{"id":58698,"date":"2018-07-09T17:43:41","date_gmt":"2018-07-09T14:43:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wall\/wall-2008\/"},"modified":"2019-09-05T13:47:16","modified_gmt":"2019-09-05T10:47:16","slug":"wall-2008","status":"publish","type":"wall","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wall\/wall-2008\/","title":{"rendered":"book-Prophets-I Samuel"},"parent":0,"template":"","acf":{"type":"chapter","wall_id":"2008","book":"I Samuel","books_group":"Prophets","hide_acf":true,"home_image":false,"home_posts":false,"home_posts_title":"","posts_home":[],"posts":[{"order":1,"id":"62482","color":"#effaea","size":"2","name":"Writings on 1 Samuel","post_title":"Writings on 1 Samuel","slug":"writings-on-1-samuel","old_id":"62482","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":"1060","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Cool flippingbook - check it out!","post_main_content_content":"

Writings on 1 Samuel by Moshe Sokolow<\/a><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":62484,"alt":"","title":"1Sam- Sokolow flipbook","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/1Sam-Sokolow-flipbook.jpg","width":644,"height":838,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/1Sam-Sokolow-flipbook-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/1Sam-Sokolow-flipbook-231x300.jpg","medium-width":231,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/1Sam-Sokolow-flipbook.jpg","medium_large-width":644,"medium_large-height":838,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/1Sam-Sokolow-flipbook.jpg","large-width":644,"large-height":838,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/1Sam-Sokolow-flipbook.jpg","1536x1536-width":644,"1536x1536-height":838,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/1Sam-Sokolow-flipbook.jpg","2048x2048-width":644,"2048x2048-height":838,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/1Sam-Sokolow-flipbook.jpg","post_full_size-width":644,"post_full_size-height":838,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/1Sam-Sokolow-flipbook-323x420.jpg","home_baner-width":323,"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":"New 929 Product","tile_main_caption":"Sokolow on Samuel","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Cool flippingbook - check it out!","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":62484,"alt":"","title":"1Sam- Sokolow flipbook","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/1Sam-Sokolow-flipbook.jpg","width":644,"height":838,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/1Sam-Sokolow-flipbook-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/1Sam-Sokolow-flipbook-231x300.jpg","medium-width":231,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/1Sam-Sokolow-flipbook.jpg","medium_large-width":644,"medium_large-height":838,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/1Sam-Sokolow-flipbook.jpg","large-width":644,"large-height":838,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/1Sam-Sokolow-flipbook.jpg","1536x1536-width":644,"1536x1536-height":838,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/1Sam-Sokolow-flipbook.jpg","2048x2048-width":644,"2048x2048-height":838,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/1Sam-Sokolow-flipbook.jpg","post_full_size-width":644,"post_full_size-height":838,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/1Sam-Sokolow-flipbook-323x420.jpg","home_baner-width":323,"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,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"I Kings","chapter":false,"chapter_main_number":false,"date":false,"wall_id":"1060"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":2,"id":"56723","color":"#f8ebe3","size":"1","name":"Prayer from the (Female) Heart ","post_title":"Prayer from the (Female) Heart","slug":"prayer-from-the-female-heart","old_id":"56723","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":56278,"post_title":"Rachel Weber Leshaw","slug":"rachel-weber-leshaw","old_id":"56278","first_name":"Rachel Weber ","last_name":"Leshaw","description":"Rachel Weber Leshaw serves as the Director of Digital Content for Deracheha: womenandmitzvot.org and teaches Gemara and Halacha in Jerusalem. She is a graduate of Nishmat's Keren Ariel Yoetzet Halacha training program, as well as the Graduate Program in Advanced Talmudic Studies at Yeshiva University. \r\n","short_description":"Rachel Weber Leshaw serves as the Director of Digital Content for Deracheha: womenandmitzvot.org and teaches Gemara and Halacha in Jerusalem. ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":56280,"alt":"","title":"rachel leshaw","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/rachel-leshaw-1.jpg","width":1670,"height":1429,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/rachel-leshaw-1-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/rachel-leshaw-1-300x257.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":257,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/rachel-leshaw-1-768x657.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":657,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/rachel-leshaw-1-1024x876.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":876,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/rachel-leshaw-1.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1314,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/rachel-leshaw-1.jpg","2048x2048-width":1670,"2048x2048-height":1429,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/rachel-leshaw-1-1200x1027.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":1027,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/rachel-leshaw-1-491x420.jpg","home_baner-width":491,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"233","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"How a spontaneous, anguished outpouring of the heart became a role model for the ages","post_main_content_content":"

The story of Hannah is one of the most heart-wrenching in the Bible. Misunderstood by her husband, tortured by her sister-wife, she leaves a festive family meal to spill out her heart to God in the Tabernacle, begging for the child she has been desiring for so long. The heartfelt nature of her prayer is expressed in the unique phrasing \u201c<\/span>v\u2019chana hi medaberet al liba<\/span><\/em>\u201d, \u201cAnd Hannah was speaking in her heart\u201d, or, more literally of or over her heart. The Talmud in Berachot 31b understands this phrase to be specifically relevant to her request, and explains that she spoke \u201cconcerning matters of the heart,\u201d asking God, \u00a0\u201cWhy have you given me breasts over my heart and no child to nurse?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Hannah\u2019s prayer is spontaneous, anguished, and deeply feminine. And yet, Rav Himnuna in the Talmud (Brachot 31a) derives many of the laws of the daily <\/span>amida<\/span><\/em>, the centerpiece of ritualized daily prayer, from Hannah, including the requirement to focus on the words of the prayer, and to shape the words with one\u2019s lips without raising one\u2019s voice. (For more on this topic, see<\/span> www.deracheha.org\/prayer-1-obligation\/<\/span><\/a>)<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Hannah and her prayer are a surprising choice. Why would she, of all people, be the rabbinic role model for ritualized prayer? And how could her spontaneous pleas be the model for an unchanging script recited at regular times each day?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

My question about choosing Hannah stems from a mistaken assumption that ritualized prayer is inherently male, an easy mistake to make for anyone who has grown up in the Orthodox world. When boys are encouraged to attend prayer services and girls are not, and when young women are discouraged by synagogues inhospitable to female prayer, it\u2019s a short jump to assuming that prayer exists exclusively in the male realm. But it\u2019s clear that the rabbis of the Talmud didn\u2019t think that way. In fact they explicitly teach in Berachot 20a \u201c[Women] are obligated in prayer, for it [prayer] is seeking mercy.\u201d Every person, no matter what gender, needs divine mercy.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Thinking about mercy, and outside of the male-box, takes us one step further. Hannah is the perfect example of someone who recognizes that her problems can be solved only with God\u2019s help, and so earnestly turns to Him in prayer for mercy. That\u2019s not ideal feminine behavior, that\u2019s ideal human behavior! <\/span><\/p>\r\n

Yes, there are set texts and times for prayer, but that is only a starting point. Daily prayer should be treated not just as an obligation but as an opportunity to approach God in a request for whatever we need most. Our goal should be to take inspiration from Hannah\u2019s prayer, and incorporate those personal, deeply felt desires and emotions into our daily conversations with God. We appeal to God\u2019s mercy, and hope to be as worthy of it as Hannah was.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":56724,"alt":"","title":"isam1-hands","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam1-hands.jpg","width":1920,"height":1280,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam1-hands-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam1-hands-300x200.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":200,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam1-hands-768x512.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":512,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam1-hands-1024x683.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":683,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam1-hands.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1024,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam1-hands.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1280,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam1-hands-1200x800.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":800,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam1-hands-630x420.jpg","home_baner-width":630,"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":"Prayer from the (Female) Heart","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"How a spontaneous, anguished outpouring of the heart became a role model for the ages","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":56724,"alt":"","title":"isam1-hands","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam1-hands.jpg","width":1920,"height":1280,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam1-hands-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam1-hands-300x200.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":200,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam1-hands-768x512.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":512,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam1-hands-1024x683.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":683,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam1-hands.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1024,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam1-hands.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1280,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam1-hands-1200x800.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":800,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam1-hands-630x420.jpg","home_baner-width":630,"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":"1","chapter_main_number":"233","date":"20260721","wall_id":"233"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"437","name":"Prayer","old_id":"837"},{"term_id":"662","name":"Halacha","old_id":"1062"},{"term_id":"882","name":"Hannah","old_id":"1282"}]},{"order":3,"id":"56825","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Priestly Avarice ","post_title":"Priestly Avarice","slug":"priestly-avarice","old_id":"56825","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":"234","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Outright perniciousness and (just) negligence persist in our day among leaders, religious and otherwise","post_main_content_content":"

The main story line of the book of I Samuel charts the people of Israel\u2019s journey from the anarchic political state of the Book of Judges where \u201cevery man did what was right in his eyes,\u201d to a centralized monarchy.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

But a subplot of the book traces the transition from the chaotic and corrupt religious reality at the end of Judges, exemplified by Micah\u2019s personal shrine at Dan that was hijacked by stronger political forces, towards a dedicated priesthood with higher standards of integrity.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The rottenness of Israel\u2019s religious institutions was typified by the Hophni and Phineas, the sons of Eli, \u201cscoundrels\u201d who served as priests at Shiloh. Chapter 2 describes how Eli\u2019s sons abused their offices by stealing meat from people who brought sacrifices:<\/span><\/p>\r\n

When anyone brought a sacrifice, the priest\u2019s boy would come along with a three-pronged fork while the meat was boiling, and he would thrust it into the cauldron, or the kettle, or the great pot, or the small cooking-pot; and whatever the fork brought up, the priest would take away on it. (I Samuel 2:13-14.)<\/span><\/p>\r\n

In addition to enriching themselves at the expense of worshippers, Eli\u2019s sons exploited their positions to \u201clie with the women who performed tasks at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting,\u201d (I Samuel 2: 22)<\/span><\/p>\r\n

