Shoftim Perek 1

• Although Eretz Yisroel was divided amongst the tribes, Eretz Yisroel was still not completely conquered.

• After the death of Yehoshua, the Jews asked the Urim V’tumim which tribe should go to war first.

• Yehudah, who was selected, asked Shimon to assist him in battle against King Adoni Vezek.

• When Adoni Vezek was captured, his thumbs and big toes were severed in accordance with what Adoni Vezek would do to his captured enemies.

• Osniel Ben K’naz (Calev’s younger brother) conquered Kiryas Arba.

• Osniel Ben K’naz married Achsa (Calev’s daughter). Calev granted Achsa’s request for more fertile land.

• Bnei Yoseph came upon the city of Luz and defeated it.

• The Navi names the tribes who failed to remove the remaining nations in their portion of land.

Shoftim Perek 2

· Pinchas criticized the Jews for failing to drive out the foreign nations from their inheritances.

· The Jews accepted the criticism and wept.

· A new generation arose that was unaware of the goodness Hashem had done for the Jews throughout the leadership of Yehoshua.

· The framework for Sefer Shoftim is set:

· The Jews would sin “in the eyes of Hashem”.

· A foreign nation would oppress the Jews.

· The Jews would then turn to Hashem in prayer and teshuvah.

· Hashem would send a judge (Shofet) to save the Jews.

Shoftim Perek 3

· A new generation of Jews arose that was unskilled in warfare.

· The Jewish people were oppressed

· Osniel ben K’naz saved the Jews from Cusham Rish’asayim who had oppressed them for eight years.

· Peace reigned for four years until Osniel died.

· Ehud ben Gerah saved Klal Yisroel from King Eglon and the oppression of Moav.

· Ehud was a lefty who wore a double-edged dagger on his right thigh.

· Ehud fooled King Eglon’s guards by saying that he had a present for King Eglon.

· Ehud killed King Eglon while King Eglon was in the bathroom.

· Ehud escaped out the window.

· The shofer was sounded. The Jews won the war.

· Peace then reigned for eight years.

· Shamgar ben Anas saved the Jews from the Plishtim.

Shoftim Perek 4

• The Jewish people abandoned Hashem and were oppressed by Yavin, king of Chatzor.

• Devorah, the judge, called upon her husband Barak to save the Jewish people from General Sisra.

• Barak accepted the challenge on the condition that Devorah would go to war with him.

• Devorah agreed, but told Barak that it would be dishonorable for a female to win the war for him.

• Barak gathered 10,000 men from the tribes of Zevulun and Naftali.

• Barak destroyed Sisra’s army, as well as nine hundred iron chariots.

• Sisra fled on foot and took refuge in the tent of Yael.

• Yael fed the famished and exhausted Sisra.

• Yael then killed Sisra by driving a tent peg through his head while he was sleeping.

• Barak came to Yael and saw Sisra dead.

• The war was won.

Shoftim Perek 5

• Devorah sings a song to Hashem after having won the battle against Sisra.

• All was quiet in Eretz Yisroel for 40 years.

Shoftim Perek 6

• The Jewish nation sins in the eyes of Hashem.

• Midyan and Amalek oppress Klal Yisroel for seven years.

• The Jews’ crops are destroyed and the Jews are forced into hiding in the mountains for fear of their lives.

• Pinchas rebukes the Jewish nation and they repent.

• An angel appears to Yoash, telling him to send Gideon, his son, to save the Jews.

• Gideon carries out Hashem’s word to destroy the local altar and trees used for idol worship.

• The people of the town want to kill Gideon.

• Yoash arranges a showdown between Gideon and the people who want idol worship.

• All of Midyan, Amalek and many tribes of the Jewish nation gather in Jezreal valley.

• Gideon asked for two signs as evidence that Hashem is with him:

• After placing fleece on the ground, the next morning the fleece should be wet but the floor dry.

• After placing fleece on the ground, the next morning, the fleece should be dry and the ground wet.

• Hashem is with Gideon.

Shoftim Perek 7

• Gideon gathers 32,000 Jews for battle.

