The Tanakh Podcast

Who was the person that managed to break the inexorable "Shoftim Cycle" - the constant waves of sin-invasion-salvation? It was Samuel! Under his twenty-years of leadership, he brings the nation to a point at which they will consider abandoning their idolatry! This chapter gives us a snapshot of Samuel in his role as national leader.

The Phillistines return the lost Ark. But when it arrives in Beit Shemesh, though the people bow and bring a sacrifice, 70 people lose their lives in a plague of God. Why? What did the people do wrong?

The Philistines perceive their defeat of Israel as a victory of their god Dagon, over the God of Israel. But God knows how to retaliate. The Ark of the Covenant unleashes a trail of havoc, destroying the Philistine's religious icons and causing death in their towns. The Philistines are petrified of the power of the Ark and decide to return it to Israel.

Our chapter describes Israel's devastating defeat at the hands of the Philistines. But worse than the military defeat and the 30,000 casualties is the capture of the Ark of the Covenant. Why was it taken to the battlefront? And why did God allow His Ark to be taken captive by the enemy?

In this chapter, Samuel receives his first prophecy. How does he know that God is calling him? What does God want to say to him? Looking at the bookends of this chapter we understand that this is a turning point. Samuel's role as prophet signifies and represents a return of the word of God to the Jewish people.

Samuel grows up loyal to God, a devoted servant in the Temple. In contrast, the High Priest's sons, Hofni and Pinchas, are running a corrupt cartel, utilizing the Mishkan for their own desires. A prophet comes with a devastating denouncement of the priestly family.

In this Chapter we witness a childless Channa praying desperately for a child. In our tradition, Channa is an model of how to pray effectively. But Channa has visited Shilo before. Each year, she cried, she did not eat. This year she prays.  Why this year? What changed?

The moral disarray of Shoftim comes to a climax in our chapter as vows and abductions take us to an absurd finale. This podcast ends with some concluding comments about Shoftim as a book.

Brother against brother. In this chapter, after hearing about the horrific rape in Givah, 400,000 soldiers wage war, a war of decimation and destruction, against The tribe of Benjamin. But they consult with God twice and each time they lose the battle. Why does God allow them to lose if this is a holy war, a legitimate cause? Or possibly, it is illegitimate?

In one of the most horrific episodes of the Tanakh, a rape, reminiscent of the Sedom story, transpires in Giv'ah. Israel has become like Sedom! Music. The Jam - "A Town Called Malice"

The Tribe of Dan are in transit. They are looking for land. What happened to their tribal lands? The chapter described how they fund an quiet unsuspecting region in the North of Israel and, clothing their actions in religious language, sieze the land (and lives) of innocents. But this is not the only violent action that they perform.  

Stolen money, a curse that becomes a blessing, an idol that becomes a center for asking questions of God, an unemployed Levite who functions as a priest in an unauthorized Temple. All of this represents the chaotic world of a society in which religion is influenced by pagan standards of other nations and in which Jewish leadership has broken down.

Samason meets Delilah and gives her the keys to his remarkable strength - his hair which is expressive of his Nazirirte status. The Chapter ends with Samson's suicide in which he "kills more in his death than during his life." We spend this podcast trying to offer some frameworks to understand this challenging personality.