This sounds like a clear case of powerful men using their standing in a hierarchy to force themselves sexually on female subordinates. God is outraged at these sins and announces that as a consequences Eli and his descendants will be cut off forever from religious leadership in Israel.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Not all the rabbis of the Talmud however, agreed that Eli\u2019s sons were guilty of sexual sin with women in the sanctuary. Arguing against the plain meaning of the biblical verse, Rav said that Eli\u2019s sons did not sleep with the women. (Shabbat 55b) The Talmud explains that he read the word <\/span>yishkavun<\/span><\/em>, not as \u201cslept with\u201d but as \u201cdelayed\":<\/span><\/p>\r\n

\u201cSince the sons of Eli delayed sacrificing the bird-offerings (of women who had given birth, a pair of doves brought as part of the purification process,) and this delay caused the women not to go to their husbands, the verse ascribes to Hophni and Phineas liability as if they had lain with them\u201d (Shabbat 55b).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

According to Rav, Eli\u2019s sons were guilty of negligence and carelessness in carrying out their priestly duties, which caused suffering to women who were returning to their husbands after giving birth.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Today, we must affirm the plain meaning of the verse, We are all too aware of the perniciousness of leaders, including shamefully, religious leaders, sexually exploiting people they work with.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

But let us also understand Rav. He is pointing to a different problem: the mundane carelessness, negligence and entitlement of those who work in bureaucracies, including, tragically religious bureaucracies, that causes everyday pain, loss and suffering to those whom they are meant to serve. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":56830,"alt":"","title":"isam2-sons-of-eli","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam2-sons-of-eli.jpg","width":356,"height":264,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam2-sons-of-eli-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam2-sons-of-eli-300x222.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":222,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam2-sons-of-eli.jpg","medium_large-width":356,"medium_large-height":264,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam2-sons-of-eli.jpg","large-width":356,"large-height":264,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam2-sons-of-eli.jpg","1536x1536-width":356,"1536x1536-height":264,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam2-sons-of-eli.jpg","2048x2048-width":356,"2048x2048-height":264,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam2-sons-of-eli.jpg","post_full_size-width":356,"post_full_size-height":264,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam2-sons-of-eli.jpg","home_baner-width":356,"home_baner-height":264}},"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":"Priestly Avarice","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Outright perniciousness and (just) negligence persist in our day among leaders, religious and otherwise","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":56830,"alt":"","title":"isam2-sons-of-eli","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam2-sons-of-eli.jpg","width":356,"height":264,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam2-sons-of-eli-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam2-sons-of-eli-300x222.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":222,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam2-sons-of-eli.jpg","medium_large-width":356,"medium_large-height":264,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam2-sons-of-eli.jpg","large-width":356,"large-height":264,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam2-sons-of-eli.jpg","1536x1536-width":356,"1536x1536-height":264,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam2-sons-of-eli.jpg","2048x2048-width":356,"2048x2048-height":264,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam2-sons-of-eli.jpg","post_full_size-width":356,"post_full_size-height":264,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam2-sons-of-eli.jpg","home_baner-width":356,"home_baner-height":264}},"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":"2","chapter_main_number":"234","date":"20260722","wall_id":"234"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"457","name":"Rape","old_id":"857"},{"term_id":"631","name":"Priests","old_id":"1031"},{"term_id":"661","name":"Oppression","old_id":"1061"},{"term_id":"884","name":"Corruption","old_id":"1284"}]},{"order":4,"id":"56931","color":"#eceffa","size":"1","name":"Samuel \u2013 From Boy To Man ","post_title":"Samuel \u2013 From Boy To Man","slug":"samuel-from-boy-to-man","old_id":"56931","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":"235","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"","post_main_content_content":"

Our Chapter begins: \u201cThe boy (na\u2019ar) Samuel served the Lord before Eli\u201d (3:1). When Hannah fulfilled her vow to give her son \u201cto the Lord for all the days of his life\u201d (1:11), Samuel was still \u201cjust a boy\u201d (ve-ha-na\u2019ar na\u2019ar - 1:24). According to the Jewish historian, Josephus (Antiquities of the Jews, Book 5, 10:4), God first called to Samuel while he was asleep (see 3:3-15), when he was still only twelve years old.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The rabbinic sages (Midrash Shmuel 8:6) ponder whether the phrase \u201cSamuel served the Lord before Eli\u201d, might suggest that Samuel would actually \u201cstand before the Shekhinah (the Divine Presence of God)\u201d. The question is resolved by explaining that whenever Samuel would stand before (i.e. serve) Eli, it was as if he were standing before the Shekhinah. The Talmud Yerushalmi (Eruvin 5:1, 22b) relates this biblical interpretation to the general rabbinic educational principle that \u201cServing one\u2019s teacher is equivalent to serving the Shekhinah\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The Babylonian Talmud (Berakhot 31b) preserves a discussion among the rabbis of the manly aspect of Samuel grown from boy to man, by first reminding us that Hannah prayed for a \u201cman-child\u201d (zera\u2019 \u2018anashim, literally \u201cseed of men\u201d, 1:11). Rav said: This means \u201ca man among men\u201d (gavra\u2019 be-guvrin). Shmuel said: This indicates \u201cSeed that will anoint two men as kings -- Saul and David\u201d. Rabbi Yohanan said: \u201cSeed that will be equal to two men -- Moses and Aaron, as it says, \u2018Moses and Aaron were among His priests. Samuel was among those who called on His name. They called on the Lord and He answered them\u2019\u201d (Psalms 99:6). <\/span><\/p>\r\n

The still youthful Samuel is said to have wisely rendered a halakhic decision \u2013 that one need not be a priest to perform ritual sacrifice. Samuel\u2019s teacher, Eli, approved of Samuel\u2019s ruling, but criticized him for having offered a halakhic ruling in his presence, i.e. in the presence of his teacher.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Despite the explicit biblical statement that \u201cno prophet has risen in Israel like Moses\u201d (Deuteronomy 34:10), Midrash Exodus Rabbah 16:3 suggests that Samuel was not only equal to Moses, but in some ways even superior to him as a prophet and judge.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The comparison of Samuel to Moses leads to a basic principle of good government (Tanhuma Shoftim 3): Those in authority should be above suspicion of financial mismanagement, so that no one should have reason to speak against them. Like Moses (see Numbers 16:15) and like Samuel (see I Samuel 12:3), there should be no stain on a leader\u2019s character.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Image: <\/span>Gerbrand van den Eeckhout<\/span> - Hannah presenting her son Samuel to the priest Eli ca.1665 \/ wikimedia<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":56937,"alt":"","title":"isam3-samuel before eli","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam3-samuel-before-eli.jpg","width":800,"height":648,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam3-samuel-before-eli-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam3-samuel-before-eli-300x243.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":243,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam3-samuel-before-eli-768x622.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":622,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam3-samuel-before-eli.jpg","large-width":800,"large-height":648,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam3-samuel-before-eli.jpg","1536x1536-width":800,"1536x1536-height":648,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam3-samuel-before-eli.jpg","2048x2048-width":800,"2048x2048-height":648,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam3-samuel-before-eli.jpg","post_full_size-width":800,"post_full_size-height":648,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam3-samuel-before-eli-519x420.jpg","home_baner-width":519,"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":"Samuel \u2013 From Boy To Man","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"A boy who is to become a man among men","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":56937,"alt":"","title":"isam3-samuel before eli","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam3-samuel-before-eli.jpg","width":800,"height":648,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam3-samuel-before-eli-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam3-samuel-before-eli-300x243.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":243,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam3-samuel-before-eli-768x622.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":622,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam3-samuel-before-eli.jpg","large-width":800,"large-height":648,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam3-samuel-before-eli.jpg","1536x1536-width":800,"1536x1536-height":648,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam3-samuel-before-eli.jpg","2048x2048-width":800,"2048x2048-height":648,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam3-samuel-before-eli.jpg","post_full_size-width":800,"post_full_size-height":648,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam3-samuel-before-eli-519x420.jpg","home_baner-width":519,"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,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"I Samuel","chapter":"3","chapter_main_number":"235","date":"20260723","wall_id":"235"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"402","name":"Leadership","old_id":"802"},{"term_id":"627","name":"Talmud","old_id":"1027"},{"term_id":"839","name":"Samuel","old_id":"1239"}]},{"order":5,"id":"57027","color":"#f6f5de","size":"1","name":"The Dangers Of Trying To Manipulate Holiness ","post_title":"The Dangers Of Trying To Manipulate Holiness","slug":"the-dangers-of-trying-to-manipulate-holiness","old_id":"57027","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":"236","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"The Ark as talisman, and the lesson of little baby Ichabod","post_main_content_content":"

At the end of Samuel 4, baby Ichabod survives his mother\u2019s death. At the beginning of the same chapter, Eli\u2019s sons seem to assume that the power of the Ark of the Covenant can survive the death of the relationship that birthed it, namely, the covenant between God and Israel. The very men who abused their position so cynically in the previous chapters, and violated God\u2019s laws in His own house, carry His Ark to the field of battle, hoping it will bring them victory.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

But the Ark is not a baby: it is God\u2019s tool. It can\u2019t boast of an immanent source of life or power. It is only as effective as God wills it to be; when Eli\u2019s sons try to use despite their many sins, they learn very quickly just how useless the Ark is without God\u2019s active help.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The narrative emphasizes this point through the story of Ichabod\u2019s birth. At first glance, this story seems unnecessary. What does it contribute to our understanding of the book\u2019s events? But by framing it in eerily familiar terms, the storyteller draws our attention to the paganism that warped the Israelites\u2019 perception of the Ark. For Ichabod\u2019s mother is not the first biblical woman whose attendants say \u201cDo not be afraid, for you have borne a son\u201d (1 Samuel 4:20). Neither is she the first to name her son for a tragedy as she lies dying. The matriarch Rachel preceded her on both counts, and on another: both died because someone moved a significant object from its original place. Having stolen her father\u2019s household idols, Rachel was unintentionally cursed by Jacob, who told Laban \u201canyone with whom you find your gods shall not remain alive!\u201d(Genesis 31:32) Rachel paid the price on her deathbed, just as Ichabod\u2019s mother pays the price for her family\u2019s decision to take the Ark into battle. These parallels force us to compare God\u2019s Ark to pagan idols, or more accurately \u2013 compare the way the Ark was perceived to the way people viewed idols. By relying on the Ark without obeying the God that gave it power Eli\u2019s sons reduced the Ark to an idolatrous, magical, and ultimately ineffectual, talisman. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