• Hashem tells Gideon that there are too many people for battle.

• Hashem helps Gideon narrow the number down.

• Gideon makes an announcement: Whoever is scared of going into battle may go home. 22,000 people leave.

• Gideon further narrows down the number of soldier’s necessary.

• Whoever drinks from the river while kneeling gets sent home. The kneeling is an indication of idol worship, rendering those who did so unfit for battle.

• Whoever laps the water from the river may stay to go to battle.

• Three hundred men stay.

• Gideon goes down to the Midyan camp at night. Gideon hears a man relating a dream that he had had regarding the victory that would be won by Gideon.

• Gideon instructs the three hundred soldiers to take shofars, torches and empty jugs for war.

• The three hundred soldiers are split into three groups.

• Two Midyan leaders, Orev and Z’ev, are killed.

• Gideon and his army are victorious.

Shoftim Perek 8

• The men of the tribe of Ephraim complained harshly to Gideon for not having summoned them to battle.

• Gideon responds by telling them to be grateful for what he had accomplished.

• The Jews of Sukkot and P’nuel deny rations to Gideon’s army.

• Gideon kills the Jews of Sukkot and P’nuel.

• Two Midyan kings are captured and killed.

• Gideon commands his son Yesser to kill the two kings, but Yesser fears to do so. Gideon kills the two Midyan kings himself.

• The Jewish people wish to make Gideon their leader, but

• Gideon refuses to accept the leadership role of the Jewish nation.

• Gideon makes an ephod out of the golden nose rings that the Jews had amassed in the Midyan battles.

• The ephod becomes a source of idol worship for the Jewish people.

• Gideon returns home and sires seventy sons, plus another son named Avimelech.

• Gideon dies.

• The land is tranquil for forty years.

• Then the Jewish nation returns to idol worship.

Shoftim Perek 9

• Avimelech, the son of Gideon (also known as Yeruba’al,) convinces the people of Sh’chem to allow him to be their ruler.

• Avimelech murders all seventy of his brothers in order to take hold of the leadership.

• His youngest brother Yosam escapes with his life.

• Yosam stands on the top of Mount Grizzim (overlooking Sh’chem) and curses the people of Sh’chem and Avimelech in the form of a parable.

• Avimelech rules with force and arrogance for three years.

• Hashem causes there to be a feeling of ill will between the people of Sh’chem and Avimelech.

• Sh’chem starts to intimidate Avimelech.

• Ga’al ben Eved (a gentile) questions the authority of Avimelech and rallies the people of Sh’chem against Avimelech.

• Ga’al challenges Avimelech in war.

• Zevul, the ruler of the city, pretends to betray Avimelech and collude with Ga’al.

• Avimelech strikes the army of Ga’al in the early morning.

• Zevul chases out Ga’al.

• Avimelech massacres the people of Sh’chem, leaving their fields barren by covering them with salt.

• Avimelech gets wind that the people of Migdal Sh’chem want to harm him.

• Avimelech burns down their tower containing 1,000 men and women.

• Avimelech heads to Taiveitz to burn down the tower there, too.

• A woman throws down a large object that crushes Avimelech’s skull.

• Avimelech asks his weapon carrier to kill him by sword, and not to let him die by the hand of a woman.

• Hashem took retribution from Avimelech for the murder of his brothers.

• The curse of Yosam was fulfilled.

Shoftim Perek 10

• The next judge of the nation was Tolah ben Puah who judged the nation for twenty-three years and was buried in Shamir.

• Yair Hagiladi came next, and judged the nation for twenty-two years.

• Yair had thirty sons, thirty horses and thirty cities. The cities were named Chavos Yair.

• The Jewish people sinned in the eyes of Hashem.

• Eighteen years of oppression by Bnei Amon and the Plishtim ensued.

• The nation asked Hashem for forgiveness.

• Hashem refused their pleas and told them to ask their idols for help now.

• The nation continued to beg for forgiveness and they removed their idols from their homes.

• An announcement was made to the people: Whoever will be the first to go to battle against the Bnei Amon will become our leader.

