Transcribed and prepared by Anna Beller: Next story, the next major battle in his life is the battle against Amalek. And he’s told like this, go and defeat Amalek, and you must destroy absolutely everything that belongs to Amalek, have no compassion, kill from man unto woman, from a baby to a nursing baby, from oxen to sheep, from camel to donkey, everything must be destroyed. So they go into battle and Shaul couldn’t kill the king, he killed everyman and every woman, child but couldn’t kill the king. And he couldn’t kill the animals, but everything else he killed.

And Hashem spoke to Shmuel saying, Boy do I regret ever making Shaul the king because he turned away form me and didn’t do what I told him to do. Shmuel came to Shaul, and Shaul said I’m so happy to see you I did exactly what God commanded me to do. And Shmuel says don’t I hear some animals, you didn’t bring those into war with you? And Shaul says no, they are Amaleki animals.

What does he have to do? He needs to explain why he has the Amaleki animals, the people really wanted to bring the best of the animals to God, but I killed the rest of the animals. Meaning that he didn’t kill the animals because of the people. And Samuel said be quite and I want you to hear what God said to me last night. And he said speak.

Shmuel said, if you are small in your own eyes, you’re the head of the tribe of Israel. What does it mean if he’s small in his own eyes, when he hid from the people and blamed it on the people. If you want to be small and sweet and the good person, that’s very nice in your eyes, but God made you a king.

Shaul says to Shmuel what do you mean? I did listen to God. I walked in the path that God told me. I have Agag the king of Amalek right here. The people did it, and they did it for good reason too, because they wanted to bring sacrifices to God.

And Shmuel says do you really think God wants sacrifices more than he wants you to listen. To listen to God is much better that and sacrifice, to pay attention to goes is better than the calf’s of rams. The sin of trying to predict the future is bitter and foolish, and you can look at idols but they’ll break you. You have despised the word of God and God despises you as king. Why is he talking about the sin of predicting the future?

So Shaul says to Shmuel oh I sinned. I did go against Gods will and yours. I was just listening t the people and doing what they wanted me to do.

The Gemara said he failed as king because he never sinned before he was king. So when he sinned he didn’t know who to fix it. And the reason that David was a successful king was because he had sinned all the time so he always knew what to do.

Shaul says please come back to me with the people and Shmuel says he couldn’t. Could you imagine this? All the Jews can see the conversation and tell that it’s not a good conversation. Shmuel says no, God is disgusted by you as king, and turns away.

So Shaul grabbed Shmuel by his coat and he ripped his coat off. It’s very unlike Shauls personality. And Shmuel turns to him and say, God is going to tear the kingdom of the Jewish people away from you the way you tore my coat and he is going to give it to your friend who is much better than you. And the eternal one of the Jewish people doesn’t lie or change his mind and he’s not a man to change his mind. Netzach- the eternal.

And Netzach is that God has a universal view of the universe and sees all time at once so he knows what is going to happen so everything can be predetermined, and how the attribute of Purim is netzach and so is Moshe’s. What does this have to do? God doesn’t change his mind?

Shaul says I sinned, can you please give me some honor so that the people see me getting honor. You’ve got to come back with me and I will bow down to God. and Shmuel says to him bring Agag out, and Agag came out and Agag said oh Mr. Death is here. Shmuel says just as your sword caused women to lose their children, so your mother will be missing women. And Shmuel tore apart Agag, chopped him up into pieces. Shmuel and Shaul went home and never saw each other again. Pretty sad.

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Transcribed and prepared by Anna Beller: And Shaul smote Amalek at this area,  and captured the king Agag of Amalek alive,  and all the nation, he destroyed by the sword.

Why didn’t he kill Agag? Shaul and the nation had mercy on Agag and on the best of the sheep and cattle and the fat ones, and they did not want to destroy them.  But whatever wasn’t choice, that, they destroyed.

Wow! It says they had mercy. It doesn’t mean he wanted to derive any benefit it was mercy. Is that why they captured Agag alive because they had mercy on him? They killed the children. – They captured Agag the king of Amalek alive, the nation they wiped out, and Shaul and the nation had mercy of Agag and on the best of the sheep. Did they capture him alive because they had mercy? They kept him alive from mercy, they captured him alive for a different reason: they didn’t want to kill him, then they wanted to kill him in front of all the Jewish people, so they would know that it had been done.  Something changed.

You wipe out the children but you don’t kill the animals? There’s something more going on here, you kill the children but not the king?   Who’s having the mercy? Shaul alone? The nation alone? Who didn’t have mercy? The 10,000 men of Yehudah who are not mentioned. So that they don’t have passion somehow allows them to produce King David!

So we don’t really understand, we don’t know what the intention was with the animals: how can you have the compassion on the best of the animals and the ones that weren’t so good they killed. There’s one opinion form the Rishonim that any animal that had been used for the wrong kind of purposes, with relationship with human beings are the ones that they had killed.

How could they kill men, women and children and not the animals. What is the verse saying?? It says vayachmol- they had mercy. It wasn’t because they wanted to show off the king. This verse is mercy.

The key is he had a name; Agag. Everyone else was a nobody, the minute he had a name he couldn’t be killed.

