Midian
Found 7 Search results
The Appointment of Gideon
Rabbi Michael HattinThe appearance of the prophet to the nation in chapter 6, which is reminescent of the appearance of the angel to the nation in Bokhim in chapter 2, signifies the end of the era of selfless, righteous, and manifestly inspirational leadership.
Gideon, threshing wheat in the wine pit, is appointed as the new leader to fight the threat of Midyan. By challenging God, Gideon paradoxically demonstrates that he cares much about Him and especially about the fate of His people.
Gideon Leads the People
Rabbi Michael HattinIf Israel prevails against Midian by sheer force of their numbers, then they will fail to recognize God's pivotal role. But if Israel prevails against the Midianite hordes, with a tiny force, then God's involvement will be undeniable.
While earlier judges had to contend with challenges at least as great as that of Gideon, none merited quite the same degree of Divine hand-holding that Gideon received. This highlights the measure of his own limited spiritual resources to be able to do so unassisted. However, if the caliber of the shoftim decreases as the book progresses, it is also an indictment of the spiritual state of the people of Israel.
The noise of the smashing jars, the blare of the shofarot and the outcry of the Israelite force, the burning torches that suddenly appear out of the darkness, the enemy forces that attack from three directions simultaneously, combined with the belief that Gideon has a colossal army at his disposal, causes the Midianites to flee.
The Victory Over Midyan
Rabbi Michael HattinGideon's brief but disturbing exchanges with the people of Sukkot and Pnuel highlights an ongoing problem in the book of Judges: The feeling among certain tribes or even towns within tribes that unless direct and immediate benefit was to accrue to them for their participation in the larger conflicts, they would much prefer to sit it out and leave the fighting to someone else, namely, their compatriots that were more directly threatened by the oppressor. The tribes still had a very long way to go in forging a national identity that could transcend narrow partisan concerns to address the greater issues and threats of the day.
The Midianites raise the possibility of Gideon being a king, a possibility that the people subsequently raise, but Gideon refuses because he feels that such innovations will have the effect of shifting communal and national focus away from serving God to instead concentrate it upon man.
The end of Gideon's life is marred by the episode of the golden Ephod, but his victories are remembered and referred to throughout Tanakh.
Why Kill Midyan and Spare Moav?
Ramban on Parshat Pinchas
Rabbi Ezra Bick | 37 minutesGod tell Moshe to fight the Midianites, but the sin of Ba’al Pe’or occurred with the daughters of Moav. Furthermore, God specifically says not to attack Moav! Ramban considers and critically evaluates varying approaches: Is the sin of planning and concocting worse than carrying something out- were the Midians merely using the Moavite women as their weapon of choice? Was Moav to be saved because of future righteous descendants? Was motivation a factor- Moav involved out of fear, and Midian out of malice? Is there a difference between attacking borders and attacking people’s souls? Is God’s exclusion of Moav related to this story, or to the covenant between Lot and Avraham?
The Second Census
Rabbi Yair Kahnתאריך פרסום: תשע"ו | | 15 minutes
Why were the people of Israel commanded to battle Midian twice, and what does this teach us about the evolution of Israel's national identity?
Parshat Matot - The Inauguration
Rabbi Yair Kahnתאריך פרסום: תשע"ו | | 12 minutes
Parshat Matot contains numerous, seemingly superfluous details surrounding the battle with Midian and the two and a half tribes who settled east of the Jordan. How do these details contribute to the theme of Israel becoming a cohesive whole prior to the nation's entry into the land?
Delegating the War with Midyan
Rabbi David Silverberg