Shoftim Perek 11

• Yiftach is the next shofet (judge.)

• Yiftach runs away from his brothers who taunted him.

• The elders locate Yiftach and ask Yiftach to lead the battle against Amon.

• The elders promise Yiftach that if he is victorious in battle he will be their leader.

• Yiftach diplomatically sends emissaries to the king of Ammon to inquire why Ammon is oppressing the Jews.

• Yiftach relates to the emissaries that all of the land that the Jews conquered was conquered in defensive wars.

• The king of Ammon is indifferent to Yiftach’s explanations.

• Yiftach makes a vow: If he is victorious in battle against Ammon, then whatever comes through his door first will be offered as a sacrifice to Hashem.

• Hashem is with Yiftach.

• Yiftach defeats Ammon in battle.

• The first thing that comes through Yiftach’s door when he returns from battle is his daughter.

• He tears his clothes.

• Yiftach’s daughter requests two months in the mountains to mourn over the fact that she never married.

• Yiftach keeps his vow.

Many commentators explain that Yiftach built a secluded house in which his daughter would live as a means of keeping his vow. This way his daughter would be dedicated solely to Hashem.

Shoftim Perek 12

• The tribe of Ephraim instigated a conflict with Yiftach (from the tribe Menashe.)

• A civil war ensued between Menashe and Ephraim.

• Yiftach seized the waterways.

• 12,000 people from Ephraim were killed.

• Yiftach ruled over the Jews for six years and passed away.

• Ivtzan (who was Boaz) judged for the next seven years.

• Elon from the tribe Zevulun judged for ten years.

• Avdon ben Hillel judged for eight years.

Shoftim Perek 13

• The Plishtim oppressed Yisrael for forty years.

• An angel appeared to the wife of Manoach.

• The angel told her that she would finally be blessed with a child after many years of not having been able to have children.

• The angel warned the wife of Manoach not to eat anything impure, nor drink wine. The child would be a Nazir.

• Manoach expressed a desire to see the angel and confirm the news that was delivered to his wife.

• Manoach brought a sacrifice after hearing the good news.

• Manoach and his wife understood that they had indeed spoken to angel, and not to a “man of G-d” as they had originally thought.

• Manoach’s wife calmed Manoach down.

• The baby Shimshon was born.

Shoftim Perek 14

• The Plishtim ruled over Israel.

• Shimshon told his parents that he would like to marry a non-Jewish Plishti woman.

• His parents were unhappy about this decision.

• En route to see the woman, Shimshon tore a lion apart with his bare hands.

• Shimshon met his future wife and returned home.

• Upon returning for the wedding, Shimshon found the carcass of the lion that he had previously torn apart, with a beehive full of honey in it.

• Shimshon ate from the honey.

• At the wedding, Shimshon’s new father in-law gave Shimshon an additional thirty men to contribute to the celebration.

• Shimshon posed a riddle to them, as a contest to destroy the Plishtim.

• The Plishtim threatened to kill Shimshon’s wife if she didn’t find out the answer to the riddle for them.

• Shimshon’s wife manipulated Shimshon to learn the answer.

• The answer was revealed.

• Shimshon paid his debt to the Plishtim in a fit of rage.

• Shimshon returned home, and his wife went to live with another man.

Shoftim Perek 15

• Shimshon remembers his wife.

• Shimshon is denied access to her by his father in-law, who offers Shimshon a younger daughter instead.

• Shimshon sends three hundred foxes with lit torches tied between their tails into the Plishti town in order to burn it down.

• The Plishtim respond by going to war against the tribe of Yehudah.

• Yehudah responds, saying that they will hand Shimshon over to them.

• Three thousand men of Yehudah speak to Shimshon about what is happening.

• Shimshon consents to being tied up with ropes and handed over to the Plishtim.

• Shimshon destroys the ropes that bind him and he kills one thousand Plishtim with the jawbone of a donkey.

• Hashem performs a miracle that the donkey’s jawbone gave forth water to revive the thirsty and weakened Shimshon.

• Shimshon is the judge of the Jews for 20 years.

