nahash\u2019s seemingly surprising agreement to this condition is by no means a sign of generosity but must be understood from his viewpoint as an additional opportunity to humiliate the Israelites: he scarcely imagines that the disunited tribes will produce a \u201crescuer,\u201d and thus the impotent tribes will all be forced to witness helplessly the mutilation of their trans-Jordanian kinsmen.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

From: Robert Alter, <\/span>The Hebrew Bible, <\/span><\/i>vol. 2: Prophets, W. W. Norton & Co., 2019, ad loc. With permission from the author.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":54890,"alt":"","title":"Alter-Cover","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover.jpg","width":1200,"height":693,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-300x173.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":173,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-768x444.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":444,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-1024x591.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":591,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover.jpg","1536x1536-width":1200,"1536x1536-height":693,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover.jpg","2048x2048-width":1200,"2048x2048-height":693,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-1200x693.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":693,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-727x420.jpg","home_baner-width":727,"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":"From Robert Alter's Bible Translation and Commentary","tile_main_caption":"An Additional Opportunity To Humiliate The Israelites","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Cynical generosity","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":54890,"alt":"","title":"Alter-Cover","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover.jpg","width":1200,"height":693,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-300x173.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":173,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-768x444.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":444,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-1024x591.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":591,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover.jpg","1536x1536-width":1200,"1536x1536-height":693,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover.jpg","2048x2048-width":1200,"2048x2048-height":693,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-1200x693.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":693,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-727x420.jpg","home_baner-width":727,"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":"11","chapter_main_number":"243","date":"20260804","wall_id":"243"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":12,"id":"57672","color":"#e0e9ef","size":"1","name":"Third Time\u2019s A Charm ","post_title":"Third Time\u2019s A Charm","slug":"third-times-a-charm","old_id":"57672","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":47903,"post_title":"Aviva Golbert","slug":"aviva-golbert","old_id":"47903","first_name":"Aviva ","last_name":"Golbert ","description":"Aviva Golbert is the Director of the Pardes Center for Jewish Educators. 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She then served as the head of the department of Jewish Studies at Immanuel College, London.","short_description":"Aviva Golbert is the Director of the Pardes Center for Jewish Educators.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":47904,"alt":"","title":"aviva golbert","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/aviva-golbert-e1548150612782.jpg","width":1639,"height":1811,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/aviva-golbert-e1548150612782-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/aviva-golbert-e1548150612782-272x300.jpg","medium-width":272,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/aviva-golbert-e1548150612782-768x849.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":849,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/aviva-golbert-e1548150612782-927x1024.jpg","large-width":927,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/aviva-golbert-e1548150612782.jpg","1536x1536-width":1390,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/aviva-golbert-e1548150612782.jpg","2048x2048-width":1639,"2048x2048-height":1811,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/aviva-golbert-e1548150612782-1086x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":1086,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/aviva-golbert-e1548150612782-380x420.jpg","home_baner-width":380,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"244","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Most kings only need one coronation","post_main_content_content":"

Queen Elizabeth II had but one coronation. It was in June of 1953.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Technically, she had ascended the throne more than a year earlier, in February 1952, after her father, King George VI, died. So you may count that as her having had two crownings. But no more than that.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

When Charles, Prince of Wales, eventually became king \u2013 and his son William, and his son George after him \u2013 one imagines that each of those monarchs will have one coronation, or two, tops.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Why then does Saul, the first king of Israel, endure three whole coronations?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

