Why Israel Bled in the Days of the Judges

To what were Israel comparable in the days when the judges judged? To a king who bought houses and male and female servants from among them, some six years old, some five, some four, some three, some two, some one; and he raised them at his own table, and they ate of what the king ate and drank of what the king drank. He raised them and built them houses and planted them vineyards and trees and saplings, and said to them: Be careful with these saplings and these trees. Once they had eaten and drunk, they rose up and uprooted the vineyards and cut down the trees and chopped down the saplings and broke down the houses. When the king came and found all that they had done, he set his mind at ease toward them and said: They are like schoolchildren; what shall I do to these? He brought them and beat them, and so he did to them a second and a third time. So were Israel like before their Father in heaven in the days when the judges judged: they corrupted their deeds and were handed over to the kingdoms, and when they returned and repented, immediately the Holy One, blessed be He, would redeem them. This teaches you that not a single coin was ever taken from Israel except by justice, for all is nothing but justice. And lest you say: Those forty-two thousand who were slain in the days of Jephthah the Gileadite, for what reason were they slain? Jephthah vowed an improper vow, and Phinehas son of Eleazar was alive in those days. Jephthah should have gone to Phinehas to have his vow annulled, but he did not go. This one said: I am head over all Israel, and shall I go to that one? And Phinehas said: He needs me, and shall I go to him? This one behaved with greatness toward himself. Woe to greatness, which buries its possessors; woe to greatness, which never brings about good. Jephthah the Gileadite vowed an improper vow, to offer up his daughter upon the altar. The men of Ephraim gathered against him to make a great quarrel with him. Phinehas should have told them to annul Jephthah's vow. Did you come for anything but to make a quarrel with him? But not only did he fail to protest against the men of Ephraim, he also failed to annul Jephthah's vow. The Holy One, blessed be He, who sits upon the throne of righteous judgment, may His great Name be blessed forever and ever, said: Since this man placed his life in his palm and came to save Israel from the hand of Moab and the children of Ammon, and they came to make a great quarrel with him and gathered against him to wage war with him, immediately Jephthah went out and slew forty-two thousand of them, as it is said (Judges 12:1): "And the men of Ephraim cried out, and they said to Jephthah, Why did you cross over to fight against the children of Ammon, and did not call us... we will burn your house upon you with fire. And Jephthah said to them, I was a man of strife... and I saw that you were no deliverer, and I put my life in my palm... and why have you come up against me this day to fight with me? And Jephthah gathered all the men of Gilead and fought with Ephraim... and Gilead captured the fords of the Jordan against Ephraim. And it would be that when the fugitives of Ephraim said, Let me cross over, the men of Gilead said to him, Are you an Ephraimite? And he said, No. And they said to him, Say now Shibboleth, and he said Sibboleth." "Sibboleth" means nothing but the language of idolatry, like a man who says to his fellow, "Lift up the Idol [bal]." He could not pronounce it correctly, "and they seized him and slaughtered him... and there fell at that time of Ephraim forty-two thousand." Who slew all these? You must say: none slew them but Phinehas, who had it in his power to protest and did not protest, and who also should have annulled Jephthah's vow and did not annul it. And not Phinehas alone, but anyone who has it in his power to protest and does not protest, to return Israel to the good, and does not return them, all the blood spilled in Israel is upon him, as it is said (Ezekiel 3:17-18): "And you, son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; you shall hear a word from My mouth and warn them... When I say to the wicked, You shall surely die, and you do not warn him... he, the wicked, shall die in his iniquity, but his blood I will require from your hand," for all Israel are sureties for one another. And to what are they comparable? To a ship in which one compartment is breached. They do not say, One compartment in it was breached; rather, the whole ship was breached. So it is with Israel, as it is said (Joshua 22:20): "Did not Achan son of Zerah commit a trespass with the devoted thing, and wrath was upon all the congregation of Israel? And he was but one man; he did not perish alone in his iniquity." And lest you say: Those seventy thousand who were slain at Gibeah of Benjamin, for what reason were they slain? Because the great Sanhedrin that Moses and Joshua and Phinehas son of Eleazar had left with them should have gone and tied iron cords around their loins and lifted their garments above their knees and gone around to all the cities of Israel: one day to Lachish, one day to Bethel, one day to Hebron, one day to Jerusalem, and so to all the places of Israel, and they should have taught Israel proper conduct over one year, two, and three, until Israel had settled in their land, so that the Name of the Holy One, blessed be He, would be magnified and sanctified in all the worlds He created from one end of the world to the other. But they did not do so; rather, when they entered their land, each one entered his own vineyard and his wine and his field and