Shoftim Perek 16

• Shimshon found another pretense to take revenge on the Plishtim. He stayed at a harlot’s house (considered a public area) in Gaza as a means to spread the word that he was there, to attract more Plishtim to come.

• Shimshon preempted a Plishti ambush in the middle of the night by ripping the threshold and doors of the city gates off its hinges and carrying them a great distance away as a means of intimidating the Plishtim.

• Shimshon fell in love with Delilah

• The Plishtim threatened Delilah’s life. They wanted her to find out the source of Shimshon’s strength.

• Three attempts by Delilah to find out the answer were met with three false answers.

• Each attempt was similar in nature: A) Shimshon responded with a false way that he could be captured. B) The false way was implemented. C) Delilah would call out in the middle of the night “Plishtim have come upon you.” D) Shimshon would break free. E) Delilah would proceed to cry, lament and press Shimshon for the true source of his strength.

• Shimshon finally revealed the source of his strength – his hair that had never been cut because he was a Nazir.

• Delilah cut the seven locks of Shimshon’s hair in the middle of the night, weakening Shimshon.

• The Plishtim captured Shimshon. The Plishtim put Shimshon in jail for two years.

• Shimshon was put on display for sport. Shimshon cooperated as a means of gathering as many Plishtim as possible in one place, in order to kill them all at once.

• Shimshon did teshuvah in a prayer to Hashem, asking Hashem for strength one last time.

• Shimshon took his last revenge on the Plishtim by collapsing an entire building, taking his own life and the lives of three thousand Plishtim (more than all other incidents combined.)

• Shimshon’s body was buried next to the body of Manoach, his father.

Shoftim Perek 16

• Shimshon found another pretense to take revenge on the Plishtim. He stayed at a harlot’s house (considered a public area) in Gaza as a means to spread the word that he was there, to attract more Plishtim to come.

• Shimshon preempted a Plishti ambush in the middle of the night by ripping the threshold and doors of the city gates off its hinges and carrying them a great distance away as a means of intimidating the Plishtim.

• Shimshon fell in love with Delilah

• The Plishtim threatened Delilah’s life. They wanted her to find out the source of Shimshon’s strength.

• Three attempts by Delilah to find out the answer were met with three false answers.

• Each attempt was similar in nature: A) Shimshon responded with a false way that he could be captured. B) The false way was implemented. C) Delilah would call out in the middle of the night “Plishtim have come upon you.” D) Shimshon would break free. E) Delilah would proceed to cry, lament and press Shimshon for the true source of his strength.

• Shimshon finally revealed the source of his strength – his hair that had never been cut because he was a Nazir.

• Delilah cut the seven locks of Shimshon’s hair in the middle of the night, weakening Shimshon.

• The Plishtim captured Shimshon. The Plishtim put Shimshon in jail for two years.

• Shimshon was put on display for sport. Shimshon cooperated as a means of gathering as many Plishtim as possible in one place, in order to kill them all at once.

• Shimshon did teshuvah in a prayer to Hashem, asking Hashem for strength one last time.

• Shimshon took his last revenge on the Plishtim by collapsing an entire building, taking his own life and the lives of three thousand Plishtim (more than all other incidents combined.)

• Shimshon’s body was buried next to the body of Manoach, his father.

Shoftim Perek 17

• Micha’s mother is angered after realizing that her money was stolen and she places a curse on the thief.

• Micha admits to stealing his mother’s 1,100 silver coins.

• His mother blesses Micha in order to counteract the curse that she had put on “whoever” stole the money.

• His mother hands the money back to Micha and presses him to use the money to make an idol.

• Micha refuses and his mother reiterates her advice to create an idol with the silver coins.

• Micha’s mother took the silver coins on her own to a silversmith who made an idol for her.

• Micha took the idol, opened a house for idol worship, and trained his own son to be the kohen.

• A man from the tribe of Levi showed up looking for work, and, after deliberation, accepted the job offer to work for Micha as a kohen.

• The Levi was hired to be the kohen at Micha’s house of idols.

• Micha understood the appearance of the Levi, who joined his ranks, to be a sign of Hashem’s approval, since a real kohen comes from the tribe of Levi.