By drawing our attention to this strand of magical thinking, the text is offering a very timely warning. The Israelites will soon request a king. But a king as such won\u2019t be able to protect them: like the Ark, a king will only be as effective as God will choose to make him. Our chapter hints at what Samuel will later say explicitly: follow the covenant, or your king will fail just as the Ark did.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Image: <\/span>Carrying the Ark of the Covenant: gilded bas-relief at Auch Cathedral \/ wikipedia<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":57028,"alt":"","title":"isam4-ark-covenant-relief","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam4-ark-covenant-relief.jpg","width":361,"height":256,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam4-ark-covenant-relief-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam4-ark-covenant-relief-300x213.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":213,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam4-ark-covenant-relief.jpg","medium_large-width":361,"medium_large-height":256,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam4-ark-covenant-relief.jpg","large-width":361,"large-height":256,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam4-ark-covenant-relief.jpg","1536x1536-width":361,"1536x1536-height":256,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam4-ark-covenant-relief.jpg","2048x2048-width":361,"2048x2048-height":256,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam4-ark-covenant-relief.jpg","post_full_size-width":361,"post_full_size-height":256,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam4-ark-covenant-relief.jpg","home_baner-width":361,"home_baner-height":256}},"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 Dangers Of Trying To Manipulate Holiness","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"The Ark as talisman, and the lesson of little baby Ichabod","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":57028,"alt":"","title":"isam4-ark-covenant-relief","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam4-ark-covenant-relief.jpg","width":361,"height":256,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam4-ark-covenant-relief-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam4-ark-covenant-relief-300x213.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":213,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam4-ark-covenant-relief.jpg","medium_large-width":361,"medium_large-height":256,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam4-ark-covenant-relief.jpg","large-width":361,"large-height":256,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam4-ark-covenant-relief.jpg","1536x1536-width":361,"1536x1536-height":256,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam4-ark-covenant-relief.jpg","2048x2048-width":361,"2048x2048-height":256,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam4-ark-covenant-relief.jpg","post_full_size-width":361,"post_full_size-height":256,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam4-ark-covenant-relief.jpg","home_baner-width":361,"home_baner-height":256}},"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":"4","chapter_main_number":"236","date":"20260726","wall_id":"236"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"384","name":"God","old_id":"784"},{"term_id":"395","name":"Covenant","old_id":"795"},{"term_id":"670","name":"Ark","old_id":"1070"}]},{"order":6,"id":"57234","color":"#f2e9df","size":"1","name":"All That Glitters Is Not God ","post_title":"All That Glitters Is Not God","slug":"all-that-glitters-is-not-god","old_id":"57234","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":37333,"post_title":"Esther Jilovsky","slug":"esther-jilovsky","old_id":"37333","first_name":"Esther ","last_name":"Jilovsky","description":"Dr Esther Jilovsky is a rabbinical student at Hebrew Union College in Los Angeles. A native of Melbourne, Australia, she comes to the rabbinate with a PhD from the University of London in 2011. A granddaughter of Holocaust survivors, she is the author of Remembering the Holocaust: Generations, Witnessing and Place and co-editor of In the Shadows of Memory: The Holocaust and the Third Generation. \r\n\r\n\r\n","short_description":"Dr Esther Jilovsky is a rabbinical student at Hebrew Union College in Los Angeles.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":52868,"alt":"","title":"esther jilovsky.jpeg","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/esther-jilovsky.jpeg-1.jpg","width":3581,"height":5371,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/esther-jilovsky.jpeg-1-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/esther-jilovsky.jpeg-1-200x300.jpg","medium-width":200,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/esther-jilovsky.jpeg-1-683x1024.jpg","medium_large-width":683,"medium_large-height":1024,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/esther-jilovsky.jpeg-1-683x1024.jpg","large-width":683,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/esther-jilovsky.jpeg-1.jpg","1536x1536-width":1024,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/esther-jilovsky.jpeg-1.jpg","2048x2048-width":1365,"2048x2048-height":2048,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/esther-jilovsky.jpeg-1-800x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":800,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/esther-jilovsky.jpeg-1-280x420.jpg","home_baner-width":280,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"239","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"They were tempted, just as we are, by shiny new objects","post_main_content_content":"

Entering a department store is an almost universal experience. Whether in London, Melbourne, or New York, and whether planning to buy kitchenware or bedlinen, we find ourselves in a bright, shiny world decorated with objects begging to be caressed and taken home. Before we can even check the store\u2019s directory to discover which floor hosts saucepans or sheets, we find ourselves idly fondling a scarf, handling a new leather wallet, or smelling sweet samples of the latest perfume. While on a rational level we know we don\u2019t need these things, our irrational brain demands that we buy this shiny new accessory. These objects tempt us with their sparkle and potential, but they are often hollow inside, useless as soon as the allure dissipates.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The people of ancient Israel had far fewer shiny things than we do \u2013 and certainly no department stores! But they were also not immune to temptation. In the Ten Commandments, God instructs the Israelites not to worship other Gods and not to make sculptured images, such as idols (Exodus 20:3-4). But this doesn\u2019t stop the Israelites from doing so \u2013 most notably the creation of the golden calf (Exodus 32:2-4). While this episode does not end well, it is not incomprehensible that people wanted to connect to God through idols. It is much easier to see and feel a lump of metal than it is to sense and experience the Eternal One.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Ashtoret (pl. Ashtaroth) was an ancient Middle Eastern goddess. She is depicted through figurines shaped like a woman. Just as we today are distracted by the glittery merchandise near the entrance of a department store, ancient people were drawn to Gods that they could see, feel, and touch. For the people of Israel, this was unacceptable, just as it is now. We read that: \u2018<\/span>Samuel said to all the House of Israel, \u201cIf you mean to return to the Eternal with all your heart, you must remove the alien gods and the Ashtaroth from your midst and direct your heart to the Eternal and serve the Eternal alone\u201d (I Samuel 7:3). Ashtaroth may seem more desirable than an invisible God \u2013 shiny, smooth and tangible \u2013 and much more accessible than the Eternal who cannot be seen, felt, or touched.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Worshiping Ashtoret seems a bit like walking through a department store and buying those sparkly new earrings or velvety soft scarf when all you meant to buy was saucepans and some pillowcases. It might seem fitting in the moment, but will you ever actually wear them? Aren\u2019t they just shiny new objects that seem irresistible but will leave you wishing you hadn\u2019t spent that extra $20? It is not always easy or possible to connect with a God who may seem as elusive as the glove you lost last winter. But substituting a cheap and poorly made alternative is rarely satisfying. Finding the time and mustering the effort for a deeper connection is so much harder, but the result is incomparable.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Image: Astarte (Ashtoret), found at Gezer in 1973, dated to the end of the Middle Bronze Age (16<\/span>th<\/span> century BCE). From the collection of George S. Blumenthal<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":54993,"alt":"","title":"jud2-blumenthal","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud2-blumenthal.jpg","width":503,"height":1875,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud2-blumenthal-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud2-blumenthal-80x300.jpg","medium-width":80,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud2-blumenthal-275x1024.jpg","medium_large-width":275,"medium_large-height":1024,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud2-blumenthal-275x1024.jpg","large-width":275,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud2-blumenthal.jpg","1536x1536-width":412,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud2-blumenthal.jpg","2048x2048-width":503,"2048x2048-height":1875,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud2-blumenthal-322x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":322,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud2-blumenthal-113x420.jpg","home_baner-width":113,"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":"All That Glitters Is Not God","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"They were tempted, just as we are, by shiny new objects","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":54993,"alt":"","title":"jud2-blumenthal","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud2-blumenthal.jpg","width":503,"height":1875,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud2-blumenthal-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud2-blumenthal-80x300.jpg","medium-width":80,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud2-blumenthal-275x1024.jpg","medium_large-width":275,"medium_large-height":1024,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud2-blumenthal-275x1024.jpg","large-width":275,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud2-blumenthal.jpg","1536x1536-width":412,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud2-blumenthal.jpg","2048x2048-width":503,"2048x2048-height":1875,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud2-blumenthal-322x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":322,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud2-blumenthal-113x420.jpg","home_baner-width":113,"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":"7","chapter_main_number":"239","date":"20260729","wall_id":"239"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"384","name":"God","old_id":"784"},{"term_id":"429","name":"Idolatry","old_id":"829"},{"term_id":"555","name":"Archaeology","old_id":"955"}]},{"order":7,"id":"57301","color":"#f6edf6","size":"1","name":"The Kingly Compromise? ","post_title":"The Kingly Compromise?","slug":"the-kingly-compromise","old_id":"57301","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":56490,"post_title":"Gary Rendsburg","slug":"gary-rendsburg","old_id":"56490","first_name":"Gary ","last_name":"Rendsburg ","description":"Gary Rendsburg serves as the Blanche and Irving Laurie Professor of Jewish History in the Department of Jewish Studies at Rutgers University. His teaching and research focus on \u2018all things ancient Israel\u2019 \u2013 primarily language and literature, though also history and archaeology. His secondary interests include post-biblical Judaism, the Dead Sea Scrolls, and the medieval Hebrew manuscript tradition. Rendsburg\u2019s most recent book is How the Bible Is Written (Hendrickson, 2019), with particular attention to the use of language to create literature.\r\n\r\n","short_description":"Gary Rendsburg serves as the Blanche and Irving Laurie Professor of Jewish History in the Department of Jewish Studies at Rutgers University.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":56491,"alt":"","title":"Gary_A_Rendsburg","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Gary_A_Rendsburg.jpg","width":220,"height":314,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Gary_A_Rendsburg-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Gary_A_Rendsburg-210x300.jpg","medium-width":210,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Gary_A_Rendsburg.jpg","medium_large-width":220,"medium_large-height":314,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Gary_A_Rendsburg.jpg","large-width":220,"large-height":314,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Gary_A_Rendsburg.jpg","1536x1536-width":220,"1536x1536-height":314,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Gary_A_Rendsburg.jpg","2048x2048-width":220,"2048x2048-height":314,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Gary_A_Rendsburg.jpg","post_full_size-width":220,"post_full_size-height":314,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Gary_A_Rendsburg.jpg","home_baner-width":220,"home_baner-height":314}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"240","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"If God is King - then who is that person they want on the throne?","post_main_content_content":"