And it's not just the over-the-top number that makes Saul's ceremony in I Samuel 12 different. Elizabeth's day in 1953 was filled with pageantry, pomp and circumstance. It cost more than 1.5 million GBP. Three million spectators gathered in the streets for a glimpse of the new queen. And, for the first time, a British coronation was televised, and millions watched from the comfort of their living rooms.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Saul's ceremony, in contrast, was downright gloomy. We understand from Samuel that it took place during the season of the wheat harvest, which takes place in early summer, post-Shavuot. And yet, the service ends under a literal cloud. Samuel invokes God to send thunder and rain as a meteorological sign that the Israelites had done grave wrong in asking for a king in the first place. The storm is both an indication of and a punishment for their \"evil.\"<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Perhaps a hint of why Samuel felt the need to call yet another coronation can be found in the guest list. In Saul's second crowning, found in chapter 10, Samuel musters \"the people\" at Mizpah. Here, in this third episode, \"all the people\" go to Gilgal to renew the kingship. Samuel speaks in our chapter to \"all Israel.\" It seems then that he has called a third coronation where he has gathered everyone, so everyone can hear what he has to say. And what he has to say has very little to do with the new king himself. It is all about God, whose very name is the leitwort<\/em> of the chapter. God is the only true king of Israel. God is the only true savior and warrior of Israel. And the entire nation is gathered at Gilgal to hear that theme. The only character who seems to be missing from the chapter is the king himself. Perhaps he is yet again hiding behind the baggage. He at least knows his place. <\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":57673,"alt":"","title":"isam12-coronation","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam12-coronation.png","width":1920,"height":1371,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam12-coronation-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam12-coronation-300x214.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":214,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam12-coronation-768x548.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":548,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam12-coronation-1024x731.png","large-width":1024,"large-height":731,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam12-coronation.png","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1097,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam12-coronation.png","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1371,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam12-coronation-1200x857.png","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":857,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam12-coronation-588x420.png","home_baner-width":588,"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":"Third Time\u2019s A Charm","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Most kings only need one coronation","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":57673,"alt":"","title":"isam12-coronation","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam12-coronation.png","width":1920,"height":1371,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam12-coronation-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam12-coronation-300x214.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":214,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam12-coronation-768x548.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":548,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam12-coronation-1024x731.png","large-width":1024,"large-height":731,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam12-coronation.png","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1097,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam12-coronation.png","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1371,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam12-coronation-1200x857.png","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":857,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam12-coronation-588x420.png","home_baner-width":588,"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":"12","chapter_main_number":"244","date":"20260805","wall_id":"244"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"384","name":"God","old_id":"784"},{"term_id":"835","name":"King","old_id":"1235"},{"term_id":"885","name":"Saul","old_id":"1285"}]},{"order":13,"id":"57687","color":"#faeed8","size":"1","name":"We Get The Leaders We Ask For - And That We Deserve ","post_title":"We Get The Leaders We Ask For - And That We Deserve","slug":"we-get-the-leaders-we-ask-for-and-that-we-deserve","old_id":"57687","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":36277,"post_title":"Yedidya Sinclair","slug":"yedidya-sinclair","old_id":"36277","first_name":"Yedidya","last_name":"Sinclair","description":"Rabbi Yedidya Sinclair serves as Senior Rabbinic Scholar at Hazon, the leading US Jewish environmental organization. From 2011-16 he was Vice President for Research and Senior Economist at Energiya Global, a Jerusalem-based solar energy company focused on the developing world and he continues to consult on renewable energy and climate change preparedness. In 2014 he published together with Hazon, a translation of Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook's great work on shmitta, the Sabbatical year, \"Introduction to Shabbat Ha'aretz.\" Yedidya holds a BA from Oxford University, an MPA from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard and lives with his family in Jerusalem.","short_description":"Yedidya Sinclair is a Jerusalem-based rabbi and economist, and is Senior Rabbinic Scholar at Hazon. ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":36278,"alt":"","title":"yedidya sinclair","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/yedidya-sinclair.jpg","width":200,"height":200,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/yedidya-sinclair-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/yedidya-sinclair.jpg","medium-width":200,"medium-height":200,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/yedidya-sinclair.jpg","medium_large-width":200,"medium_large-height":200,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/yedidya-sinclair.jpg","large-width":200,"large-height":200,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/yedidya-sinclair.jpg","1536x1536-width":200,"1536x1536-height":200,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/yedidya-sinclair.jpg","2048x2048-width":200,"2048x2048-height":200,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/yedidya-sinclair.jpg","post_full_size-width":200,"post_full_size-height":200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/yedidya-sinclair.jpg","home_baner-width":200,"home_baner-height":200}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"244","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Who would not want the righteous rule exemplified by Samuel to continue? The people.","post_main_content_content":"

