-
7/30/2019 The Shofet
1/3
Background: COLOR WAR!!!!!
Objective:
1. To talk about the pros and cons of Shoftim
2. Pros: Shoftim are limited by their power and are unable to
abuse it too much. Additionally,
they are directly appointed by God, as opposed to Kings who
inherit their role regardless of
whether they deserve it.3. Cons: decentralized power leads to
the anarchy of Pesel Micha and Pilegesh BGivaah. God
directly appointing leaders leads to an immature relationship
between the people and God, akin
to a teacher leaving the room and the kids misbehaving until
they get back.
Trigger:
Start off with Yotams weird parable, because its not a story
they probably would have learned.
And its weird, so it grabs the attention.
Sources:
A Weird Parable
Shoftim 9:6-15
)) (:
) ( :
) (:
(: ) ( :)
) ( :
) ( :) ( :
) ( :
:
7 Jotham heard that the leaders of the city of Shechem had made
Abimelech king. When he
heard this, he went and stood on the top of Mount Gerizim and
shouted out this story to the
people:Listen to me you leaders of the city of Shechem. Then let
God listen to you. 8 One daythe trees decided to choose a king to
rule over them. The trees said to the olive tree, You be
king over us. 9 But the olive tree said, My oil is used to honor
gods and humans. Should I stop
making my oil just to go and sway over the other trees? 10 Then
the trees said to the fig tree,
Come and be our king. 11 But the fig tree answered, Should I
stop making my good, sweet
fruit just to go and sway over the other trees? 12 Then the
trees said to the vine, Come and be
our king. 13 But the vine answered, My wine makes men and kings
happy. Should I stop
making my wine just to go and sway over the trees? 14 Finally,
all the trees said to the
thornbush, Come and be ourking. 15 But the thornbush said to the
trees, If you really want to
make me king over you, come and find shelter in my shade. But if
you dont want to do this, let
fire come out of the thornbush. Let the fire burn even the cedar
trees of Lebanon.
Limits on Power
Shmuel Alef 8:11-18
) (
) (:) (:
) (:
) (:) (:
-
7/30/2019 The Shofet
2/3
) (: ) (:
:
Samuel said, If you have a king ruling over you, this is what he
will do: He will take away your
sons and force them to serve him. He will force them to be
soldiersthey must fight from his
chariots and become horse soldiers in his army. Your sons will
become guards running in front
of the kings chariot. 12 A king will force your sons to become
soldiers. He will choose which ofyour sons will be officers over
1000 men and which will be officers over 50 men.A king will
force some of your sons to plow his fields and gather his
harvest. He will force some of your
sons to make weapons for war and to make things for his
chariots. 13 A king will take your
daughters and force some of them to make perfume for him and
some to cook and bake for him.
14 A king will take your best fields, vineyards, and olive
groves. He will take them from you and
give them to his officers. 15 He will take one-tenth of your
grain and grapes, and he will give
them to his officers and servants. 16 A king will take your men
and women servants. He will
take your best cattle and your donkeys. He will use them all for
his own work. 17 He will take
one-tenth of your flocks. And you yourselves will become slaves
of this king. 18 When that time
comes, you will cry because of the king you chose. But the Lord
wont answer you at that time.
1. From the fact that Shmuel says that these will be the powers
of a king, what do we see about
the level of power the Shoftim had?
2. How might this relate to the strange parable of Yotam?
Shoftim 9:19-20
) () (:
19 So if you have been completely honest to Gideon and his
family today, then may you be
happy with Abimelech as your king. And may he be happy with you.
20 But leaders of Shechemand the house of Millo, if you have not
acted right, may fire go forth from Abimelech and destroy
you. And may fire go forth from Shechem and the house of Miloh
and destroy Abimelech too!
What does the parable mean? What is it warning?
Direct Relationship with God
Shoftim 2:16
: ) (
16 Then the Lord chose leaders called judges. These leaders
saved the Israelites from the
enemies who took their possessions.
1. Who is responsible for appointing these leaders?
2. What does that show about the Shoftim?
Sforno on Devarim 17:14
) (.
' .
. .) , (
-
7/30/2019 The Shofet
3/3
Let us appoint a king for ourselves like all the nations around
us' - that the kingship will belong
to him and his offspring, as opposed to the system of judges
['shoftim'] whereby only the judge
himself serves, not his children after him.They were commanded
regarding the appointment of a
judge in this manner (that is, without automatic transfer of
authority to his children) upon their
entry into the land, as it says (Bemidbar 27:17), 'So that God's
community may not be likesheep that have no shepherd.'...a king
like the kings of the gentiles - who hold kingship for
themselves and their offspring - is despicable to God.
1. To Seforno, what is the difference between a Shofet and a
King?
2. Is this good or bad?
The Downside of Limited Power
Shoftim 21:24-25
) () ( :
:
24 Then the Israelites went home. They went to their own land
and tribe. 25 In those days the
Israelites did not have a king, so everyone did whatever they
thought was right.
What are the results of limited power, according to this
story?
The Downside of a Direct Relationship with God
Shoftim 2:19
) (
:
19 But when each judge died, the Israelites again sinned and
started worshiping the false gods.
They acted worse than their ancestors did. The Israelites were
very stubborn and refused tochange their evil ways.