Notwithstanding military success against the Philistines and the secure leadership of Samuel (see ch. 6), the people clamor for a king. Most telling is their statement, \u201cWe must have a king over us, so that we may be like all the other nations\u201d (vv. 19-20). <\/span><\/p>\r\n

The expression \u201clike all the other nations\u201d reflects the reality of the ancient Near East. \u00a0All polities, large and small, from as large as Egypt (with the Pharaoh as king) to as small as Canaanite city-states (whose rulers used the title <\/span>melek<\/span><\/em> \u2018king\u2019), were ruled by a king \u2013 but not Israel. Evidence for kings of Canaanite city-states is forthcoming from the Amarna letters (a collection of documents from the 14th century B.C.E.) and from the Bible itself. \u00a0See, for example, Genesis 14, where each of the five cities of the Dead Sea region has its own king; Gen 20:2, for Abimelech, king of Gerar; Josh 2:2-3 for the king of Jericho; and most revealingly the list of 31 kings, one for each city-state in Joshua 12:9-24.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

This lack of a human king in Israel (until this point) has to do with the fundamental theological difference between Israel and its neighbors. In the ancient Near East, generally speaking, the gods operated in a separate realm, manifested in nature, at a distance from humanity. \u00a0In the Bible, the covenant concept creates a close relationship between Yhwh and His people Israel. As such, YHWH serves as king of the people, for which see the following long list of passages: Num 23:21; Deut 33:5; Isa 6:5, 33:22, 41:21, 43:15, 44:6; Jer 8:19, 10:7, 10, 46:18, 48:15, 51:57; Zeph 3:15; Zech 14:9, 16, 17; Mal 1:14; Ps 5:3, 10:16, 24:7, 8, 9, 10 (2x), 29:10, 47:3, 7, 8, 48:3, 68:25, 74:12, 84:4, 95:3, 98:6, 99:4, 145:1, 149:2. \u00a0Many of these passages were incorporated into later Jewish liturgy, including Zech 14:9 as the closing line of the <\/span>\u02bfAlenu<\/span><\/i> prayer, Psalm 24 for the return of the Torah to the Ark on festival days, and Psalm 145 recited daily.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Samuel\u2019s opposition to the establishment of a human king was based on this core theological principle: only God could be king. In the end, though, the will of the people won the day. The monarchy was established (see ch. 9 for the introduction of Saul), and for the next 400-plus years the historical narrative of the Bible revolves mainly on the succession of kings, from Saul, David, and Solomon, down to the last king, Zedekiah, in 586 B.C.E. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

As the long list of verses cited above demonstrates, however, at the same time, the poets and prophets of Israel continued to invoke the older theology of God as king \u2013 thereby constantly reminding the people that a human king was a compromise to true Israelite religious belief.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":57303,"alt":"","title":"isam8-king","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam8-king.png","width":755,"height":1280,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam8-king-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam8-king-177x300.png","medium-width":177,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam8-king-604x1024.png","medium_large-width":604,"medium_large-height":1024,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam8-king-604x1024.png","large-width":604,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam8-king.png","1536x1536-width":755,"1536x1536-height":1280,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam8-king.png","2048x2048-width":755,"2048x2048-height":1280,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam8-king-708x1200.png","post_full_size-width":708,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam8-king-248x420.png","home_baner-width":248,"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 Kingly Compromise?","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"If God is King - then who is that person they want on the throne?","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":57303,"alt":"","title":"isam8-king","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam8-king.png","width":755,"height":1280,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam8-king-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam8-king-177x300.png","medium-width":177,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam8-king-604x1024.png","medium_large-width":604,"medium_large-height":1024,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam8-king-604x1024.png","large-width":604,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam8-king.png","1536x1536-width":755,"1536x1536-height":1280,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam8-king.png","2048x2048-width":755,"2048x2048-height":1280,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam8-king-708x1200.png","post_full_size-width":708,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam8-king-248x420.png","home_baner-width":248,"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":"8","chapter_main_number":"240","date":"20260730","wall_id":"240"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"444","name":"History","old_id":"844"},{"term_id":"458","name":"Nations","old_id":"858"},{"term_id":"835","name":"King","old_id":"1235"}]},{"order":8,"id":"57475","color":"#e0e9ef","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":"57966","color":"#faeed8","size":"1","name":"Historical Veracity And Military Audacity ","post_title":"Historical Veracity And Military Audacity","slug":"historical-veracity-and-military-audacity","old_id":"57966","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":34235,"post_title":"Marc Gitler","slug":"marc-gitler","old_id":"34235","first_name":"Marc","last_name":"Gitler","description":"Rabbi Marc Gitler, a recipient of the Wexner Fellowship, was ordained at Yeshivat Chovevei Torah, and earned an MPA from NYU . The founder of Fast for Feast, he lives in Denver, Colorado with his wife Sarah and their four children. He used to work for 929 North America.\r\n","short_description":"Rabbi Marc Gitler, founder of Fast for Feast, lives in Denver, Colorado with his wife Sarah and their four children. ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":34236,"alt":"","title":"Marc Gitler","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Gitler.jpg","width":407,"height":407,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Gitler-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Gitler-300x300.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Gitler.jpg","medium_large-width":407,"medium_large-height":407,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Gitler.jpg","large-width":407,"large-height":407,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Gitler.jpg","1536x1536-width":407,"1536x1536-height":407,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Gitler.jpg","2048x2048-width":407,"2048x2048-height":407,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Gitler.jpg","post_full_size-width":407,"post_full_size-height":407,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Gitler.jpg","home_baner-width":407,"home_baner-height":407}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"246","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Just ask Major Vivian Gilbert how Jonathan\u2019s commando tactics worked in 1918","post_main_content_content":"

In February of 1918, toward the tail end of World War I, British troops under the command of General Edmund Allenby were ordered to attack Jericho, to force the Ottomans to flee to the Eastern Bank of the Jordan River. For tactical reasons, prior to the major assault, the troops needed to capture a small village called Mukhmas.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

An attack plan was drawn up calling for their brigade to advance down the valley before dawn and take the village from the front. \u00a0While most of the troops were trying to get a few hours of sleep, an unnamed brigade major was reading the Bible, \u201cby the light of his candle,\u201d because the name Mukhmas seemed vaguely familiar.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

In his book \u201cThe Romance of the Last Crusade\u201d Major Vivian Gilbert writes \u201cJust as he was about to turn in for the night, however, he recollected, and thought he would look it up. He found what he was searching for in Samuel 1 chapters 13 and 14.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

And Saul and Jonathan\u2026abode in Gibeah of Benjamin: but the Philistines encamped in Mickmash\u2026<\/span><\/p>\r\n

He read of Jonathan and his arm-bearer climbing to the town over steep cliffs, through two sharp rocks named Bozez and Seneh. How Jonathan\u2019s surprise attack caused panic in the camp, and the Philistines scattering in all directions.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Gilbert continues \u201cThe Brigade Major thought to himself: \u2018This pass, these two rocky headlands and flat piece of ground are probably still here.\u201d He woke the Brigadier. Scouts were set out and reported back that the pass was thinly held by the Ottomans. \u201cThe general decided then and there to change the plan of attack, and instead of the whole brigade, one infantry company alone advanced at dead of night along the pass of Mickmash\u2026We passed between Bozez and Seneh, climbed the hillside, and just before dawn, found ourselves on the flat piece of ground. The Turks who were sleeping awoke, thought they were surrounded by the armies of Allenby and fled in disorder.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