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Purim is the holiday of the oral law. The oral law means we do only what’s told or do we also use judgment and creativity? Judgment and creativity. So we understand that if you’re dealing here with oral law issues then there’s judgment and creativity. So you understand this is not just a basic story.

Some historical background is as follows, Shmuel, the prophet Samuel and Shaul are intertwined. There two pats of one person. Because when Channah the mother of Samuel prayed for a son she was given a son, and remember he was a result of prayer which is also important to keep in mind. She said, what happened, I asked of him from God. what is the Hebrew word for ask, Shaul or shaal. So what should have Shmuel’s name  been? Shaul, but he’s not Shaul for some reason he is Shmuel. So Shaul is a different manifestation of Shmuel.

He is part of one thing, the two are intertwined. And the reason kabbalistically is that Shmuel comes from the Tribe of Levi. The Tribe of Levi represents din. It represents judgment and harshness, things have to be a certain way. That’s why when Moshe needs to turn to a tribe who’s going to be able to destroy the Jews who were involved in the sin of the gold calf, he turns to levi. Because they understand. Even if it was their own brother or their own father, that man who was involved in the worshipping of the golden calf they would kill them because this is what needs to be done.

Shaul, Binyamin comes from whatever reason from chessed, from kindness. So there is an empowerment when Shmuel anoints Shaul, there is now a mixing of din and chessed and it is symbolized when Shmuel takes oil and pours it on the head of Shaul to anoint him as king. Oil always represents wisdom, even in the secular world. Because it’s the light, thinking and bring light to the world. Ford has a better idea and in the 60’s the light bulb would go on in the commercials, things like that. Sow hat you have are myriads of issues between Shmuel and Shaul and the fact that he anointed him as king. One last historical piece of information, is that Shaul never sinned before he became king. He was as pure as a baby the verse says. If you had taken a one year old baby and you compare all the evil he had done (which is nothing) and compare it to Shaul there would be no difference the verse says that. Not only that he was so humble, and private, he was exquisitely good. For example when he first meets Shmuel he is going to look for some oxen. Until that point no one was called a navi because prophecy had been withheld from the Jewish people. They were called roee- seers.  When Shaul Saul goes to Shmuel to ay he is missing his oxen, all of a sudden you find the word navi appearing again. So much so that you find in the story of Shaul many time that people say oh Shaul drops into a pile of prophets and he become a prophet himself. It happens numerous times. So Samuel tells him listen, you’re the next king, he says okay okay that’s fine. And when he returns home to his uncle he asks did you see the prophet and he says yes. And when he asks what he said, he responds well that he found the lost donkey, and said oh did he say anything else? What would you say oh that he said id be the next king right? Shaul said no he didn’t say anything important. The Shmuel gather all the people and says : ladies and gentlemen you have asked me for a new king, gather together let me introduce you to the new king, drum rolls and trumpets, the curtain opens up and he’s hiding. They have to go out and look for him and they find him hiding behind some ??? he doesn’t like the public eye. People say that is our king? He’s tall but that makes him king? Shaul goes to fight this massive battle now they say yea thats our king. The people who were followers of Shaul from the beginning said they should wipe out these people who didn’t follow you at first. But Saul says no, its okay its not important. So you have a picture of what kind of man he is.

Next point is that Samuel summons Saul the king and says listen I want you to battle the philistines but don’t go into the battle before offering a sacrifice. Make sense? Yes. And don’t give the sacrifice until I am there, don’t do it. Okay, all right, you don’t have to pressure me.

So the Philistines are approaching and the Jews turn to Saul and say you better offer a sacrifice we’re about to go into battle. Well, I can’t really yet I have to wait for the navi. So fine, the people start disappearing and finally he realizes the philistines are a few feet away , yard, a football field away, Shmuel is not there yet, the people are deserting him, he’s not going to have any soldiers to fight. So he’s desperate what should he do what should he do?

So he gives the sacrifice because he wants God’s help in the battle. He turns around after giving the sacrifice, there’s someone tapping his shoulder and its Samuel. He says Hi Shaul !didn’t I tell you to wait? Yes but, what could I do the people are running away. He couldn’t do it. He couldn’t handle the situation.

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Transcribed and prepared by Anna Beller: You need to picture the story, that it’s not just the battle but you must keep in mind the struggle that’s going on inside Shaul. You must keep this in mind or you won’t understand the story.  Again: It’s not a battle of black and white.

And Shaul says to the descendants of Jethro (the father in law of Moshe), Go away from living near the Amalek.

They were Bedouins, going from place to place. Who were the first Bedouins? The descendants of Kayin. It says in the verse that the descendants of Kayin where the first Bedouins. In the pasuk it says that Kayin’s grandson, Yavol was the father of all those “who live in tents and travel with their animals” – Bedouins.

That why Kayin and Yitsro have the same name and that why the descendants of Jethro are called Kayni – Kayin.

They are so interconnected that the zohar says that soul of  Kayin reappeared in Yitro.  The ultimate outsider, Kayin can never settle anywhere and so is Yitro, he becomes a priest in every religion and then he leaves. “Now I know that God is the true God,” converts, and then he leaves; he’s the ultimate outsider.

