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. Saul, the Unfulfilled King He is considered by Chazal to have been without sin, as it is written" and Saul was a year old when he became king' (Samuel 13:1); should we understand this literally? Rather, said Rav Huna, he was without sin as a one year old who has not tasted sin" (Yoma, 22b). "Concerning Kush ben Yemini" (Tehillim 7). Was Kush his name? His name was Saul, but just as the kushi is strange in his skin, so too Saul was strange in his deeds; a perfect tzadik [Rashi]" (Moed Katan16b). He was modest; "and he hid amongst the baggage" (10:21). The spirit of the Lord was on him and so he was one of the band of prophets that studied under Samuel. Saul was a descendant of Rachel and like her knew the merit of silence. She was silent even when she was barren while Leah had sons; Benjamin knew of the sale of Yosef but did not reveal it to his father out of consideration for the brothers; Saul did not reveal the matter of the kingship to his uncle out of modesty and his descendant Esther did not name her nation, as Mordechai had instructed (Midrash Tanchuma, Vayeitzei, 6). Yet, this same man sinned before HaShem and did not merit founding the dynasty of Jewish Kingship. The message of that goes far beyond the story of Saul, bearing relevance for all people and all times. Although he avoided evil, there was no positive action towards achieving good. There is no indication in his case as there is with David, "And David executed justice and righteousness unto all his people" (11 Samuel, 8:15). Rather, "Saul was great in Torah but did not teach Torah to others" (Rashi, Gitin 59a). The Jewish king, indeed, for that matter all of us, are enjoined both about SUR MEI-RA and ASEI TOV; that is why there are positive as well as negative mitzvot. All Saul's good qualities were devoted only to avoiding evil. In this he was like Hevel who in his modesty saw little value even in the service of G-d, as it is written, "He, Hevel, also brought a sacrifice"; in contrast to Cain [from kinyan - to take possession]. That is why there could be no continuation to Hevel, while there was to Cain (Shem Mi Shmuel). So too, there could not a continuation to the kingship of Saul, based only on SUR MEI-RA. One of the most fascinating aspects of Judaism is the exquisite balance in everything that it educates towards; Justice and mercy, spirituality and materialism, reward and punishment, Heaven and Earth, ritual and spontaneity, law and ethics. When the balance is destroyed, only wrong can result. The sin of the 250 men of the rebellion of Korach was their desire for honor yet their sacrificial pans were used to gild the altar. Menachem Mendel of Kotsk taught that when that desire is used to cover the altar, it redounds to the glory of G-d. "I found nothing better than silence" (Avot 1:17), and yet all it takes for evil to triumph, is for good men to remain silent. Saul did not know how to balance his traits and that led to his downfall. In connection with the war and the command- ment to wipe out Amalek, the text [15:5] says, 'Vayarev banachal; made war in the valley, [lit.] quarreled concerning the valley'. Our Sages understood this to refer to sacrifice of the heifer as communal expiation for the unidentified corpse found cast away. In his admirable search for justice and mercy, Saul questioned the morality of wiping out the men, women, children and cattle of Amalek, as Samuel, echoing the Torah (D'varim 22:19), had commanded. Saul asked, " If for the death of one person, representatives of the whole of Israel had to atone, for all these people how much more so? If the men sinned, then what was the sin of the women? If the women fought alongside their men, what did the children do? What of the cattle?" A heavenly voice answered Saul, "Be not righteous overmuch" (Kohelet 7:16). [So Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi taught, "One who has mercy on the cruel, in the end is cruel to the merciful" (Yalkut Shimoni)]. On the other hand, Saul told Doeg the Edomite, to kill the Kohanim of Nov for giving food to David; everyone, men and women" (22:18). Then a heavenly voice said, "Be not overmuch wicked" (Kohelet 7:17)". (Yoma 22b). The text tells that Saul's modesty led
him to protest his election to the kingship; "When they sought him… he had
hid himself among the baggage" (10:21-22). However, later the same Saul
could not accept that he would rightfully be punished by losing the throne
and another be more worthy than he. When Samuel told him that he would
lose the kingship, he mercilessly pursued David in his desire to kill him
(Avot D'Rabbi Natan 10:3). [The
Parshat Vayeira Homepage]
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