He concludes his chapter \u201cWe killed or captured every Turk that night in Mickmash, so that, after thousands of years, the tactics of Saul and Jonathan were repeated with success by a British force.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Sometimes being a Bibliophile helps in more than just Jeopardy and Trivial Pursuit.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Image: British infantry on the march, Palestine (credit: Imperial War Museum)<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":57967,"alt":"","title":"isam14-british-troops-palestine","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam14-british-troops-palestine.jpg","width":800,"height":468,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam14-british-troops-palestine-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam14-british-troops-palestine-300x176.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":176,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam14-british-troops-palestine-768x449.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":449,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam14-british-troops-palestine.jpg","large-width":800,"large-height":468,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam14-british-troops-palestine.jpg","1536x1536-width":800,"1536x1536-height":468,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam14-british-troops-palestine.jpg","2048x2048-width":800,"2048x2048-height":468,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam14-british-troops-palestine.jpg","post_full_size-width":800,"post_full_size-height":468,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam14-british-troops-palestine-718x420.jpg","home_baner-width":718,"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":"Historical Veracity And Military Audacity","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Just ask Major Vivian Gilbert how Jonathan\u2019s commando tactics worked in 1918","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":57967,"alt":"","title":"isam14-british-troops-palestine","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam14-british-troops-palestine.jpg","width":800,"height":468,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam14-british-troops-palestine-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam14-british-troops-palestine-300x176.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":176,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam14-british-troops-palestine-768x449.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":449,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam14-british-troops-palestine.jpg","large-width":800,"large-height":468,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam14-british-troops-palestine.jpg","1536x1536-width":800,"1536x1536-height":468,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam14-british-troops-palestine.jpg","2048x2048-width":800,"2048x2048-height":468,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam14-british-troops-palestine.jpg","post_full_size-width":800,"post_full_size-height":468,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam14-british-troops-palestine-718x420.jpg","home_baner-width":718,"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 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She is a member of the inaugural cohort of the Weitzman-JDC Fellowship in Global Jewish Leadership and is pursuing a Master\u2019s Concentration in Israel Education through the iCenter. 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In her memoir, <\/span>Becoming<\/span><\/em>, Michelle Obama describes an extreme reaction to her husband Barack\u2019s keynote address at the 2004 Democratic National Convention. \u201cCable pundits were dubbing him a rock star and an overnight success, as if he hadn\u2019t spent years working up to that moment onstage, as if the speech had created him, instead of the other way around.\u201d A prophetic moment, and suddenly, Barack Obama was the anointed one of the United States Democratic Party.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

In 1 Samuel 16, we first meet David, who is anointed Saul\u2019s successor by divine decree. David was the youngest of eight brothers, a shepherd and a musician, an altogether unlikely king. How had he spent his years working up to that moment? When Samuel comes looking for Saul\u2019s replacement, David isn\u2019t even home. If he even knew that there was an important visitor, he had prioritized tending to his flock over meeting a prophet. When he does return, still red-faced from work and probably smelling like sheep, God tells Samuel to anoint him right away. He does so, in a private ceremony attended only by his family.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

However, divine anointing alone is not enough to make a king. David keeps this incident secret, so that only he and his family know he is due to be king. He does not actually ascend the throne for another sixteen chapters, until he has both learned how to rule and proven his capabilities. A galvanizing speech can set a politician up for a successful race, but they still have to run. Perhaps the process of building a leader is comprised of both prophetic moments and unseen efforts.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Image: Samuel Anointing David, Dura Europus, c. 245 C.E.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":58065,"alt":"","title":"isam16-anoint","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam16-anoint.jpg","width":757,"height":629,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam16-anoint-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam16-anoint-300x249.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":249,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam16-anoint.jpg","medium_large-width":757,"medium_large-height":629,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam16-anoint.jpg","large-width":757,"large-height":629,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam16-anoint.jpg","1536x1536-width":757,"1536x1536-height":629,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam16-anoint.jpg","2048x2048-width":757,"2048x2048-height":629,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam16-anoint.jpg","post_full_size-width":757,"post_full_size-height":629,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam16-anoint-505x420.jpg","home_baner-width":505,"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":"Leadership Is Not Born In A Moment","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"It consists in prophetic moments and unseen efforts, among other things","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":58065,"alt":"","title":"isam16-anoint","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam16-anoint.jpg","width":757,"height":629,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam16-anoint-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam16-anoint-300x249.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":249,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam16-anoint.jpg","medium_large-width":757,"medium_large-height":629,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam16-anoint.jpg","large-width":757,"large-height":629,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam16-anoint.jpg","1536x1536-width":757,"1536x1536-height":629,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam16-anoint.jpg","2048x2048-width":757,"2048x2048-height":629,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam16-anoint.jpg","post_full_size-width":757,"post_full_size-height":629,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam16-anoint-505x420.jpg","home_baner-width":505,"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":"16","chapter_main_number":"248","date":"20260811","wall_id":"248"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"402","name":"Leadership","old_id":"802"},{"term_id":"834","name":"David","old_id":"1234"}]},{"order":11,"id":"58271","color":"#f7e9e9","size":"1","name":"Alone Like Saul ","post_title":"Alone Like Saul","slug":"alone-like-saul","old_id":"58271","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":36149,"post_title":"Shai Secunda","slug":"shai-secunda","old_id":"36149","first_name":"Shai ","last_name":"Secunda","description":"Shai Secunda occupies the Jacob Neusner chair in Judaism at Bard College, where he directs the Interdisciplinary Study of Religions program. 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","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":36150,"alt":"","title":"Shai Secunda","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Shai-Secunda-e1532842797599.jpg","width":1202,"height":1287,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Shai-Secunda-e1532842797599-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Shai-Secunda-e1532842797599-280x300.jpg","medium-width":280,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Shai-Secunda-e1532842797599-768x822.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":822,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Shai-Secunda-e1532842797599-956x1024.jpg","large-width":956,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Shai-Secunda-e1532842797599.jpg","1536x1536-width":1202,"1536x1536-height":1287,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Shai-Secunda-e1532842797599.jpg","2048x2048-width":1202,"2048x2048-height":1287,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Shai-Secunda-e1532842797599-1121x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":1121,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Shai-Secunda-e1532842797599-392x420.jpg","home_baner-width":392,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"250","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"As much as King Saul\u2019s animosity is directed at David, it is really an internal battle, against his own demons","post_main_content_content":"

1 Samuel 18 begins the ten-chapter-long saga of King Saul and his relentless pursuit of David. The account is animated by the strongest of human emotions \u2013 jealousy and deep, deep depression \u2013 and portrays the great clash between David and Saul as one between a future king, with his star on the rise, and a disappointing monarch, whose star is setting.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The two main characters could not be painted in more different light. Saul hatches a murderous plan to get David killed at the hand of the Philistine enemy, and he later tries to kill him himself, when the king is overcome by an evil spirit. David, on the other hand, is kind and obedient, almost to a fault. He does not bask in the praises he receives from fawning women, nor does he complain when Saul tries to kill him.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Then an evil spirit of the LORD came upon Saul while he was sitting in his house with his spear in his hand, and David was playing [the lyre]. Saul tried to pin David to the wall with the spear, but he eluded Saul, so that he drove the spear into the wall. David fled and got away (19:10-11).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

It seems clear that the author of the text wants us to take sides in the conflict, to be sympathetic towards David, and critical of Saul.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Yet, the late Israeli poet Yehuda Amichai, in his <\/span>\u201cOpen Closed Open\u201d<\/span><\/a>, takes the unusual step of removing David from the picture, and collapsing the different artifacts of violence into a single subject:<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Sometimes I am alone like King Saul.<\/span>
\r\n<\/span> I need to play the music for myself and to throw the javelin by myself<\/span>
\r\n<\/span> and to dodge the javelin. And I am also the wall<\/span>
\r\n<\/span> in which the thrusted javelin quivers (\u201cOpen Closed Open; The Bible and You,\u201d 17).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

In this imaginative reading, Amichai challenges us to think of the story as an internal, rather than external, conflict. In this way, one can appreciate how, as much as King Saul\u2019s animosity is directed at David, it is really an internal battle, against his own demons. When Saul thrusts his javelin at the wall, he is only hurting himself.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Image: <\/span>Saul and David by Rembrandt (detail), Mauritshuis Museum, c. 1660 \/ wikimedia<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":58272,"alt":"","title":"isam18-rembrandt","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam18-rembrandt.jpg","width":551,"height":639,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam18-rembrandt-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam18-rembrandt-259x300.jpg","medium-width":259,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam18-rembrandt.jpg","medium_large-width":551,"medium_large-height":639,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam18-rembrandt.jpg","large-width":551,"large-height":639,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam18-rembrandt.jpg","1536x1536-width":551,"1536x1536-height":639,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam18-rembrandt.jpg","2048x2048-width":551,"2048x2048-height":639,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam18-rembrandt.jpg","post_full_size-width":551,"post_full_size-height":639,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam18-rembrandt-362x420.jpg","home_baner-width":362,"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":"Alone Like Saul","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"As much as King Saul\u2019s animosity is directed at David, it is really an internal battle, against his own demons","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":58272,"alt":"","title":"isam18-rembrandt","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam18-rembrandt.jpg","width":551,"height":639,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam18-rembrandt-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam18-rembrandt-259x300.jpg","medium-width":259,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam18-rembrandt.jpg","medium_large-width":551,"medium_large-height":639,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam18-rembrandt.jpg","large-width":551,"large-height":639,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam18-rembrandt.jpg","1536x1536-width":551,"1536x1536-height":639,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam18-rembrandt.jpg","2048x2048-width":551,"2048x2048-height":639,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam18-rembrandt.jpg","post_full_size-width":551,"post_full_size-height":639,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam18-rembrandt-362x420.jpg","home_baner-width":362,"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":"18","chapter_main_number":"250","date":"20260813","wall_id":"250"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"362","name":"Poetry","old_id":"762"},{"term_id":"834","name":"David","old_id":"1234"},{"term_id":"877","name":"Amichai","old_id":"1277"},{"term_id":"885","name":"Saul","old_id":"1285"}]},{"order":12,"id":"58485","color":"#f7f7f5","size":"1","name":"David And Jonathan: The Ultimate Love ","post_title":"David And Jonathan: The Ultimate Love","slug":"david-and-jonathan-the-ultimate-love","old_id":"58485","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":57581,"post_title":"Daniel Atwood","slug":"daniel-atwood","old_id":"57581","first_name":"Daniel ","last_name":"Atwood ","description":"Rabbi Daniel Atwood was recently ordained by Yashrut, a rabbinical program lead by Rabbi Daniel Landes, in Jerusalem. 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Rabbi Atwood is an active member of Uri L'Tzedek, an Orthodox social justice organization, and a member of the Young Leadership Board of Jewish Queer Youth. \r\n","short_description":"Rabbi Daniel Atwood was recently ordained by Yashrut, a rabbinical program lead by Rabbi Daniel Landes, in Jerusalem.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":57582,"alt":"","title":"daniel atwood","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/daniel-atwood.jpg","width":369,"height":369,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/daniel-atwood-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/daniel-atwood-300x300.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/daniel-atwood.jpg","medium_large-width":369,"medium_large-height":369,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/daniel-atwood.jpg","large-width":369,"large-height":369,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/daniel-atwood.jpg","1536x1536-width":369,"1536x1536-height":369,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/daniel-atwood.jpg","2048x2048-width":369,"2048x2048-height":369,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/daniel-atwood.jpg","post_full_size-width":369,"post_full_size-height":369,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/daniel-atwood.jpg","home_baner-width":369,"home_baner-height":369}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"252","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"And a harbinger of Jonathan\u2019s ultimate fate","post_main_content_content":"