Shaul tells Yitro’s descendants to go away, which by the way, not only informs Amalek of the impending attack, but probably allowed some of them to escape as Keinites!. Why is it only after the fight stopped it says, “Shaul goes the city of Amalek,” again the battle, and then he said to the keini, “Leave!” It says that the keini leave and Shaul fights the battle. What happening is that he’s already having mixed feeling, “what am I doing, about to destroy a nation , makes moral decisions and now, fully aware of everything  that’s going on in this battle, so that when he sees the innocent bystanders he gets them out of harm’s way , and this is a positive thing, as these are people who are connected to the Jewish people.

This is something that manifests itself after he goes through this internal struggle.

“I don’t want you to be killed with Amalek, and you did a kindness when the Jews were coming from Egypt. What was the kindness Yitro did? He fed Moshe after Moshe saved his daughters and let him stay in his house. So obviously feeding Moshe was a kindness to all the Jewish people.

Say leave because there’s no reason for you to be killed, and because you have a connection to the Jewish people. But leave because your grandfather once did a favor for Moshe and doing a favor for Moshe is like doing a favor for all the Jewish people and therefore I don’t want to kill you- why go through all this Talmudic reasoning? Say I don’t want to kill you, I don’t have a commandment to kill you, leave.

And what’s interesting is that it has to do with a meal which is connected to the meal of Purim. Both the meal of Esther’s party and the one we need to have on Purim. But it’s not the time for that its just some food for thought.

Another opinion: In the commentaries about what was the favor that Yitro did for the Jewish people. Well, it was his idea to establish the system of the judges- 50, 100, 100. So because you did us that favor we don’t want to kill you.

What’s interesting is that that favor that Yitro did was not a black and white good favor, there was a down side to it too. Because they no longer dealt directly with Moshe and in fact the portion of Devarim . Moshe criticizes them, are you crazy? You had a chance to deal with a judge or dealing with me you; should deal with me. Doesn’t make sense.

And then after they decide to not go directly with Moshe what happened at the end of the portion of Yitro, after hearing God’s voice, we don’t want to deal with You directly! Yitro, the outsider, the man of distance, introduced the idea of distance; distance from Moshe, distance from God. It’s not so black and white that Yitro did them a favor.

So all the boundaries are going to begin to be listed over and everything will be in gray form this point on because there’s a lot going on here and that is, by the way, the power of Amalek.

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Transcribed and prepared by Anna Beller: Now there is another human being, we learn from midrash hayom, who looks exactly like Adam, who was that? Yaakov, Jacob looks exactly the way Adam did. So its interesting that what does the snake has to do? He has to attack Yaakov, right? Now the snake saw that there was another time when the Jews were almost able to destroy the yetzer harah- the evil inclination / Satan. When was that?

When they received the Torah at Sinai. So Satan was desperate. And therefore he had to find a way to insinuate himself into this situation so that he could prevent his destruction.  And the way he did it midrashikly- is that he showed a funeral bier with Moshe’s body, so the Jews were convinced that Moshe had died and the Jews had to turn to the golden calf, he won.

Now this is the third time you have a situation, because is Shaul wipes out Amalek that’s it it’s the end, there’s no more yetzer harah, Satan would be destroyed. And therefore, he has to insinuate himself into this battle because this battle is not just a war with another nation but this is a war against the whole essence of evil.  Shaul we will see, understands this very clearly, its not just a question of destroying Amalek, its also about destroying evil, and the evil inclination. And Shaul has to make calls on this in his own mind.

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Transcribed and prepared by Anna Beller: The next point, before you can wipe out an entire nation, remember that every nation has their own angel. And as long as the angel is still alive, not in the same way as is a human being, but as long as the angel is still alive, you won’t be able to wipe out every descendant of that tribe. Therefore there has to be a battle against the angel at the same time that there is a battle against its children, the two are intertwined.

Although there is an angel over the Jewish people, god deals directly why the Jewish people, there is an angel Michael, who always going out of his way to protect the Jewish people, but the fact is, that god deals with us directly not only through an angel. Therefore the angel of Amalek understands that Amalek is going to be totally wiped out by king Saul in this Haftarah. Not only will it mean the death of Amalek, but the death of the angel. But who is the angel of Amalek? Satan.

Now Satan has been faced with this kind of desperate situation other times. For example in the Garden of Eden. He understood that unless he took care of Adam then he would be destroyed. Because if Adam made the proper choice that would be the end of Satan, it would be the end of yetzar hara- the end of evil inclination.

Therefore he had to introduce himself, and that is called nachash- that is the snake that came to attack. What’s interesting is that in the midrash and kabalistic literature Amalek is always symbolized by a snake.

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Transcribed and prepared by Anna Beller:

Rachamim & Chemlah:

“And Samuel said to Saul, it was I whom God sent to anoint you as a king over His nation, over Israel.  And now listen to the word of the voice of hashem. So says God the lord of all hosts,  I remember very well what Amalek did to Israel. They attacked Israel on the way, that Israel was going up from Israel, now go and kill Amalek.  and destroy all that is. Do not have any mercy on him.