The valedictory address that Samuel gives at Gilgal on Saul\u2019s public appointment as king is pathos-filled and painful to read. On first reading, it can sound a little like the concession speech of a political candidate on election night which is so noble, magnanimous and dignified that you realize he or she was far worthier to fill the office in question than the actual winner.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Except, that is not the right analogy. For this is not the concession speech of a candidate but of a political system. Samuel is acknowledging that the era of the Judges has come to an end. However selfless, devoted and principled he and some of his better predecessors had been in serving Israel, it has not been enough.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

\u201cWhose ox have I taken, or whose ass have I taken? Whom have I defrauded or whom have I robbed?\u201d (v3) Samuel demands, echoing Moshe\u2019s avowal of his own complete integrity in the face of Korach\u2019s rebellion (Num. 16:15).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Rashi amplifies the prophet\u2019s question, describing how he rode his own donkey around the country when he went to judge the people rather than accepting favors, and even offered his own animals as sacrifices for others\u2019 atonement. \u00a0Samuel is a pure public servant, untainted by corruption and wholeheartedly dedicated to God and the people. His modest life-style, selflessness and dedication contrast embarrassingly with the habitual extravagance and rapacity of kings as described in chapter 8. Who would not want the righteous rule exemplified by Samuel to continue?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

But the people have decided. They want a king and their will is to be done. While God at first deplored the people\u2019s preference and saw it as a betrayal of divine leadership (I Samuel 8), once the decision is made, Providence gets behind it. The serendipitous meeting of Saul and Samuel in chapter 10 brought God\u2019s chosen candidate for the kingship to public notice.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

\u201cGod leads us in the path we wish to go,\u201d says the Talmud (Makkot 10b.). This is a more religious way of saying in a political context, \u201cwe get the leaders we deserve.\u201d God may disapprove, yet gives us the freedom to choose leaders and even systems that are not the best ones for achieving justice, fear of God and integrity in public life.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

But as Samuel concludes his speech, \u201cFor the sake of His great name, the LORD will never abandon His people, seeing that the LORD undertook to make you His people\u201d (v.22). The prophet promises that God will remain with the Jewish people and its leaders, rebuking them, guiding them and teaching them through hard experience so that ultimately they may \u201crevere the LORD and serve Him faithfully with all your heart\u201d (v.23).<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":57688,"alt":"","title":"isam12-accept reject","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam12-accept-reject.png","width":1280,"height":640,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam12-accept-reject-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam12-accept-reject-300x150.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":150,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam12-accept-reject-768x384.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":384,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam12-accept-reject-1024x512.png","large-width":1024,"large-height":512,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam12-accept-reject.png","1536x1536-width":1280,"1536x1536-height":640,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam12-accept-reject.png","2048x2048-width":1280,"2048x2048-height":640,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam12-accept-reject-1200x600.png","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":600,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam12-accept-reject-840x420.png","home_baner-width":840,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"We Get The Leaders We Ask For - And That We Deserve","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Who would not want the righteous rule exemplified by Samuel to continue? The people.","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":57688,"alt":"","title":"isam12-accept reject","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam12-accept-reject.png","width":1280,"height":640,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam12-accept-reject-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam12-accept-reject-300x150.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":150,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam12-accept-reject-768x384.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":384,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam12-accept-reject-1024x512.png","large-width":1024,"large-height":512,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam12-accept-reject.png","1536x1536-width":1280,"1536x1536-height":640,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam12-accept-reject.png","2048x2048-width":1280,"2048x2048-height":640,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam12-accept-reject-1200x600.png","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":600,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam12-accept-reject-840x420.png","home_baner-width":840,"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":"12","chapter_main_number":"244","date":"20260805","wall_id":"244"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"384","name":"God","old_id":"784"},{"term_id":"402","name":"Leadership","old_id":"802"},{"term_id":"839","name":"Samuel","old_id":"1239"},{"term_id":"885","name":"Saul","old_id":"1285"}]},{"order":14,"id":"57682","color":"#e6f5f3","size":"1","name":"Samuel: Personal Example Of An Honest Leader ","post_title":"Samuel: Personal Example Of An Honest Leader","slug":"samuel-personal-example-of-an-honest-leader","old_id":"57682","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":33877,"post_title":"Marc Bregman","slug":"marc-bregman","old_id":"33877","first_name":"Marc","last_name":"Bregman","description":"Marc Bregman received his Ph.D. from The Hebrew University in Jerusalem in 1991. 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":"244","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Judges and officers must be above any suspicion of mismanagement","post_main_content_content":"