David and Jonathan are deeply in love. Except that David knows that Jonathan's father, King Saul, is not happy about Jonathan's relationship with David, who he sees as a threat to his reign.\u00a0 David sends Jonathan to the monthly meal at the palace to discern if Saul really wants to kill David, and heartbreak ensues. Saul calls Jonathan an \u201cembarrassment\u201d; the \u201cson of a perverse, rebellious woman\u201d (20:30). Jonathan bids a final farewell to David, save one more brief encounter they have in Chapter 23.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

As much as Jonathan loved David, perhaps the real tragedy is that David never fully reciprocated that love in Jonathan\u2019s lifetime. David\u2019s destiny to become King of Israel came first. David did not invite Jonathan to come along with him when he runs away from Saul, going on to have his own adventures in life, leaving Jonathan behind. Ironically, David\u2019s success comes at Jonathan\u2019s expense. Jonathan is heir apparent to the throne and David\u2019s royal ambitions directly threaten Jonathan\u2019s position, a fact which Saul warns Jonathan about (20:31). But Jonathan does not care, as Ethics of the Fathers Chapter 5 asserts: \u201cWhat is love that is dependent on nothing and will always endure? That is the love between David and Jonathan.\u201d Jonathan sacrifices everything for the sake of seeing David succeed.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

This chapter is in many ways a harbinger of Jonathan\u2019s ultimate fate, as he sticks with his father and is soon killed in war. Jonathan\u2019s ultimate demise feels sealed by the end of Chapter 20, if not yet physically, at least emotionally. David goes on to be king but is traumatized by Jonathan\u2019s death, and it is quite telling that David subsequently struggles to have appropriate relationships with women.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

For many in the queer community this story is all too familiar. Boy meets boy. One of them is unable to fully actualize their relationship, courting various women and leaving behind his beloved for the sake of his career. The other, who perhaps had a brighter future laid out for him, is rejected by his father and sacrifices his beloved and ultimately his life for the sake of a love he knows will never be fully actualized.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

But Saul was wrong. It was never David that was a threat to Jonathan\u2019s future, it was Saul\u2019s inability to accept that his son had found favor in David\u2019s eyes (20:3) that caused this whole tragedy. This story did not have to end in tragedy. Society was not ready for David and Jonathan, arguably why their love is conceived of by the sages as the ultimate love. I pray that families and communities have learned the lessons of the consequences of Saul\u2019s rejection.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Image: Jonathan Lovingly Taketh His Leave of David by Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld, c 1856 \/ 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He holds a graduate certificate degree in Gender Studies from Utah State University, and is pursuing a PhD on the intersection between Jewish thought and gender studies at the Bernard Revel Graduate School of Jewish Studies. ","short_description":"Rabbi Tzvi Sinensky is the Director of Interdisciplinary Learning and Educational Outreach at the Rae Kushner Yeshiva High School in Livingston, NJ.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":56119,"alt":"","title":"tzvi_sinensky","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/tzvi_sinensky.jpg","width":240,"height":280,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/tzvi_sinensky-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/tzvi_sinensky.jpg","medium-width":240,"medium-height":280,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/tzvi_sinensky.jpg","medium_large-width":240,"medium_large-height":280,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/tzvi_sinensky.jpg","large-width":240,"large-height":280,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/tzvi_sinensky.jpg","1536x1536-width":240,"1536x1536-height":280,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/tzvi_sinensky.jpg","2048x2048-width":240,"2048x2048-height":280,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/tzvi_sinensky.jpg","post_full_size-width":240,"post_full_size-height":280,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/tzvi_sinensky.jpg","home_baner-width":240,"home_baner-height":280}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"254","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Saul\u2019s soldiers refuse to kill the residents of priestly city of Nob. What would you have done?","post_main_content_content":"

The phrase civil disobedience is widely associated with larger-than-life historical personalities, from Henry David\u2019s Thoreau\u2019s eponymous 1848 essay, to Mahatma Gandhi\u2019s protests on behalf of Indian independence, to Martin Luther King, Jr.\u2019s work on behalf of civil rights.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Yet thousands of years prior to these and countless other examples, our chapter features perhaps the earliest recorded instance of conscientious objection in the West. Contrary to the king\u2019s orders, Saul\u2019s soldiers refuse to kill the residents of priestly city of Nob, whose only crime was to feed David and his band of men. They insist: \u201cThe king\u2019s servants would not raise a hand to strike down the priests of the Lord\u201d (v. 17). Only Doeg, the king\u2019s faithful servant, faithfully follows the king\u2019s decree: <\/span><\/p>\r\n

And Doeg the Edomite went and struck down the priests himself; that day, he killed eighty-five men who wore the linen ephod. He put Nob, the town of the priests, to the sword: men and women, children and infants, oxen, asses, and sheep\u2014[all] to the sword (v. 18-19).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Given that the second half of I Samuel repeatedly underscores Saul\u2019s shortcomings, the clear implication of the text is that the priests were not deserving of death, and that the soldiers were right to disobey orders. In the words of the classical commentator Rashi, citing the rabbis in the Midrash, \u201c<\/span>One may think that [the command to follow a king\u2019s orders] means even to commit a sin; scripture therefore states \u2018Only,\u2019 [to exclude this case].\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Of course, no two cases of civil disobedience are alike; many present a complex moral calculus, and allow no easy answers. Yet, at least in this early example, the prophetic position is clear: knowing that they might be killed for disobeying the king\u2019s orders, the men were right to nonetheless disobey Saul\u2019s orders. The book of Samuel, then, posits a legitimate, if limited, model for civil disobedience thousands of years before Thoreau published his classic essay.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The biblical text echoes throughout the ages and demands that we ask ourselves: Imagine that we were soldiers in Saul\u2019s army. Would we have stood up bravely for our convictions? What would we have done?<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":58679,"alt":"","title":"isam22-Thoreau-Disobey","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/isam22-Thoreau-Disobey.jpg","width":313,"height":432,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/isam22-Thoreau-Disobey-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/isam22-Thoreau-Disobey-217x300.jpg","medium-width":217,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/isam22-Thoreau-Disobey.jpg","medium_large-width":313,"medium_large-height":432,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/isam22-Thoreau-Disobey.jpg","large-width":313,"large-height":432,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/isam22-Thoreau-Disobey.jpg","1536x1536-width":313,"1536x1536-height":432,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/isam22-Thoreau-Disobey.jpg","2048x2048-width":313,"2048x2048-height":432,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/isam22-Thoreau-Disobey.jpg","post_full_size-width":313,"post_full_size-height":432,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/isam22-Thoreau-Disobey-304x420.jpg","home_baner-width":304,"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":"Standing Up Bravely For Their Convictions","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Saul\u2019s soldiers refuse to kill the residents of priestly city of Nob. What would you have done?","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":58679,"alt":"","title":"isam22-Thoreau-Disobey","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/isam22-Thoreau-Disobey.jpg","width":313,"height":432,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/isam22-Thoreau-Disobey-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/isam22-Thoreau-Disobey-217x300.jpg","medium-width":217,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/isam22-Thoreau-Disobey.jpg","medium_large-width":313,"medium_large-height":432,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/isam22-Thoreau-Disobey.jpg","large-width":313,"large-height":432,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/isam22-Thoreau-Disobey.jpg","1536x1536-width":313,"1536x1536-height":432,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/isam22-Thoreau-Disobey.jpg","2048x2048-width":313,"2048x2048-height":432,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/isam22-Thoreau-Disobey.jpg","post_full_size-width":313,"post_full_size-height":432,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/isam22-Thoreau-Disobey-304x420.jpg","home_baner-width":304,"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":"22","chapter_main_number":"254","date":"20260819","wall_id":"254"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"434","name":"War","old_id":"834"},{"term_id":"896","name":"Disobedience","old_id":"1296"},{"term_id":"897","name":"Killing","old_id":"1297"}]},{"order":14,"id":"58723","color":"#e8ecf6","size":"1","name":"Common Sense ","post_title":"Common Sense","slug":"common-sense","old_id":"58723","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":58720,"post_title":"Thomas Paine","slug":"thomas-paine","old_id":"58720","first_name":"Thomas ","last_name":"Paine","description":"Thomas Paine (1737-1809) was an English-born American political activist, philosopher, political theorist, and revolutionary. One of the Founding Fathers of the United States, he authored the two most influential pamphlets at the start of the American Revolution and inspired the patriots in 1776 to declare independence from Great Britain.","short_description":"Thomas Paine (1737-1809) was an English-born American political activist, philosopher, political theorist, and revolutionary. ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":58721,"alt":"","title":"Thomas_Paine","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Thomas_Paine.jpg","width":188,"height":220,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Thomas_Paine-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Thomas_Paine.jpg","medium-width":188,"medium-height":220,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Thomas_Paine.jpg","medium_large-width":188,"medium_large-height":220,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Thomas_Paine.jpg","large-width":188,"large-height":220,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Thomas_Paine.jpg","1536x1536-width":188,"1536x1536-height":220,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Thomas_Paine.jpg","2048x2048-width":188,"2048x2048-height":220,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Thomas_Paine.jpg","post_full_size-width":188,"post_full_size-height":220,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Thomas_Paine.jpg","home_baner-width":188,"home_baner-height":220}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"255","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"In Common Sense, Thomas Paine argued that monarchy was born in the ancient world and was now antiquated and anachronistic. He used biblical arguments to buttress his case. He cites the book of Samuel as demonstrating that the Hebrew Bible is anti-monarchical. These arguments helped persuade at least some patriots to reject monarchy. ","post_main_content_content":"