Now tachmol- mercy, we have another word for compassion which is rachamim. The Malbim explains that the difference between rachamim, what we commonly know as compassion and chemlah- which I’m translating now as mercy, is that rachamim is having compassion for something which is important to you, while tachmol is that the object or the one your having mercy on is not necessarily important, its just that your having mercy because you want to have mercy. So God has compassion for the Jewish people because they are important to God. chemlah is not, it’s by virtue of being merciful I am going to do this for you. Which plays an important role in the modeh ani; b-chemla, rabba emunatecha.

Don’t have any mercy,  you should kill from man onto woman,  from the young children to the nursing children. from oxen to sheep, form the camel until the donkey- WIPE THEM OUT.

Counting With Sheep

And Shaul summoned the nation, and he took his sheep and counted the Jews by his sheep, so each Jew would take a sheep and they counted all the sheep that were there. And it turned out 200,000 foot soldiers. So how many sheep do we know Shaul had? 200,00.  and 10,000 men from Yehudah. So you have a total of 210,00 people which means Shaul had a total of 210,000 sheep. This becomes important later on in the story when the people want to save some of the Amalekite animals for sacrifices; a strange thing if they have 210,000 sheep with them!

Purim & Pesach

There is another reading of this verse, which is in the Targum Yonatan who says that this happened on Pesach, and what he did was whoever brought a pascal offering he counted the number of pascal offerings, so since the head of each house brought pascal offering he counted the pascal offerings. 200,000 of the Jews and 10,000 of Yehudah. What’s interesting is that if he’s correct that this happened on Pesach, when does the story with Haman and Esther happen? On Pesach. When Esther asked that everyone fast for her it was the first three days of Pesach, and Hamman is killed 2 days later. On the end of the third day Esther goes into Achashverosh to seduce him and then invite him to apart, the next day she has a party and then she asks Achashveirosh and Haman to go to the next party the next day, your still in Pesach so Haman is killed on Pesach. Which is interesting, maybe there’s a connection between Pesach and Purim.

The Battle “At the River”:

The Angel of Eisav

So Shaul came to the city of Amalek,  and he battled at the river. The river? Where else does the verse mention it a “river”? Yaakov. When the angel fought with Yaakov at the nachal. So the battle with Amalek by the river is the first indication, says the Alshich, that this battle is not simply a battle with Amalek but it goes to the very root of the Jewish people. Just as the angel of Eisav battled with Yaakov at the river, so does Shaul battle Amalek at the river. It’s going to the heart of the Jewish people.

An Internal Battle

How does the Gomorrah read  the battle at the river? There is one law in the Torah that must be performed at the river which is, if you find man killed in middle of two cities, you measure to which city the corpse is closest. You assume that man was traveling outside of that city, and therefore the sages of that city need to take a calf to that river and offer an Eglah Arufa.  They say, “We did not kill this man! However, as we should have escorted the man of the city so he wouldn’t have been killed, there’s certainly an element of responsibility.”

The Talmud says what does it mean here that they battled at the river? That Shaul was battling inside himself. He said,  God says that if you find one man murdered in the middle of nowhere you have to go with this whole process of determining which city he’s closest to. That even if he’s 5 yards outside one city and a mile from an other city you need to go through the process of measuring for whatever reason. Then the sages have to go through the whole process for what reason? It means that God is concerned with every human being. And now God is telling you to wipe out a whole nation, men women children nursing babies, God is telling me to wipe them out, what should I do?

He’s horrified. Most people who here when there’s a mitzvah to wipe out Amalek its horrible, what’s the difference between us and the Nazis.

So a Heavenly Voice comes out, says the Talmud, and spoke to Shaul and says, “You mind your business and I’ll mind Mine! You do what your told!”

But you can already see that Shaul is fighting a battle within himself. Now you can’t imagine that until this point Shaul didn’t know that there was such a mitzvah to wipe out Amalek, he did and  you can’t say that he didn’t know it now because he was already commanded by Shmuel. He had already counted the soldiers, and counting the 200000 men of Israel and the 10000 of Yehudah. So he’s had time to think about it but when it comes down to the battle of Amalek, he’s horrified.

So it’s something that must have been inside of him but he never had to deal with it because it wasn’t real to him. He is  first coming face to face with this law in a tangible way in the middle of the battle and he  is struggling within himself saying how can I do this?  So then the Heavenly Voice comes down and says You do what I’m telling you to do and I’ll take responsibility for what it is I’m telling you, but do it!

Which Part of Shaul is Struggling?

So he’s fighting evil within himself which is an indication of what? What part of him is fighting, who is attempting to insinuate himself into this whole story?

On the one hand you can say its coming from his yetzer harah, obviously.

But the truth is if you heard someone making such an argument you would think this isn’t an argument of the yetzer harah, of the evil inclination, he’s struggling. And we’ve talked about this before.

What is it within a human being that struggles with observance and with God. the soul or the mind? The soul. The soul is driving you and the mind has the answers. That’s why in Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzatto’s masterpiece, “The Knowing Heart,” it is the mind that has all the answers and the soul who has the questions.

