NASO
Shoftim 13:2–25

Identifying Subtle Ulterior Motives
This week’s Haftarah teaches us a startling lesson in sanctity and conversely self-pursuit. It teaches the importance of identifying with all our motives, even the silent ones, and never to rely solely on the overriding degree of purity in our actions.

The Most Perplexing Jewish Leader

The Haftarah revolves around a Heavenly message sent to a pious couple, Manoach and his wife informing them of the upcoming miraculous birth of a special son. Manoach’s wife had been barren for many years and the couple was overwhelmed by the prediction. The Heavenly angel gave Manoach’s wife specific dietary restrictions during her pregnancy that included abstaining from wine and wine-related products. He instructed her to dedicate her son’s entire life to Hashem’s service and never to allow him to drink wine or shave his hair. The angel added that Hashem would bring the Jewish people great salvation during her son’s lifetime.

This is the first chapter in the life of the Jewish leader, Shimshon. In his subsequent life-chapters we discover the most perplexing figure in all of Jewish history. In his prime, he was a perfect leader who maintained the highest ethical standards of judgement. Chazal teach us that Shimshon judged the Jewish people with the perfect standards of Hashem’s justice. They add that in the same way Hashem constantly protects His world from destruction, Shimshon’s merit protected his entire generation from severe retribution. (Sota 10a)

Yet, we discover alongside this, a man who was driven with an attraction to physical beauty. In fact, Chazal trace Shimshon’s ultimate downfall to his straying after attractiveness. Surprisingly one of the Jewish people’s greatest judicial leaders was attracted to Phillistine women, whom he converted and married. Eventually, one of them through her fierce seductive coercion and her loyalty to her previous people, caused him to forfeit all his greatness and led him to his bitter end. When viewing Shimshon’s life, one truly wonders how an ethical leader of his capacity met such a tragic end, and what can we learn from his mistake!?

Shimshon’s Predestined Role

Let us begin with Radak’s perspective on Shimshon’s life-role, that was rooted in the Jewish people’s level of piety or lack of thereof in his times. During those days, the collective Jewish nation did not sincerely revere Hashem and consequently did not have ample merit to be released from their tight Philistine control. However, the Philistines deserved to be revenged for their harsh tyrant rule over Hashem’s people. These unique circumstances set the stage for Shimshon and his trials.

We read about Shimshon in the upcoming chapter, “His father and mother did not know that it [Shimshon’s attraction to physical beauty of Philistine women] was from Hashem [to serve as an] excuse against the Philistines.” (Shoftim 14:4) This verse reflects that Hashem intended for Shimshon to bond with Philistine women after conversion to enable him to take revenge on them for their disloyalty to him. Because this would be his personal vendetta in response to their betrayal, the Philistines would not blame the Jewish nation for his outrageous behavior. (Radak 13:4)

Shimshon’s Wives’ Allegiance

At this point we refer to the Rambam’s unequivocal position about Shimshon’s converted Philistine wives. He states, “One should never entertain the thought that Shimshon, savior of Israel, married foreign women in their non-Jewish state [and violated a severe Torah prohibition with prescribed devastating effects]. He undoubtedly converted them to Judaism, but that their conversions did not undergo strict Rabbinic scrutiny to determine their genuine sincerity to adopt Judaism.” (Hilchos Issurei Biah 13:14) Therefore, when Shimshon’s wives converted to Judaism with the pretense of marrying him, they did not denounce their allegiance to their previous people, but secretly remained connected with Philistine leaders. His wives’ dual status rendered them a serious threat to Shimshon’s well-being because they could potentially access secret information stored in his heart regarding the source of his strength.

Ralbag adds an important point and explains that because of Shimshon’s predestined life role, Hashem prepared him with all the necessary tools and safeguards to successfully fulfil his mission. He remains the only nazir – abstainer whom Hashem conveyed on him his abstention status even before his birth. In addition, his parents were conditioned from the time of his conception to raise him with utter sanctity for him to refrain from the frivolities of life and self-indulgence in worldly pleasures. His perpetual sign of abstention through his hair length constantly reminded him of his sanctity and protected him from engaging even in the faintest sinful practices. Hashem blessed Shimshon with supernatural strength in the merit of his life-long abstention from wine and all of its sinful effects. (Ralbag 13:1)

The Power of Abstention

Let us shift our focus now to the elevated status of the general [nazir] wine-abstainer and gain even greater respect for Shimshon’s level of sanctity. This week’s Torah portion devotes a full section to the rules of the wine-abstainer and reveals the incredible spiritual value of his meritorious act. In effect, the abstainer does only one act and accepts on himself a binding vow to abstain from drinking wine for ‘thirty’ days or more.