The Jews came to Samuel, saying, <\/span>\"<\/span><\/i>make us a king to judge us like all the other nations<\/span><\/em>\"<\/span> [I Sam. 8:5]<\/span>.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\r\n

And here we cannot but observe that their motives were bad, viz. that they might be <\/span>like<\/em> <\/span>unto other nations, i.e. the Heathens, whereas their true glory laid in being as much <\/span>unlike<\/em> <\/span>them as possible. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

But the thing displeased Samuel\u2026 and the Lord said unto Samuel\u2026they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me<\/span><\/em>, <\/span><\/i>that i should not reign over them<\/b>\u2026<\/span>Now therefore\u2026shew them the manner of the king that shall reign over them<\/em> <\/span>[I Sam. 8:6-9]<\/span>,<\/span><\/i><\/p>\r\n

i.e. not of any particular king, but the general manner of the kings of the earth, whom Israel was so eagerly copying after.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

And notwithstanding the great distance of time and difference of manners, the character is still in fashion. Samuel said: <\/span>he will take your sons and appoint them for himself, for his chariots, and to be his horsemen <\/span><\/i>(this description agrees with the present mode of impressing men), <\/span>and he \u2026will set them to plow his ground and to reap his harvest, and to make his instruments of war, and instruments of his chariots; and he will take your daughters to be confectionaries, and to be cooks and to be bakers <\/span><\/i>(this describes the expense and luxury as well as the oppression of kings) <\/span>and he will take your fields and your olive yards, even the best of them, and give them to his servants; and he will take the tenth of your feed, and of your vineyards, and give them to his officers and to his servants <\/span><\/i>(by which we see that bribery, corruption, and favoritism are the standing vices of kings) <\/span>and\u2026ye shall be his servants, and ye shall cry out in that day because of your king which ye shall have chosen, <\/span><\/i>and the lord will not hear you in that day <\/b>[I Sam. 8:10-18].<\/span><\/p>\r\n

This accounts for the continuation of monarchy; neither do the characters of the few good kings which have lived since, either sanctify the title, or blot out the sinfulness of the origin; the high encomium given of David takes no notice of him <\/span>officially as a king, <\/span><\/i>but only as a <\/span>man <\/span><\/i>after God\u2019s own heart<\/span>. Nevertheless the People refused to obey the voice of Samuel, and they said, Nay, but we will have a king over us, that we may be like all the nations, and that our king may judge us, and go out before us, and fight our battles <\/span><\/i>[I Sam. 8:19-20]<\/span>.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\r\n

Samuel continued to reason with them, but to no purpose; <\/span>So Samuel called unto the Lord\u2026 And all the people said unto<\/span><\/i> Samuel, Pray for thy servants unto the Lord thy God that we die not, for <\/span><\/i>we have added unto our sins this evil, to ask a king <\/b>[I Sam. 12:17-19]. These portions of scripture are direct and positive. They admit of no equivocal construction. That the Almighty hath here entered his protest against monarchical government is true, or the scripture is false.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Excerpted from <\/span>Proclaim Liberty Throughout the Land: The Hebrew Bible in the United States: A Sourcebook<\/span><\/em>,<\/span><\/i> edited by Meir Y. Soloveichik, Matthew Holbreich, Jonathan Silver Stuart W. Halpern, Straus Center for Torah and Western Thought, The Toby Press, 2019. Pages 84-86.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":58724,"alt":"","title":"july4","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/july4.jpg","width":1000,"height":1000,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/july4-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/july4-300x300.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/july4-768x768.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":768,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/july4.jpg","large-width":1000,"large-height":1000,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/july4.jpg","1536x1536-width":1000,"1536x1536-height":1000,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/july4.jpg","2048x2048-width":1000,"2048x2048-height":1000,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/july4.jpg","post_full_size-width":1000,"post_full_size-height":1000,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/july4-420x420.jpg","home_baner-width":420,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"Bible at the Beginning: In honor of the 4th of July","tile_main_caption":"Common Sense","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Tom Paine and Samuel the Prophet fight the monarchy","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":58724,"alt":"","title":"july4","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/july4.jpg","width":1000,"height":1000,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/july4-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/july4-300x300.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/july4-768x768.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":768,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/july4.jpg","large-width":1000,"large-height":1000,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/july4.jpg","1536x1536-width":1000,"1536x1536-height":1000,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/july4.jpg","2048x2048-width":1000,"2048x2048-height":1000,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/july4.jpg","post_full_size-width":1000,"post_full_size-height":1000,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/july4-420x420.jpg","home_baner-width":420,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"tile_link_for_pay":"0","send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"I Samuel","chapter":"23","chapter_main_number":"255","date":"20260820","wall_id":"255"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"444","name":"History","old_id":"844"},{"term_id":"781","name":"America","old_id":"1181"},{"term_id":"835","name":"King","old_id":"1235"}]},{"order":15,"id":"58921","color":"#f8ebe3","size":"1","name":"A Servant\u2019s Chutzpah, and His Mistress\u2019 Prudence ","post_title":"A Servant\u2019s Chutzpah, And His Mistress\u2019 Prudence","slug":"a-servants-chutzpah-and-his-mistress-prudence","old_id":"58921","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":34250,"post_title":"Sarah Rudolph","slug":"sarah-rudolph","old_id":"34250","first_name":"Sarah ","last_name":"Rudolph","description":"Sarah Rudolph is a freelance Jewish educator, writer, and editor. She has been sharing her passion for Jewish texts of all kinds for over 15 years, with students of all ages. Sarah\u2019s essays have been published in a variety of internet and print media, including Times of Israel, Kveller, Jewish Action, OU Life, The Lehrhaus, TorahMusings, and more. Sarah lives in Cleveland with her husband and four children, but is privileged to learn online with students all over the world through www.TorahTutors.org and www.WebYeshiva.org. \r\n\r\n","short_description":"Sarah Rudolph is a freelance Jewish educator, writer, and editor.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":34251,"alt":"","title":"Sarah R","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Sarah-R.jpg","width":2824,"height":4246,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Sarah-R-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Sarah-R-200x300.jpg","medium-width":200,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Sarah-R-681x1024.jpg","medium_large-width":681,"medium_large-height":1024,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Sarah-R-681x1024.jpg","large-width":681,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Sarah-R.jpg","1536x1536-width":1022,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Sarah-R.jpg","2048x2048-width":1362,"2048x2048-height":2048,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Sarah-R-798x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":798,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Sarah-R-279x420.jpg","home_baner-width":279,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"257","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Abigail\u2019s integrity, goodness, intelligence and reasonableness give her the ability to clean up her husband\u2019s messes\u00a0\u00a0","post_main_content_content":"

We can learn a lot about a person\u2019s character from observing how others interact with them.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

When David, the newly minted almost-king of Israel, sent messengers requesting food from Nabal the Carmelite and was rudely rebuffed, he immediately prepared to wipe out the offender\u2019s estate. It was Nabal\u2019s wife, Abigail, who rode out to face David and talk him down \u2013 but it\u2019s an unnamed \u201cyoung man\u201d of the estate, himself an unsung hero of the story, who begins to show us her heroic character.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Though the narrative elsewhere refers to \u201chis servants\u201d and \u201cher servants,\u201d it doesn\u2019t specify whether this young man was a servant of Abigail\u2019s or of her husband\u2019s. Whichever of them he is assigned to serve, he knows to turn to Abigail when disaster looms. In fact, he brazenly points out to her that her awful husband is impossible to talk to (v.17). Apparently, Abigail is much more approachable and reasonable \u2013 and known for her integrity and ability to solve problems.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

In telling her the situation, the young man emphasizes that David\u2019s men had previously assisted Nabal\u2019s shepherds (\u201c<\/span>But the men had been very friendly to us\u2026all the time that we were with them tending the flocks<\/span><\/em>\u2026\u201d - v. 15-16). He knows Abigail will appreciate the injustice of Nabal\u2019s refusal to return the favor.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

More than that, he has no doubt that once informed of both the injustice and the imminent danger, she will do something about it: <\/span>So consider carefully what you should do, for harm threatens our master and all his household<\/span><\/em>. <\/span><\/i>(v. 17)<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Telling the mistress of the estate what to do? We might be surprised at the young man\u2019s <\/span>chutzpah<\/span><\/em> \u2013 until we realize that Abigail responds just as he expected her to, hurrying to gather food to rectify her husband\u2019s mistake without a word to him. We realize that perhaps this is not the first time Abigail has had to clean up her husband\u2019s mess; perhaps she\u2019s built a reputation so the servants know they can come to her for that purpose.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Nabal, whose very name means \u201cdisgusting\u201d and is an apt description of his character (as Abigail herself attests in verse 25), has his reputation, and Abigail has hers. Their contrasting characters were introduced in general terms in verse three: he is \u201ca hard man and an evildoer\u201d; she is \u201cgood of intellect\u201d in addition to being beautiful. Even before we see her act, the servant\u2019s trust in her goodness and intelligence shows just how deeply those descriptions represent who Abigail was.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