Because you must understand the soul is driving you to know. Intellectually read the book and you’ll get all the answers. Any issue you want to deal with, you’ll find the answers; it’s your soul that’s driving you to look and its not your yetzer harah, it’s your soul, it wants to be connected to truth and be present to whatever its doing.

So it’s not so black and white that what is pushing Shaul here is his yetzer harah and possibly also his yetzer hatov- the lines are not clear.

The fact that the lines are not clear is the insinuation that it’s the work of Satan. Because he’s not telling you to do something wrong. He wants to convince you that things are not black and white. Which is what he did in the Garden of Eden. He didn’t say sin against God, he says, this is better for you, I love you, I want you to do what is better for you. Would I lie to you? Look in my eyes. Would I lie to you? The Gemara says the snake was not a liar, you will be more powerful, he just made things a little less clear.

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“The word of God came to Samuel, saying, “I have regretted that I made Saul king, for he has turned away from Me and has not fulfilled My word!” It aggrieved Samuel and he cried out to God the entire night.” “Samuel went to Ramah; and Saul went up to his home at Gibeah of Saul.”

“Samuel never again saw Saul until the day of his death, for Samuel mourned over Saul, but God had reconsidered His making Saul king over Israel.”

“God said to Samuel, “How long will you mourn over Saul, when I have rejected him from reigning over Israel?”

We must understand why did Samuel suffers so much over Saul? Why did he storm and rattle all the worlds over Saul’s removal as King? Why was he so devastated that he was as a mourner, impossible to comfort until the day of his death? So much so, that Samuel never again went to meet Saul until the day of his death.

Samuel was in such a devastating state of mourning that God had to push him and say, “How long will you more? It’s enough! Even after God said, “I have regretted that I made Saul King,” Samuel continues to mourn. Why does he act like this?

It is clear that we have before us an important and hidden secret; from the secrets of the Roots, from the inner rooms of the souls that are ours, and those close to us, the ones that play an important role in our lives:

I have seen in the Shevet Mussar (Chapter 11), “there are some common people who have great love for Torah scholars, who run to fulfill God’s mitzvot, and who seek to hear words of wisdom. Know that all of their good deeds are drawn from the highest roots of their souls; the place their soul holds in the Olam ha-Nishamot, the Sold World, connected to the “Ilan,” the Tree of Life, the Tree of Souls, where they are the neighbors of the souls of the Torah scholars. This is why they feel this loving connection to the scholars.

We know that there are some friendships that are more intense than one would have for a sibling; the reason is that it is possible for two brothers to be distant on this tree, even while the friend is connected on the tree to another. It is our Soul Connection on the Tree, that nourishes the connection that we have to others.

This is why you will also see that there are some people who connect to one specific Torah scholar and to no other. Again, this is because of their connection on the Tree in the Soul World.

This is similar to a concept taught by the Ohr ha-Chaim ha-Kadosh on the verse, “He said to them, so said God, the Lord of Israel, every man, put his sword on his thigh and pass back-and-forth from gate to gate in the camp. Let every man kill his brother, every man his fellow, and every man his near one (Exodus 32:27).” Why did the verse need to say “every man his brother,” if it already says, “every man his fellow”?

This is because there are some brothers who despite their relationship are distant from each other in ideas and values. There are other people who are not related at all, and yet share a deep love because they share the same ideas and values; this draws from the root of their souls in the Soul World.

There are souls that share a common root but are born distant, and there are souls that are distant in their roots and yet are born close to each other, as brothers.

The closeness and relationship that existed between Samuel and Saul was this closeness of souls, sharing a common root, a love more powerful than this world as it was connected and rooted in the highest worlds.

Rabbi Yochanan said in the name of Rabbi Simeon: The Holy One, Blessed is He, brings into the world numbers of associations and numbers of brotherhoods. If one of the Association die, let the whole Association become apprehensive, since Rabbi Samuel bar Abba said in the name of Rabbi Yochanan: There are predetermined periods of power, and one does not overlap that of the other even to the breadth of a here (Ruth Rabbah 2:8).

This midrash describes souls that share the same root but were separated from each other when they came to this world. It was not coincidental that God joined them together in one group or in one place, for in the Soul World these souls were united as one.

The Ramban says (The Book of Belief and Trust), all the souls of Israel are rooted in a single soul, and when we love each other, it is an expression of this “oldest” love.

It is for this reason that if one of a group dies that the entire group shall worry because they all share a common root.

The closeness and relationship that existed between Samuel and Saul, rooted as it was in the Soul World, was the relationship of two souls carved from one piece.

The Gra teaches that all of the prophets, especially Samuel, knew the root of each person’s soul, and therefore when one came to the Prophet, he would be given direct should for the very essence of his soul.

Samuel, the expert in the roots of souls, surely knew the root of Saul’s soul, its place, and its closeness to Samuel. He knew Saul’s purpose of existence in this world, and that they were partners not only in this world but in the Upper World. He knew that Saul was an expression of his own root.

Therefore, when Saul failed as King, and only as King, Samuel was devastated. He lost part of himself. He mourned and was inconsolable.

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Learn & discover the Divine prophecies with Rabbi Simcha Weinberg from the holy Torah, Jewish Law, Mysticism, Kabbalah and Jewish Prophecies. The Foundation Stone™ is the ultimate resource for Jews, Judaism, Jewish Education, Jewish Spirituality & the holy Torah.