Our chapter preserves Samuel\u2019s \u201cswan song\u201d, spoken to the people of Israel, though Samuel\u2019s death is reported only 13 chapters later (I Samuel 25:1). In the course of this farewell address, Samuel asserts his innocence of any financial mismanagement during the time he led Israel: \u201cWhose ox have I taken, or whose donkey have I taken, or whom have I defrauded? Whom have I oppressed, or from whose hand have I taken a bribe to blind my eyes with it? I will restore it to you. They said, \u2018You have not defrauded us or oppressed us or taken anything from any man\u2019s hand\u2019\u201d (I Samuel 12:3-4). \u00a0Here Samuel seems to be elaborating on Moses\u2019 earlier assertion of innocence: \u201cI have not taken so much as a donkey\u201d (Numbers 16:15).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The Midrash (Tanhuma Shoftim 3) emphasizes that \u201cjudges and officers\u201d (shoftim ve-shotrim, Deuteronomy 16:18) must be \u201cmen of distinction\u201d (anshey hayil) such as Moses chose to be leaders of the people Israel (Exodus 18:25). This means that Jewish leaders must be distinguished by their Torah learning, their good deeds and their greatness. And most important, they must be free of any judgement against them, so that no one can have any reason to criticize them. Such \u201cjudges and officers\u201d should have no stain, whatsoever, on their character. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

To illustrate this basic principle of good government, the Midrash brings a story about Rabbi Haninah ben Elazar who had a tree planted in his field, and its boughs bent over onto the property of his neighbor. A man came to him and complained to him, saying: \u201cSo and so has a tree and its boughs are hanging over my field (apparently causing damage by the shadow they were casting on the crops below)\u201d. Rabbi Haninah said to him: Go away and come back tomorrow. The man said to him: All the cases which are presented before you, you judge immediately. So why is my case delayed?! What did Rabbi Haninah do? He immediately sent workers to cut back the tree in his own field, whose boughs were hanging over his fellow\u2019s field. The next day that same man appeared before him for judgement. Rabbi Haninah said to the litigant that the offending tree should be cut down. The litigant replied to Rabbi Haninah: But why then are the branches of your own tree hanging over the field of your neighbor?! Rabbi Haninah said to him: Go and see! Whatever you see of mine, so you should do with yours. Immediately the man did just that. Rabbi Haninah\u2019s behavior is an illustration of the basic principle of good government that \u201cjudges and officers\u201d should be selected only from those who have no stain, whatsoever, on their character.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":57683,"alt":"","title":"isam12-integrity","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam12-integrity.jpg","width":285,"height":177,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam12-integrity-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam12-integrity.jpg","medium-width":285,"medium-height":177,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam12-integrity.jpg","medium_large-width":285,"medium_large-height":177,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam12-integrity.jpg","large-width":285,"large-height":177,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam12-integrity.jpg","1536x1536-width":285,"1536x1536-height":177,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam12-integrity.jpg","2048x2048-width":285,"2048x2048-height":177,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam12-integrity.jpg","post_full_size-width":285,"post_full_size-height":177,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam12-integrity.jpg","home_baner-width":285,"home_baner-height":177}},"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":"Samuel: Personal Example Of An Honest Leader","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Judges and officers must be above any suspicion of mismanagement","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":57683,"alt":"","title":"isam12-integrity","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam12-integrity.jpg","width":285,"height":177,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam12-integrity-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam12-integrity.jpg","medium-width":285,"medium-height":177,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam12-integrity.jpg","medium_large-width":285,"medium_large-height":177,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam12-integrity.jpg","large-width":285,"large-height":177,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam12-integrity.jpg","1536x1536-width":285,"1536x1536-height":177,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam12-integrity.jpg","2048x2048-width":285,"2048x2048-height":177,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam12-integrity.jpg","post_full_size-width":285,"post_full_size-height":177,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam12-integrity.jpg","home_baner-width":285,"home_baner-height":177}},"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":"12","chapter_main_number":"244","date":"20260805","wall_id":"244"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"402","name":"Leadership","old_id":"802"},{"term_id":"528","name":"Honesty","old_id":"928"},{"term_id":"839","name":"Samuel","old_id":"1239"}]},{"order":15,"id":"57724","color":"#f7e9e9","size":"1","name":"The Real Saul ","post_title":"The Real Saul","slug":"the-real-saul","old_id":"57724","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":"245","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"The beginning of the end for a young king","post_main_content_content":"

