Spiritual and
Ethical Issues in the Historical Books of Tanach;
JOSHUA, JUDGES, SAMUEL, KINGS (Nevi’im Rishonim) These four
books ostensibly are merely the history of Israel from the entry into the
Promised Land until the destruction of the Temple and the temporary loss
of independent statehood. In fact they are actually, in a specifically
Jewish sense, the most deeply religious and spiritual books of the Bible.
One does not have to be specifically Jewish to see or feel the religion
and spirituality in the revelations of the prophetic writings or in the
words of the Tehillim. They speak to all people, as evidenced by the fact
that the Bible is still the world's bestseller and there are millions of
non-Jews who regularly recite the Psalms. However, it is specifically and
intrinsically Jewish to understand that G-d is revealed in the prosaic
material, in the political, social and military events in the lives of
ordinary men and women, kings and leaders that are described in the Nevim
Rishonim. Here are described the ideology and religious thoughts in
Judaism, while in Chronicles we have the purely historical. Some times there are things that are even more important than life and call for sacrifice. Therefore, there is a mitzva of Kiddush HaShem, one that is obligatory on all Jewish men and women, irrespective of their status or the country or the century in which they live. We are familiar with the 3 mitzvot - idolatry, adultery and bloodshed - for which martyrdom is required rather than transgression; and even ordinary mitzvot demand this at times when their non-observance are made by others, a matter of persecution and ideology. The converse of such Kiddush HaShem is behavior - economic or social - that brings shame and disgrace on His Name; even recourse to a non-Jewish legal system may be considered a Hillul Hashem since it is a derogatory statement of His Law. However, the manner of Saul's death on Mount Gilboa introduces a new perspective into our concept of Kiddush HaShem. "The Philistines fought against Israel, and Israel fled before them and fell slain in the Gilboa... And Philistines slew the sons of Saul. And the battle went hard for him... And Saul said to his armor-bearer, 'draw your sword and pierce me'. The armor-bearer would not for he was very afraid [to kill the Lord's anointed]. Therefore, Saul drew his own sword and fell on it". Here Saul committed suicide, an act that is forbidden even under the 7 Noachide laws, let alone to Israel. The covenant that G-d made with Mankind after the Flood permitted killing for meat but limited their right to kill wantonly and to murder. However, in Genesis, (9:5) we read, " Your blood which belongs to your souls will I demand"; Our Rabbis under- stood this to refer to those who take their own lives (Bava Kama 9b). It would seem that Saul transgressed this, yet we find that the halakha uses his death as the example of justified suicide. "Blessed are they who take their own lives when forced, as did Saul, the King" (Tur Yoreh De'ah 345). Traditionally, this has been taken to refer to those who died in order to sanctify His Name, by not yielding to demands that they reject G-d. However, if we understand this new perspective on Kiddush HaShem, it is not difficult to see just how Saul not only fits this pattern, but actually is the first person to do so. What lay in store for the first king of Israel, were he not to kill himself but fall into the Philistine captivity? Death? No, as Saul him- self describes it, "Lest these uncircumcised come and pierce me and abuse me". That is exactly what happened and it is reminiscent of what happens to the political victims of regimes in the Middle East of today. On the morrow of the battle, the victorious Philistines came and stripped the dead Israelites. When they found the body of the dead king, they decapitated him, stripped his armor and sent them on show to the towns about. Finally they hung his body on the walls of Bet She'an as a memorial. Knowing what happened when they had possession of the dead king of Israel, we can well imagine the veritable circus of the show trial, bodily abuse and public execution that would have happened in the towns of the Philistines had Saul been taken prisoner alive. Their purpose was always not only to mock Saul but the nation that he led and now was defeated, to be subjected to their conquerors. That, however, was not the real issue. Israel and G-d are so connected that the fate of the nation has always been reflected in the attitudes of the other nations to HaShem. The Philistines felt that they had not defeated only Israel but their G-d, who, as it were, was shown to be powerless to save them. Saul by his suicide prevented a greater desecration of His Name. This view of the national suffering or disgrace as a Hillul HaShem, was the argument that Moshe used when G-d threatened to destroy Israel, both after the sin of the Golden Calf and of the Spies; "Because HaShem lacked the ability to bring this people to the Land... He slaughtered them in the desert". According to the prophet Ezekiel, Israel living in galut is a desecration of G-d's Name and so He will redeem them not because they repented of their sins nor because it was the appointed time, but only for His Name's sake and honor (36:20-23). Rabbi Shlomo Goren, found halakhic
sanction for the suicides at Massada, in the action of Saul on Mount
Gilboa. Saul sanctified HaShem's Name by not giving the Philistines the
chance to ridicule Him through the national defeat. They denied the Romans
the chance of parading their bodies in triumph through the streets of
Rome, in mockery of the G-d of Israel. [The
Parshat Mikeitz Homepage]
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