Samuel I 4:1-11:

1 And the word of Samuel came to all Israel. Now Israel went out against the Philistines to battle, and pitched beside Eben-ezer; and the Philistines pitched in Aphek. 2 And the Philistines put themselves in array against Israel; and when the battle was spread, Israel was smitten before the Philistines; and they slew of the army in the field about four thousand men. 3 And when the people were come into the camp, the elders of Israel said: ‘Wherefore hath the LORD smitten us to-day before the Philistines? Let us fetch the ark of the covenant of the LORD out of Shiloh unto us, that He may come among us, and save us out of the hand of our enemies.’ 4 So the people sent to Shiloh, and they brought from thence the ark of the covenant of the LORD of hosts, who sitteth upon the cherubim; and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God. 5 And when the ark of the covenant of the LORD came into the camp, all Israel shouted with a great shout, so that the earth rang. 6 And when the Philistines heard the noise of the shout, they said: ‘What meaneth the noise of this great shout in the camp of the Hebrews?’ And they knew that the ark of the LORD was come into the camp. 7 And the Philistines were afraid, for they said: ‘God is come into the camp.’ And they said: ‘Woe unto us! for there was not such a thing yesterday and the day before. 8 Woe unto us! who shall deliver us out of the hand of these mighty gods? these are the gods that smote the Egyptians with all manner of plagues and in the wilderness. 9 Be strong, and quit yourselves like men, O ye Philistines, that ye be not servants unto the Hebrews, as they have been to you; quit yourselves like men, and fight.’ 10 And the Philistines fought, and Israel was smitten, and they fled every man to his tent; and there was a very great slaughter; for there fell of Israel thirty thousand footmen. 11 And the ark of God was taken; and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were slain.

Samuel I 5:1 – 7:4

1 Now the Philistines had taken the ark of God, and they brought it from Eben-ezer unto Ashdod. 2 And the Philistines took the ark of God, and brought it into the house of Dagon, and set it by Dagon. 3 And when they of Ashdod arose early on the morrow, behold, Dagon was fallen upon his face to the ground before the ark of the LORD. And they took Dagon, and set him in his place again. 4 And when they arose early on the morrow morning, behold, Dagon was fallen upon his face to the ground before the ark of the LORD; and the head of Dagon and both the palms of his hands lay cut off upon the threshold; only the trunk of Dagon was left to him. 5 Therefore neither the priests of Dagon, nor any that come into Dagon’s house, tread on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod unto this day. {P}

6 But the hand of the LORD was heavy upon them of Ashdod, and He destroyed them, and smote them with emerods, even Ashdod and the borders thereof. 7 And when the men of Ashdod saw that it was so, they said: ‘The ark of the God of Israel shall not abide with us; for His hand is sore upon us, and upon Dagon our god.’ 8 They sent therefore and gathered all the lords of the Philistines unto them, and said: ‘What shall we do with the ark of the God of Israel?’ And they answered: ‘Let the ark of the God of Israel be carried about unto Gath.’ And they carried the ark of the God of Israel about thither. {S} 9 And it was so, that, after they had carried it about, the hand of the LORD was against the city with a very great discomfiture; and He smote the men of the city, both small and great, and emerods broke out upon them. 10 So they sent the ark of God to Ekron. And it came to pass, as the ark of God came to Ekron, that the Ekronites cried out, saying: ‘They have brought about the ark of the God of Israel to us, to slay us and our people.’ 11 They sent therefore and gathered together all the lords of the Philistines, and they said: ‘Send away the ark of the God of Israel, and let it go back to its own place, that it slay us not, and our people’; for there was a deadly discomfiture throughout all the city; the hand of God was very heavy there. 12 And the men that died not were smitten with the emerods; and the cry of the city went up to heaven.