The Torah declares his temporary status and states, “Throughout the days of his binding abstention, he shall be sanctified [and shall] grow his hair long…He shall not be together with a deceased person, [even] his father…for Hashem’s crown is on His head. All his abstention days he is sanctified to Hashem.”

Chazal proclaim, “Come and learn: Anyone who accepts on himself a level of sanctity, is [sanctioned and] sanctified by Hashem in extraordinary proportions. When one abstains from wine and consequently must pain himself by growing long hair to refrain from sin, Hashem considers the abstainer tantamount to the High Priest and places similar restrictions on him!” Chazal add that because he grows his long hair for Hashem’s sake [to remind him of his restrictive state] he temporarily wears Hashem’s crown on his head. (Bamidbar Rabba 10:11)

Seforno comments that the Torah considers the abstainer sanctified because during his period of abstention he removes himself from all mundane cravings and passions. Seforno adds that the Torah declares him sanctified to Hashem because through one’s abstention process, one merits to be illuminated with Hashem’s brightness and becomes qualified to understand and to teach (the masses), as befitting for the most sanctified people of the generation.

Newly Enriched Life Perspective

We learn from the above the incredible effect of thirty days of wine abstention. The abstainer enters his program to prove to himself his full control over his physical passions and cravings. After successfully proving his ability, he returns to normal life enriched with his newly gained perspective of himself. His brief experience assures him of his strong degree of self-control, and with this knowledge he resolves to conquer his passions throughout his life.

Now, if this is the effect of a thirty-day abstention from wine, one can only imagine the effect of a life-time abstention from wine, coupled with an upbringing of utmost purity and sanctity. Indeed, Hashem displayed Shimshon’s supreme level of self-control though his supernatural strength that resulted from his abstention status. In addition, Shimshon’s accurate degree of judgement that always concurred with Torah principle attested to the Divine spirit that rested on him and qualified him to join the ranks of the most sanctified of his generation.

But now the question begs to be asked, why didn’t Shimshon’s supreme sanctity and outstanding objective judicial reasoning protect him from falling prey to his Philistine convert’s devious ways? In addition, wasn’t his outstanding merit of faithfully judging and leading the entire Jewish nation for twenty years sufficient reason to spare him from his shameful downfall?

A Tinge of Impure Self Pursuit

Radak addresses these points and explains that indeed Hashem approved of Shimshon’s initial motive of marriage to secretly attack the Philistine people and avenge his people. However, his strong attraction to physical beauty eventually brought his downfall. Although his ‘overriding motive’ of marriage was for Hashem’s sake, Shimshon added to it a tinge of self-interest to bond with women and enjoy their external beauty. Because his main objective of marriage was to create scenarios for personal revenge, Hashem helped him meet his goal to avenge the Jewish People. But because he included in his objective a tinge of attraction to beauty, he eventually forfeited his greatness. At one point, during his sleep, his wife’s fierce Philistinian seduction overtook him and he inadvertently delivered himself into his enemy’s hands.

Now that the picture is complete, we can place Shimshon’s life into proper perspective. He began as an ethical, sacred Jewish judge and leader whose pure objective reasoning rendered him one of the Jewish people’s most accurate judges. Yet, his era of leadership called for a unique relationship with the cursed Philistine nation, to avenge the Jewish people from their enemy’s tyrannic rulership over them. Shimshon’s predestined life’s role included bonding in marriage with Philistine converts to establish pretenses for revenge.

To this end, Hashem armed Shimshon with all the necessary faculties to rise above his challenges and therefore conveyed on him a lifelong status of abstention and sanctity and even crowned his head with a perpetual endorsement of self-control. Yet, although Shimshon judged his people in a legendary manner he failed to focus on a silent part of his personality, his attraction to beauty. He was apparently content with his pure overriding motive of marriage and did not pay attention to his subtle self-interest. After misjudging the sincerity of his final Philistine wife’s conversion, he fell prey to her pagan upbringing and allowed her to shamefully destroy one of the Jewish nation’s greatest leaders.

Subtle Influences

We learn from Shimshon the importance of focusing on all aspects of our personality. Even when attaining high levels of sanctity and Divine sanctioning, one must be on guard from any subtle influences or silent impure motives. Indeed, one who abstains from wine even for a brief period can enrich his life with a new realization of his extreme level of self-control, but he must always ensure himself that he addresses all areas of his personality that require that self-control.

May we soon merit to witness the great day when Hashem will purify and elevate both our body and soul, enabling us to direct our total focus