Several questions present themselves apropos of this chapter, but all are addressed by one or another of the classic exegetes.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

First of all, the very first verse challenges us by stipulating that \u201cSaul was one year old when he reigned and he reigned over Israel for two years.\u201d As precocious as he may have been, a literal reading of the verse is, of course, out of the question. Rashi, typically, offered two interpretations. The midrashic one takes \u201cone year old\u201d as a metaphor for innocence (\u201che had not tasted sin\u201d) and the more prosaic one reads the verse as \u201cSaul reigned for two years. In the first year\u2026 [continue with verse 2].\u201d Ralbag (Gersonides), extending Rashi\u2019s interpretation, related this verse to Saul\u2019s earlier trouble in consolidating his monarchy (see our comments on chapters 11-12), reading it as: one year had already elapsed between his inauguration by Samuel until the acclamation of his sovereignty at Gilgal.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The second question is: Since it was Saul\u2019s ongoing intention to combat the Philistines, why did he demobilize the large army that had fought successfully (in chapter 12), winnowing it to a mere three thousand? Ralbag assumed that the three thousand were elite soldiers who, arguably, could have been sent into action at a moment\u2019s notice while the rest were mobilized as reserves (much as the current IDF practice). Malbim, on the other hand, took the reduction in forces to indicate either that Saul had not yet resolved to go to war, or that it was SOP for kings to take a \u201cyear off\u201d at the start of their reigns in order to see to domestic affairs before embarking on more adventurous undertakings.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

More poignant, however, is the insight we obtain into Saul\u2019s true self from his behavior in Gilgal on the eve of battle. Samuel had\u2014implicitly\u2014instructed Saul to await his arrival before offering sacrifices for their victory (8), but Saul hastened to offer the sacrifices in his absence (9), justifying his actions by arguing \u201cthe people were dispersing\u201d (11). Saul was, by objective description, statuesque (9:2, \u201chead and shoulders above the rest\u201d), but he suffered from extreme self-consciousness and was reluctant to use his physical advantage to enforce his authority. On a previous occasion, he had \u201chidden amongst the vessels\u201d (10:22) rather than exercise leadership and here, too, he declined to assert himself despite Samuel\u2019s instructions, allowing the \u201cpeople\u201d to determine his actions.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Not surprisingly, Samuel acknowledged this moment as the beginning of Saul\u2019s end (14) and we await the denouement in chapter 15.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Image: Saul Meets With Samuel<\/em>, James Tissot, 1900.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":57725,"alt":"","title":"isam13-samuel and saul","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam13-samuel-and-saul.jpg","width":405,"height":600,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam13-samuel-and-saul-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam13-samuel-and-saul-203x300.jpg","medium-width":203,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam13-samuel-and-saul.jpg","medium_large-width":405,"medium_large-height":600,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam13-samuel-and-saul.jpg","large-width":405,"large-height":600,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam13-samuel-and-saul.jpg","1536x1536-width":405,"1536x1536-height":600,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam13-samuel-and-saul.jpg","2048x2048-width":405,"2048x2048-height":600,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam13-samuel-and-saul.jpg","post_full_size-width":405,"post_full_size-height":600,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam13-samuel-and-saul-284x420.jpg","home_baner-width":284,"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 Real Saul","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"The beginning of the end for a young king","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":57725,"alt":"","title":"isam13-samuel and saul","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam13-samuel-and-saul.jpg","width":405,"height":600,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam13-samuel-and-saul-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam13-samuel-and-saul-203x300.jpg","medium-width":203,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam13-samuel-and-saul.jpg","medium_large-width":405,"medium_large-height":600,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam13-samuel-and-saul.jpg","large-width":405,"large-height":600,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam13-samuel-and-saul.jpg","1536x1536-width":405,"1536x1536-height":600,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam13-samuel-and-saul.jpg","2048x2048-width":405,"2048x2048-height":600,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam13-samuel-and-saul.jpg","post_full_size-width":405,"post_full_size-height":600,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam13-samuel-and-saul-284x420.jpg","home_baner-width":284,"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":"13","chapter_main_number":"245","date":"20260806","wall_id":"245"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"366","name":"Commentators","old_id":"766"},{"term_id":"839","name":"Samuel","old_id":"1239"},{"term_id":"885","name":"Saul","old_id":"1285"}]},{"order":16,"id":"57707","color":"#eceffa","size":"1","name":"The Instrumentalization of Religion ","post_title":"The Instrumentalization Of Religion","slug":"the-instrumentalization-of-religion","old_id":"57707","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":"245","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Samuel used his religious prestige to demoralize and deflate the person he viewed, with very little justification, as his undoer","post_main_content_content":"