said, Peace be upon you, my soul, so as not to burden themselves overmuch. So the Sages taught in the Mishnah: Lessen your business and engage in Torah, and be humble of spirit before every person, and if you neglect Torah, there will be many idle ones set against you. And when the children of Benjamin did ugly and unfit things, at that hour the Holy One, blessed be He, sought to destroy the whole world. The Holy One, blessed be He, said: I gave them the Land of Israel only so that they would read and study and engage in Torah, each matter in its time, and learn proper conduct. The Holy One, blessed be He, said: Did I not thus write in My Torah that even if there is no Torah-learning among Israel but only proper conduct, the verse would be fulfilled for them (Leviticus 26:8): "And five of you shall pursue a hundred, and a hundred of you shall pursue ten thousand"; but if you keep the Torah and the commandments, one of you shall pursue a thousand and two of you shall put ten thousand to flight, as it is said (Deuteronomy 32:30): "One would pursue a thousand and two put ten thousand to flight." Therefore at Gibeah of Benjamin, because they were not engaged in Torah and in proper conduct, they gathered and went out to war and seventy thousand of them were slain. And who slew all these? You must say: none slew them but the great Sanhedrin that Moses and Joshua and Phinehas son of Eleazar had left. And the concubine at Gibeah was in the days of Cushan-rishathaim. And what was the nature of that concubine, that they brought her and placed her before the judges of Israel? Rather, because the mercies of the Holy One, blessed be He, are always abundant upon Israel, the Holy One, blessed be He, said: Lest the nations say, Israel had not yet even entered their land and they corrupted their deeds; therefore they brought her and placed her before the judges of Israel. Blessed is the Omnipresent, blessed is He, whose mercies are always abundant upon Israel and who has pity upon the honor of Israel in all the places of their dwellings. At that time the priesthood was taken from the sons of Eleazar son of Aaron and given to the sons of Ithamar son of Aaron for seventy-two years, until the sons of Eli corrupted themselves. Immediately the Holy One, blessed be He, said: What is the difference between this one and that one? Is not Eleazar a son of Aaron and Ithamar a son of Aaron? As it is said (Isaiah 63:5): "And I looked, and there was none to help, and I was appalled, and there was none to uphold." At that hour the Holy One, blessed be He, said that the priesthood should return to its owners, as it is said (1 Samuel 2:27, 30, 35): "And a man of God came to Eli... I said indeed that your house and the house of your father should walk before Me forever, but now, says the LORD, far be it from Me... and I will raise up for Myself a faithful priest... and he shall walk before My anointed all the days." This is Zadok the priest before David the king. In all things the Holy One, blessed be He, repays measure for measure. Because of the evil deeds of the sons of Eli, who were corrupt, Israel went out to war and four thousand of them were slain, and the children of Israel said, Why has the LORD smitten us this day before the Philistines? At that hour the Holy One, blessed be He, said: When the sons of Eli were provoking Me in the court of Israel and in the court of the women, you said nothing to them, and now that you have gone out to war you say, Why has the LORD smitten us this day? And Israel said, Let us take to us from Shiloh the ark of the covenant of the LORD; and so they did, and they sent and brought the ark of the covenant, as it is said (1 Samuel 4:4-5): "And the people sent to Shiloh, and they carried from there the ark of the covenant of the LORD of hosts who is enthroned upon the cherubim, and there were the two sons of Eli with the ark of the covenant of God... And it came to pass when the ark of the covenant of the LORD came into the camp, all Israel shouted a great shout." At that hour all Israel shouted a great shout that had no substance in it; concerning that hour He says (Jeremiah 12:8): "She gave forth her voice against Me; therefore I hated her." "And the Philistines heard the sound of the shouting... and they knew that the ark of the LORD had come into the camp, and they said, Woe to us, for it was not like this yesterday and the day before; woe to us, who will deliver us from the hand of these mighty gods?" Immediately Israel went out to war and thirty thousand of them were slain, and the ark of the covenant was captured from them, as it is said, "and there fell of Israel thirty thousand footmen, and the ark of God was taken." And the Philistines brought the ark of God to Ashdod, to the house of Dagon their god, as it is said (1 Samuel 5:2-4): "And the Philistines took the ark of God and brought it into the house of Dagon and set it beside Dagon. And the Ashdodites rose early on the next day, and behold, Dagon had fallen on his face to the ground before the ark of the LORD... and the head of Dagon and the two palms of his hands were cut off upon the threshold... And the hand of the LORD was heavy upon the Ashdodites... and they sent and gathered all the lords of the Philistines... and they said, Let the ark of the God of Israel go around to Gath... And it came to pass after they had brought it around, the hand of the LORD was against the city with a very great panic... and they sent the ark of God to Ekron... and the Ekronites cried out, saying, They have brought around to me the ark of the God of Israel to slay me and my people." Since they saw that