And the crown of a good name rises above them all<\/span><\/em> (Avot 4:13).<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":58922,"alt":"","title":"isam25-womans 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Servant\u2019s Chutzpah, And His Mistress\u2019 Prudence","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Abigail\u2019s integrity, goodness, intelligence and reasonableness give her the ability to clean up her husband\u2019s messes\u00a0\u00a0","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":58922,"alt":"","title":"isam25-womans 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David receives another opportunity to kill his pursuer Saul, but he again declines to do any harm to the king, \u201cthe anointed one of God.\u201d This would have been the simplest case of self-defense; Saul was leading an army of 3,000 men in search of David, but David ordered his nephew Avishai to stand down, warning, \u201cwho has ever cast a hand against the anointed one of God and been guiltless?\u201d Instead, David takes a spear and water jug from the sleeping Saul and, like a valiant<\/span> \u201cwhite hat\u201d hacker<\/span><\/a>, dutifully informs Saul\u2019s men of their security failure: \u201cWhy have you not guarded your master the king, when any anonymous one of the people (\u201c<\/span>ahad ha-am<\/span><\/em>\u201d) could have come to destroy the king your master.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

In 1889, early Zionist intellectual Asher Ginsberg adopted <\/span>Ahad ha-Am<\/span><\/em> as a pen name for his first published essay,<\/span> explaining<\/span><\/a>, \u201cI am no author and have no intention to ever enter the community of authors, and only incidentally am I revealing my opinion in this matter, as an anonymous one of the people whose spirit is engaged with the concerns of the people.\u201d Decades later and widely regarded as one of the great Zionist thinkers, Ahad ha-Am was still writing under the same name.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Ahad ha-Am did not explicitly tie his identity to the <\/span>ahad ha-am<\/span><\/em> invoked by David here or to the one referred to by King Avimelekh in Genesis 26:10. But his name was his destiny, and in time <\/span>Ahad ha-Am <\/span>became known for \u201ccoming to destroy the king.\u201d\u00a0 Ahad ha-Am relentlessly criticized the political Zionism of his nemesis Theodor Herzl, deriding the movement as overly preoccupied with power and insufficiently concerned with the sacred ideas of Jewish spirit and culture. He condemned Herzl\u2019s efforts to enlist support for a sovereign Jewish state by conducting diplomacy with world leaders, and he called upon the message of the Prophets, who<\/span> \u201csought with all their might to ensure that the ends would never be subjugated to the means and the \u2018flesh\u2019 would never rule over the spirit.\u201d<\/span><\/a>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

To the extent Ahad ha-Am saw any value in a Jewish state, he wanted it to be guided by its prophets, not its kings.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Of course, Ahad ha-Am did not \u201cdestroy the king,\u201d and he remains a footnote in the story of the triumph of political Zionism. The <\/span>ahad ha-am<\/span><\/em> of David\u2019s imagination also failed to harm the king, because David himself intervened, not out of concern for Saul in particular but because of his zeal for the institution of the \u201canointed one of God,\u201d the institution he and his descendants were chosen to 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As Saul\u2019s kingship disintegrates in a spiral of paranoia and despair, chapter 28 does an about-face with a story that is both shocking and tender. Samuel has died and the frantic Saul is desperate to connect with the prophet who made him king. Saul, however, has previously banished all practitioners of magic from his realm. He now seeks out a remaining witch, a woman in En-Dor, and visits her in disguise. Though the woman is frightened for her life, she obliges and conjures up the ghost of Samuel who, in harsh words, informs Saul that obliteration is upon him. Saul falls to the ground in a faint.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

At this point, the witch switches her services and offers the famished king food and comfort.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

It is no accident that the witch of En-Dor follows in the great Biblical tradition of hospitality, calling to mind such meals as those prepared by Abraham for the angels or, with a twist, Lot for the strangers. Hospitality, in addition to acts of direct service, implies acceptance of the guest, the other. This trait does not characterize Samuel who grew up in harsh circumstances \u2013his mother gave him up as a small child, albeit for a religious purpose. He then has to tell his adoptive father Eli, the priest, that Eli\u2019s own sons will die. Later, when Samuel\u2019s prot\u00e9g\u00e9e, Saul, fails in the mission to annihilate the Amelekites, the prophet is ruthless in his condemnation and abandons Saul.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

This rocky beginning of the prophet\/king relationship evokes other rocky beginnings. Creation itself can be understood as happening in multiple iterations starting with the Adam 1 and 2 narratives, being destroyed in the flood and then renewed with Noah. So too, family, tribe and nation struggle through successive challenges of survival and identity. Stories of destruction alternate with stories kindness.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

So too in our story. The witch of En-Dor, doubly marginalized as a woman and a sorceress, reminds us that power must be tempered with compassion. Saul, certain that God has abandoned him, feels hopeless. The witch of En-dor offers him bread. Saul, despondent, refuses. But the woman does not acquiesce to Saul\u2019s depression and give up. Rather, she stays and encourages him. Finally Saul accepts his hostess\u2019s offer at which point she prepares an extensive meal of meat and freshly baked bread. The witch of En-Dor\u2019s hospitality gives Saul the strength to rise and continue on his way. Her humanity redeems his dignity and he can die a death befitting the first King of Israel.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Image: The Shade Of Samuel Invoked By Saul, Nikiforovich Dmitry Martynov, c. 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Samuel","chapter":"28","chapter_main_number":"260","date":"20260827","wall_id":"260"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"415","name":"food","old_id":"815"},{"term_id":"451","name":"Hope","old_id":"851"},{"term_id":"503","name":"Power","old_id":"903"},{"term_id":"718","name":"Hospitality","old_id":"1118"},{"term_id":"885","name":"Saul","old_id":"1285"}]},{"order":18,"id":"59321","color":"#efefef","size":"1","name":"A Leadership Principle For The Ages ","post_title":"A Leadership Principle For The Ages","slug":"a-leadership-principle-for-the-ages","old_id":"59321","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":46656,"post_title":"Molly Morris","slug":"molly-morris","old_id":"46656","first_name":"Molly ","last_name":"Morris ","description":"Molly Morris holds a Masters degree in Leadership and Community Engagement. Her particular area of interest is biblical leadership. Molly participates in the 929 initiative with a dedicated group from the Beth Avraham Yoseph of Toronto congregation. \r\n\r\n","short_description":"Molly Morris holds a Masters degree in Leadership and Community Engagement. Molly participates in the 929 initiative with a dedicated group from the Beth Avraham Yoseph of Toronto congregation. \r\n\r\n","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":92561,"alt":"","title":"molly morris","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris.jpg","width":2192,"height":2488,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris-264x300.jpg","medium-width":264,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris-768x872.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":872,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris-902x1024.jpg","large-width":902,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris.jpg","1536x1536-width":1353,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris.jpg","2048x2048-width":1804,"2048x2048-height":2048,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris-1057x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":1057,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris-370x420.jpg","home_baner-width":370,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"262","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Those who cannot participate are still an integral part of the community, and we take care of them\u00a0","post_main_content_content":"

Throughout Tanach we learn lessons on leadership from both major and minor characters:<\/span><\/p>\r\n

\u2022Nachshon Ben Aminadav led by personal action and example while demonstrating his underlying faith in God when he walked into the Red Sea (Exodus 14);<\/span><\/p>\r\n

\u2022Moses demonstrated how to choose a successor by stipulating that he must be able to serve each member of the community as a unique personality (Numbers 27); how to target a message to an audience by contextualizing the word of God for his followers (Deuteronomy 5) and how to allow for compromise while maintaining the integrity of the law by distinguishing between what is \u201cright\u201d and what is \u201cgood\u201d (Deuteronomy 6);<\/span><\/p>\r\n

\u2022The early Judges unified the tribes in order to achieve a national inheritance (Judges 16); and<\/span><\/p>\r\n

\u2022Samuel evoked a revolutionary shift in the national consciousness by bringing the Israelites to a state of spiritual readiness to be led (Samuel 7).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

In all of these instances the lessons are under the surface of the story, sometimes only illuminated by commentaries. But in this chapter David does something that is not only explicit in its illustration of leadership but lays the foundation for what became \u201c<\/span>a statute and an ordinance for Israel until this day (verse 25).\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Earlier in this chapter we read of a young Egyptian slave who became ill and was abandoned by his troop and left to die. When he was no longer able to participate actively with the community he was no longer of any value. In juxtaposition to this episode, when the men of David\u2019s army suggested that their war booty be shared by only those who actively engaged in battle, David invoked a principle of social equity. No, David said, those who were too weak to go into battle are still an integral part of the community, and we take care of them.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

That lesson of taking care of all members of our community is not a hypothetical or one-off lesson: it\u2019s a leadership principle worthy of encoding into law, because it\u2019s not situational, not negotiable - it\u2019s the underpinning of a socially just society and representative of the kind of kingdom David will seek to establish.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":59322,"alt":"","title":"isam30-pie","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/isam30-pie.jpg","width":1920,"height":1280,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/isam30-pie-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/isam30-pie-300x200.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":200,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/isam30-pie-768x512.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":512,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/isam30-pie-1024x683.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":683,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/isam30-pie.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1024,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/isam30-pie.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1280,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/isam30-pie-1200x800.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":800,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/isam30-pie-630x420.jpg","home_baner-width":630,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"A Leadership Principle For The Ages","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Those who cannot participate are still an integral part of the community, and we take care of them\u00a0","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":59322,"alt":"","title":"isam30-pie","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/isam30-pie.jpg","width":1920,"height":1280,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/isam30-pie-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/isam30-pie-300x200.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":200,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/isam30-pie-768x512.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":512,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/isam30-pie-1024x683.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":683,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/isam30-pie.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1024,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/isam30-pie.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1280,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/isam30-pie-1200x800.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":800,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/isam30-pie-630x420.jpg","home_baner-width":630,"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":"30","chapter_main_number":"262","date":"20260831","wall_id":"262"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"402","name":"Leadership","old_id":"802"},{"term_id":"414","name":"Law","old_id":"814"}]}],"static_cube_title":"","static_cube_brief":"","static_cube_color":"","date":"20190716","chapter":"","chapter_main_number":"","date_from":"","date_to":"20190716"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wall\/58698"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wall"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/wall"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=58698"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}