Besides providing a telling and astute commentary on the complex role of religion in stabilizing and destabilizing political authority, the trap that Samuel arguably laid for Saul in order to undermine his confidence in the future also lets us glimpse the particularly problematic form of instrumentalization that will play such a prominent role in the narrative to come. Following Saul\u2019s first and clandestine coronation, we are told that Samuel commanded Saul to wait at Gilgal for seven days until he arrived to officiate over a burnt offering to God\u2026.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

In the meantime, the Philistines were mustering for war, and Saul, who had enlisted the people of Israel, was waiting with increasing impatience for Samuel, whose delayed arrival was encouraging rampant desertion among the soldiers\u2026 <\/span><\/p>\r\n

A sacrifice had to be offered to restore the soldiers\u2019 sagging morale by eliciting God\u2019s assurances about the outcome of the battle, and Saul, who by now despaired of Samuel\u2019s arrival and who was laboring under the pressure of his disintegrating army and the threatening Philistines, initiated the offering without the presence of the prophet. As recounted in the story, the timing of Samuel\u2019s arrival seems far from accidental. He arrived at Gilgal almost immediately after the frantic Saul had offered the sacrifice on his own. (13:10-12). To Saul\u2019s reasonable, distressed, and apologetic account, Samuel offered a rebuke fashioned deliberately to inflict maximum psychological distress (13:13-14). Thus did a venial cultic transgression that could have been excused given Saul\u2019s parlous military posture provide Samuel the opening he was apparently seeking to bring Saul down.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Turning worthy ends into dispensable means, including the instrumentalization of religion and the sacred by rivals for power, is a central theme in Samuel, and it surfaces already in this short and harsh encounter\u2026<\/span><\/p>\r\n

After Saul\u2019s first stumble as king, orchestrated by Samuel and wrapped in a religious aura, Samuel, who had anointed Saul, now ominously prophesied the end of his reign... Samuel claimed that a substitute for Saul had already been picked by God, anticipating a divine decision that the reader knows has not yet been made, in order, as it were, to nail Saul\u2019s coffin shut in advance. God\u2019s own voice is notably absent from the drama because, at this moment, God and cult have become mere instruments in a struggle between contestants for power.\u2026Relinquishing power, including the dynastic power to pass on one\u2019s authority to one\u2019s male heirs, is difficult even for a religious virtuoso like Samuel. That competitive emotions swirl violently around the winning and losing of hereditary power seems to be the principal lesson of this episode. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

Samuel used his religious prestige to demoralize and deflate the person he viewed, with very little justification, as his undoer. What the author of Samuel conveys by this striking episode is how religion, even when sincerely believed, can be instrumentalized in power struggles and how political rivals can shed moral qualms about treating the sacred as just another weapon to be opportunistically deployed in a competitive struggle for prestige and power. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Excerpts from \u201cThe Beginning of Politics: Power in the Biblical Book of Samuel\u201d \u2013 Moshe Halbertal and Stephen Holmes, Princeton University Press, 2017, pp.24-7. By permission of the author.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":56668,"alt":"","title":"halbertal-book 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