Shoftim Perek 18

• The tribe of Dan sent five spies to spy out the land that they wished to conquer for themselves.

• The five spies spent the night at Micha’s house of idols and inquired whether or not they would be victorious over the city of Layish.

• While at Micha’s house they recognized the Levi working as the kohen. The five spies engaged the Levi in conversation about his personal motives for working there.

• The five spies proceeded to spy on the innocent, peaceful land of Layish, and deemed it fit for conquering.

• They relate the good news to the rest of the tribe of Dan.

• Enroute to Layish for battle, six hundred soldiers from Dan stop at Micha’s house.

• They seize Micha’s idols, as well as convince the Levi, (Micha’s kohen,) to leave Micha and join them.

• Micha confronts the soldiers, arguing that they have left him with nothing.

• The soldiers from Dan are unsympathetic to Micha and threaten his life. Micha returns home.

• The soldiers defeat Layish, and Dan settles in the weak town.

• Micha’s idol (pesel Micha) was accepted amongst the members of Dan for many generations.

Shoftim Perek 19

Friends, all words written/recorded about this perek are meant with the utmost sensitivity to our readers and Chazal. There are many delicate details that need be understood in the light of Chazal. It is beyond the scope of these summaries to delve into all the fine details that need be understood. Thank you in advance for your understanding.

• In those days there was no king of Yisrael.

• A man from shevet Levi tormented his pilegesh, (concubine) forcing her to return to her father’s home.

• Four months later, the Levite man returned to his father-in-law’s home to reclaim his pilegesh.

• The father-in-law convinced the Levite man to stay for an additional five days, and he served him a feast.

• The Levite left for home with his pilegesh, attendant, and two donkeys.

• As sundown approached, the attendant asked to stay at the closer town of Y’vus, but the Levite refused, preferring to stay with other Jews.

• The Levite reached the courtyard in Giv’ah, located in the portion of the tribe of Binyamin, at sundown.

• An elderly man appeared and offered the Levite lodging for the night. (Only lodging, but no food, as the Levite had all the necessary provisions.)

• A mob from Giv’ah demanded that the elderly man send out the Levi for intimacy.

• The elderly man sent out his daughter, instead, but the mob refused to accept her. Then the Levite sent out his pilegesh to satisfy the mob, and then he hid for his life.

• The next morning the pilegesh was found dead on the doorstep.

• Upon returning home, the Levite cut up the pilegesh and sent pieces of her body to the twelve tribes.

• All who heard the story were appalled and astounded.

Shoftim Perek 20

• After seeing the body of the pilegesh b’Giv’ah the rest of Yisrael was horrified and wanted to know how it had happened.

• The Levite related the entire story that had happened in Giv’ah.

• Yisrael was united in their demand that Binyamin should hand over the perpetrators to be put to death.

• Binyamin refused to do so.

• Yisrael asked the Urim V’tumim who should go to battle against Binyamin first.

• A civil war ensued.

• Yisrael lost 30,000 lives in the two days after consulting the Urim V’tumim twice.

• The Urim V’tumim was consulted a third time regarding whether or not the war should be fought at all. Hashem responded that Yisrael would win.

• 25,100 members of Binyamin were lost in battle.

• The cities of Binyamin were burned to the ground.

Shoftim Perek 21 – Final Perek… You did it!

• After the civil war with Binyamin, Yisrael mourned and did teshuvah over the almost complete decimation of Binyamin.

• An oath was made not to allow any female of Yisrael marry any man from Binyamin.

• There were many survivors in Binyamin after the war, but there weren’t enough women for all of them to be able to marry and perpetuate future generations of Binyamin.

• Yisrael went to war against the members of Yavesh Gil’ad for not coming when called to battle.

• The order was given not to harm any of the single women of Yavesh Gil’ad and to give them to the remaining members of Binyamin as wives.

• But more women were needed to perpetuate the future generations of Binyamin.

• At the annual festival that was held in Shiloh, the members of Binyamin watched the single women dance in the fields and they selected wives from among those women.