1 And the ark of the LORD was in the country of the Philistines seven months. 2 And the Philistines called for the priests and the diviners, saying: ‘What shall we do with the ark of the LORD? declare unto us wherewith we shall send it to its place.’ {S} 3 And they said: ‘If ye send away the ark of the God of Israel, send it not empty; but in any wise return Him a guilt-offering; then ye shall be healed, and it shall be known to you why His hand is not removed from you.’ 4 Then said they: ‘What shall be the guilt-offering which we shall return to Him?’ And they said: ‘Five golden emerods, and five golden mice, according to the number of the lords of the Philistines; for one plague was on you all, and on your lords. 5 Wherefore ye shall make images of your emerods, and images of your mice that mar the land; and ye shall give glory unto the God of Israel; peradventure He will lighten His hand from off you, and from off your gods, and from off your land. 6 Wherefore then do ye harden your hearts, as the Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened their hearts? when He had wrought among them, did they not let the people go, and they departed? 7 Now therefore take and prepare you a new cart, and two milch kine, on which there hath come no yoke, and tie the kine to the cart, and bring their calves home from them. 8 And take the ark of the LORD, and lay it upon the cart; and put the jewels of gold, which ye return Him for a guilt-offering, in a coffer by the side thereof; and send it away, that it may go. 9 And see, if it goeth up by the way of its own border to Beth-shemesh, then He hath done us this great evil; but if not, then we shall know that it is not His hand that smote us; it was a chance that happened to us.’ 10 And the men did so; and took two milch kine, and tied them to the cart, and shut up their calves at home. 11 And they put the ark of the LORD upon the cart, and the coffer with the mice of gold and the images of their emerods. 12 And the kine took the straight way by the way to Beth-shemesh; they went along the highway, lowing as they went, and turned not aside to the right hand or to the left; and the lords of the Philistines went after them unto the border of Beth-shemesh. 13 And they of Beth-shemesh were reaping their wheat harvest in the valley; and they lifted up their eyes, and saw the ark, and rejoiced to see it. 14 And the cart came into the field of Joshua the Beth-shemite, and stood there, where there was a great stone; and they cleaved the wood of the cart, and offered up the kine for a burnt-offering unto the LORD. {S} 15 And the Levites took down the ark of the LORD, and the coffer that was with it, wherein the jewels of gold were, and put them on the great stone; and the men of Beth-shemesh offered burnt-offerings and sacrificed sacrifices the same day unto the LORD. 16 And when the five lords of the Philistines had seen it, they returned to Ekron the same day. {S} 17 And these are the golden emerods which the Philistines returned for a guilt-offering unto the LORD: for Ashdod one, for Gaza one, for Ashkelon one, for Gath one, for Ekron one; 18 and the golden mice, according to the number of all the cities of the Philistines belonging to the five lords, both of fortified cities and of country villages, even unto Abel by the great stone, whereon they set down the ark of the LORD, which stone remaineth unto this day in the field of Joshua the Beth-shemite. 19 And He smote of the men of Beth-shemesh, because they had gazed upon the ark of the LORD, even He smote of the people seventy men, and fifty thousand men; and the people mourned, because the LORD had smitten the people with a great slaughter. 20 And the men of Beth-shemesh said: ‘Who is able to stand before the LORD, this holy God? and to whom shall it go up from us?’ 21 And they sent messengers to the inhabitants of Kiriath-jearim, saying: ‘The Philistines have brought back the ark of the LORD; come ye down, and fetch it up to you.’

1 And the men of Kiriath-jearim came, and fetched up the ark of the LORD, and brought it into the house of Abinadab in the hill, and sanctified Eleazar his son to keep the ark of the LORD. {P}

2 And it came to pass, from the day that the ark abode in Kiriath-jearim, that the time was long; for it was twenty years; and all the house of Israel yearned after the LORD. {S} 3 And Samuel spoke unto all the house of Israel, saying: ‘If ye do return unto the LORD with all your heart, then put away the foreign gods and the Ashtaroth from among you, and direct your hearts unto the LORD, and serve Him only; and He will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines.’ 4 Then the children of Israel did put away the Baalim and the Ashtaroth, and served the LORD only. {P}

Kings II 18:13-16

13 Now in the fourteenth year of king Hezekiah did Sennacherib king of Assyria come up against all the fortified cities of Judah, and took them. 14 And Hezekiah king of Judah sent to the king of Assyria to Lachish, saying: ‘I have offended; return from me; that which thou puttest on me will I bear.’ And the king of Assyria appointed unto Hezekiah king of Judah three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold. 15 And Hezekiah gave him all the silver that was found in the house of the LORD, and in the treasures of the king’s house. 16 At that time did Hezekiah cut off the gold from the doors of the temple of the LORD, and from the door-posts which Hezekiah king of Judah had overlaid, and gave it to the king of Assyria. {P}

Kings II 24:8-13

8 Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he began to reign; and he reigned in Jerusalem three months; and his mother’s name was Nehushta the daughter of Elnathan of Jerusalem. 9 And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his father had done. 10 At that time the servants of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up to Jerusalem, and the city was besieged. 11 And Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came unto the city, while his servants were besieging it. 12 And Jehoiachin the king of Judah went out to the king of Babylon, he, and his mother, and his servants, and his princes, and his officers; and the king of Babylon took him in the eighth year of his reign. 13 And he carried out thence all the treasures of the house of the LORD, and the treasures of the king’s house, and cut in pieces all the vessels of gold which Solomon king of Israel had made in the temple of the LORD, as the LORD had said.

Daniel, Chapter 5:

