
PEOPLE OF THE LAND
Selections from classical Torah sources
which express the special relationship between
the People of Israel and Eretz Yisrael
SHIMSHON -
THE POWERFUL JUDGE
For the close to four centuries of Jewish settlement
in Eretz Yisrael, before the anointment of a king, the Jewish
nation was led by shoftim (judges). One of these judges, who
led his people for twenty years, was Shimshon, who is best known to
casual Bible readers for his extraordinary demonstrations of physical
prowess in his battles with the Philistines.
Shimshon was from the Tribe of Dan, and it was in regard to him that
the founder of his tribe received a prophetic blessing from his father,
the Patriarch Yaakov, that his descendant would be "like a serpent
on the road who bites the heel of the horse and causes its rider to
fall." (Bereishet 49:17) This prophecy was fulfilled when
Shimson, a captive of the Philistines who had deprived him of his strength
and blinded him, was brought from his prison cell to be mocked by thousands
of Philistines who had gathered in the temple of their idol to celebrate
their triumph over their formidable foe. Praying to Hashem to "let
me die with the Philistines," Shimshon gathered up his remaining
strength, shook the pillars which supported the building and succeeded,
in his death, in slaying more of the enemies of his people than he did
in his lifetime. (Shoftim 16:23-30)
Love of the Land Archives
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Written by Rabbi Mendel Weinbach, Dean, Ohr Somayach Institutions
General Editor:
Rabbi Moshe Newman
Web Production: Binyamin Rosenstock
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