D’var Torah Naso


The thirteenth chapter of the Book of Judges (with the first verse omitted) is read as the haftara of Parashat Naso, the connection being the fact that Samson was a nazirite from birth and the parasha presents the laws of the nazirite.
The first time the messenger of God appeared to Mrs. Manoaḥ, Samson's mother, he informed her that the destiny of the child she will bear is that: He will begin to save Israel from the power of the Philistines. [Verse 5]
Samson's task was rather modest. Unlike the judges who preceded him, Samson, the last judge, was not destined to save the Israelites from their Philistine oppressor, but merely to begin the process of saving the nation.
The question which must be asked is: did Samson realize this limited destiny? As Rabbi Amnon Bazak states, a reading of the chapters which describe Samson [14-16] leads to the conclusion that Samson failed to achieve his destiny, and the Divine messenger's words must be understood not as God's promise, but as a challenge; a challenge which Samson failed to meet.
While the beginning of Israel's salvation from the Philistines occurred during the early part of the reign of King Saul, Israel's first king, [I Samuel 14] not only did Saul fail to complete the nation's salvation, but he died in battle (falling on his sword, rather than being taken prisoner [Ibid. 31:4] against the Philistines.
In practice, it was King David who completed Israel's salvation from the Philistines.
There is no indication in the verses that Samson related to himself as God's messenger to begin Chosen Nation's salvation from the Philistines. On the contrary, Samson's escapades appear to be a personal vendetta against the Philistines. Samson is unique among the judges, in being the only one who acts totally alone. Apparently, Samson never attempted to enlist the aid of fellow Israelites in his attacks against the Philistines. Scripture seems to present personal vengeance against the Philistines as Samson's primary motivation. Indeed, the word "vengeance" (nakam) is uttered by Samson three times, the same number of times he mentions God's name. We may note that two of the times that Samson mentioned God's name were in his plea for final vengeance:
Lord God, please remember me. Strengthen me, God, just once more. With one act of vengeance, let me pay back the Philistines for my two eyes. [16:28]
We may add that our Sages refer to Samson as one of three "light ones of the world." [Babylonian Talmud, Rosh haShana 25b] Each of the other two, Gideon and Jephthah, mentioned God's name no fewer than nine times.
It is likely that Samson's failure to realize his destiny resulted from his inability to realize that his super-human strength was God given.
In contrast to Samson, David was fully aware that God was the source of his strength and successes. Prior to his first encounter with a Philistine, David, son of Jesse of Bet Leḥem, who was then a teenager, expressed his faith and trust in Divine assistance:
David answered Saul, "Your servant has been tending his father's sheep. Whenever a lion or a bear came and carried off a lamb from the flock. I went after it, struck it down, and rescued (the lamb) from its mouth. It reared up against me, and I grabbed it by its fur, struck it down, and killed it. Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, for he has defied the armies of the living God." Then David said, "The Lord who rescued me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear, He will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine." ( I Samuel 17:34-37)
In his conversation with Goliath, the giant Philistine warrior, David made it clear to his enemy that he relies on his faith in God:
And David said to the Philistine, "You come against me with sword, spear and javelin, and I come against you with the Name of the Lord of Hosts, the God of the armies of Israel which you have taunted. This day, the Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I shall slay you, and take off your head, and I shall give the carcasses of the camp of the Philistines this day, to the fowl of the air and to the beasts of the earth, and all the earth shall know that Israel has a God. And all this assembly shall know that it is not by sword and javelin that the Lord saves, for the battle is the Lord's, and He will deliver you into our hand." (Ibid., 45-47)
In this conversation, David mentioned God's name more often than we hear the name from the mouth of Samson throughout his career
Unlike Samson, David fully understood and internalized that he is God's messenger to fight against the enemy of the Chosen Nation. The practical lesson of the comparison between Samson and David is that faith and trust in God are the necessary tools to fulfill the destiny of saving God's nation from its enemies.
(David Magence)
Shabbat Shalom
The Va’ad