such was His way, they led it into the field, as it is said, "and the ark of the LORD was in the country of the Philistines seven months." And there too the plague was great among them, as it is said (1 Samuel 6:2): "And the Philistines called for the priests and the diviners, saying, What shall we do with the ark of the LORD? Make known to us with what we should send it to its place." Even though these priests were idolaters, nevertheless there was proper conduct in them. And what was the proper conduct that was in them? That they said to them (1 Samuel 6:3-6): "If you send away the ark of the God of Israel, do not send it away empty, but you must surely return to Him a guilt offering; then you will be healed" — corresponding to the plague He brought upon you, mice that were killing your men and women and little ones, who would afterward come out of your houses to the field and eat the wheat and barley and all kinds of legumes; and corresponding to this you shall make images of tumors of gold and mice of gold to His honor, as it is said, "And they said, What is the number of the lords of the Philistines? Five golden tumors and five golden mice... and you shall make images of your tumors and images of your mice that ravage the land, and give glory to the God of Israel... and why should you harden your hearts as Egypt and Pharaoh hardened their hearts?" Immediately they filled it with silver and gold and set it upon the cart, as it is said (1 Samuel 6:7-12): "And the men did so, and they took two milch cows and harnessed them to the cart and shut up their calves at home, and they set the ark of the LORD upon the cart, and the box and the golden mice." And when the cows were walking on the road, the cows lifted up their voice and sang a song, and thus they said: Sing, sing, O acacia, sway in your great glory, inlaid with gold work, praised in the inner sanctuary of the palace, adorned with the choicest ornaments — as it is said, "And the cows went straight on the road, on the road to Beth-shemesh; on one highway they went, lowing as they went, and did not turn to the right or to the left, and the lords of the Philistines walked after them as far as the border of Beth-shemesh." And when they were about two thousand cubits distant from Beth-shemesh, the lords of the Philistines said: Let us take the garments and put them in a hidden place and see what they do for their God, since we ourselves honored Him so. And so they did: immediately they took the garments and placed them in a hidden place that they had. And the men of Beth-shemesh, when they saw the ark, ought to have taken their own garments and placed them upon their faces and come and fallen before the ark for one hour or two or three, until the ark of the King of kings, the Holy One, blessed be He, was covered, so that the Name of the Holy One, blessed be He, might be magnified and sanctified from one end of the world to the other. But they did not do so; rather, when they saw the ark they began to laugh and lift up their eyes and stand and dance and speak idle words, as it is said, "And the men of Beth-shemesh were reaping the wheat harvest in the valley, and they lifted up their eyes and saw the ark and rejoiced to see it." And they did not know who had placed the ark there nor who had taken the ark and placed it upon the stone, as it is said (1 Samuel 6:14-15): "And the cart came into the field of Joshua the Beth-shemite and stood there, and there was a great stone, and they split the wood of the cart and offered up the cows as a burnt offering to the LORD, and the Levites took down the ark of the LORD... and set it upon the great stone." And afterward the lords of the Philistines went their way, as it is said (1 Samuel 6:16): "And the five lords of the Philistines saw it and returned to Ekron that day." Therefore there fell of Israel fifty thousand, and the great Sanhedrin among them, as it is said (1 Samuel 6:19): "And He smote the men of Beth-shemesh because they had looked into the ark of the LORD, and He smote of the people seventy men, fifty thousand men." Who slew all these? You must say: none slew them but the men of Beth-shemesh, in whom there was no proper conduct. This teaches you that not even a coin's worth was ever taken from Israel except by justice; rather, all is by true justice. May God be blessed forever and ever, who knows that as a reward for Deborah and Barak and their prophecy, a great deliverance came to Israel through them, and the reward of Ahab and Jezebel was that they perished from this world and from the world to come and lost their children with them; and the reward of the tribes of Zebulun and Naphtali, who did the will of their Father in heaven and the will of Jacob their father, was that a great deliverance came through them; and the reward of Jael wife of Heber the Kenite, who did the will of her husband, was that a great deliverance came through her; and the reward of Phinehas was that the men of Ephraim went out to war and twenty-two thousand of them were slain; and the reward of the great Sanhedrin, and Phinehas with them, was that seventy thousand were slain at Gibeah of Benjamin; and the reward of the sons of Eli was that four thousand were slain and afterward thirty thousand, and the ark was captured; and the reward of the men of Beth-shemesh, in whom there was no proper conduct, was that fifty thousand of Israel fell, and the great Sanhedrin too. From this they said: By the measure that a person measures, it is measured out to him. Surely, Master of all the worlds, Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains, Your judgments are a great deep.