1 Belshazzar the king made a great feast to a thousand of his lords, and drank wine before the thousand. 2 Belshazzar, while he tasted the wine, commanded to bring the golden and silver vessels which Nebuchadnezzar his father had taken out of the temple which was in Jerusalem; that the king and his lords, his consorts and his concubines, might drink therein. 3 Then they brought the golden vessels that were taken out of the temple of the house of God which was at Jerusalem; and the king, and his lords, his consorts and his concubines, drank in them. 4 They drank wine, and praised the gods of gold, and of silver, of brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone. 5 In the same hour came forth fingers of a man’s hand, and wrote over against the candlestick upon the plaster of the wall of the king’s palace; and the king saw the palm of the hand that wrote. 6 Then the king’s countenance was changed in him, and his thoughts affrighted him; and the joints of his loins were loosed, and his knees smote one against another. 7 The king cried aloud to bring in the enchanters, the Chaldeans, and the astrologers. The king spoke and said to the wise men of Babylon: ‘Whosoever shall read this writing, and declare unto me the interpretation thereof, shall be clothed with purple, and have a chain of gold about his neck, and shall rule as one of three in the kingdom.’ {S} 8 Then came in all the king’s wise men: but they could not read the writing, nor make known to the king the interpretation. 9 Then was king Belshazzar greatly affrighted, and his countenance was changed in him, and his lords were perplexed. 10 Now the queen by reason of the words of the king and his lords came into the banquet house; the queen spoke and said: ‘O king, live for ever! let not thy thoughts affright thee, nor let thy countenance be changed; 11 there is a man in thy kingdom, in whom is the spirit of the holy gods; and in the days of thy father light and understanding and wisdom, like the wisdom of the gods, was found in him; and the king Nebuchadnezzar thy father, the king, I say, thy father, made him master of the magicians, enchanters, Chaldeans, and astrologers; 12 forasmuch as a surpassing spirit, and knowledge, and understanding, interpreting of dreams, and declaring of riddles, and loosing of knots, were found in the same Daniel, whom the king named Belteshazzar. Now let Daniel be called, and he will declare the interpretation.’ {P}

13 Then was Daniel brought in before the king. The king spoke and said unto Daniel: ‘Art thou Daniel, who is of the children of the captivity of Judah, whom the king my father brought out of Judah? 14 I have heard of thee, that the spirit of the gods is in thee, and that light and understanding and surpassing wisdom is found in thee. 15 And now the wise men, the enchanters, have been brought in before me, that they should read this writing, and make known unto me the interpretation thereof; but they could not declare the interpretation of the thing. 16 But I have heard of thee, that thou canst give interpretations, and loose knots; now if thou canst read the writing, and make known to me the interpretation thereof, thou shalt be clothed with purple, and have a chain of gold about thy neck, and shalt rule as one of three in the kingdom.’ {P}

17 Then Daniel answered and said before the king: ‘Let thy gifts be to thyself, and give thy rewards to another; nevertheless I will read the writing unto the king, and make known to him the interpretation. 18 O thou king, God Most High gave Nebuchadnezzar thy father the kingdom, and greatness, and glory, and majesty; 19 and because of the greatness that He gave him, all the peoples, nations, and languages trembled and feared before him: whom he would he slew, and whom he would he kept alive; and whom he would he raised up, and whom he would he put down. 20 But when his heart was lifted up, and his spirit was hardened that he dealt proudly, he was deposed from his kingly throne, and his glory was taken from him; 21 and he was driven from the sons of men, and his heart was made like the beasts, and his dwelling was with the wild asses; he was fed with grass like oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven; until he knew that God Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and that He setteth up over it whomsoever He will. 22 And thou his son, O Belshazzar, hast not humbled thy heart, though thou knewest all this; 23 but hast lifted up thyself against the Lord of heaven; and they have brought the vessels of His house before thee, and thou and thy lords, thy consorts and thy concubines, have drunk wine in them; and thou hast praised the gods of silver, and gold, of brass, iron, wood, and stone, which see not, nor hear, nor know; and the God in whose hand thy breath is, and whose are all thy ways, hast thou not glorified; 24 then was the palm of the hand sent from before Him, and this writing was inscribed. 25 And this is the writing that was inscribed: MENE MENE, TEKEL UPHARSIN. 26 This is the interpretation of the thing: MENE, God hath numbered thy kingdom, and brought it to an end. 27 TEKEL, Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting. 28 PERES, thy kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians.’ 29 Then commanded Belshazzar, and they clothed Daniel with purple, and put a chain of gold about his neck, and made proclamation concerning him, that he should rule as one of three in the kingdom. 30 In that night Belshazzar the Chaldean king was slain.

Esther 1:1-7:

1 Now it came to pass in the days of Ahasuerus–this is Ahasuerus who reigned, from India even unto Ethiopia, over a hundred and seven and twenty provinces– 2 that in those days, when the king Ahasuerus sat on the throne of his kingdom, which was in Shushan the castle, 3 in the third year of his reign, he made a feast unto all his princes and his servants; the army of Persia and Media, the nobles and princes of the provinces, being before him; 4 when he showed the riches of his glorious kingdom and the honour of his excellent majesty, many days, even a hundred and fourscore days. 5 And when these days were fulfilled, the king made a feast unto all the people that were present in Shushan the castle, both great and small, seven days, in the court of the garden of the king’s palace; 6 there were hangings of white, fine cotton, and blue, bordered with cords of fine linen and purple, upon silver rods and pillars of marble; the couches were of gold and silver, upon a pavement of green, and white, and shell, and onyx marble. 7 And they gave them drink in vessels of gold–the vessels being diverse one from another–and royal wine in abundance, according to the bounty of the king.

Author Info:
Learn & discover the Divine prophecies with Rabbi Simcha Weinberg from the holy Torah, Jewish Law, Mysticism, Kabbalah and Jewish Prophecies. The Foundation Stone is the ultimate resource for Jews, Judaism, Jewish Education, Jewish Spirituality & the holy Torah.