© 2006 by Robert Lepor. All rights reserved.
[The following teaching is] brought in Tanchuma (Parshas Shoftim, 4), on the pasuk, “…and you shall judge the nation a judgment of righteousness.” (Divarim: 16; 18): “Rabbi Yihudah the son of Rabbi Shalom said: “[This pasuk comes to teach us] that we should reach out and argue merit upon [the Jewish People] before The Holy One, Blessed is He. From whom do you learn [that one should come to the defense of the Jewish People by arguing for their merits]? From Gidon the son of Yoash, [for] during his days, [the Nation of] Israel was in [a state of] trouble, and The Holy One, Blessed is He, sought a person who be an advocate on their behalf, and He did not find [such a person], for the generation was poor in [performance of] mitzvos and good [deeds]. Once merit was found in Gidon, for he advocated for the [Jewish People], immediately the angel was revealed to him, as it says [in sefer Shoftim]: “And the angel of HaShem came to him and said, ‘Go with this strength’.”[1] (Shoftim: 6; 14) ‘With this strength of the merit that you have argued for My children.’ That is [the meaning of the phrase], “…and you shall judge the nation with a judgment of righteousness”, that you shall argue for the merit of the generation. From all of [the above], we are able to understand [of] the elevated level of one who argues for the merit [of the Jewish People] before The Holy One, Blessed is He. [Such a person] is subsequently made into a chariot for the light of The Holy Sanctuary, which is called “The Sanctuary of Merit”, for over there, the merits of [the Nation of] Israel are mentioned, as is [taught] in Sefer Chareidim.[2]
[1] The actual pasuk from sefer Shoftim is worded differently than it is quoted here. The actual pasuk reads as follows:
“And HaShem turned to him and He said, ‘Go with this strength and you shall save [the People of] Israel from the palm of Midian. Behold I have sent you.” (Shoftim: 6; 14)
The defense that Gidon presented to the angel, which led to him being blessed with the strength to save the People of Israel, is stated in the previous pasuk, as follows:
“And Gidon said to him, I beseech you my master, if HaShem is with us, [then] why has all of this occurred to us, and where are all of His wonders, of which our fathers related to us, saying, ‘Did HaShem not bring us up from Egypt, and now HaShem has deserted us and has given us into the palm of Midian?” (Shoftim: 6; 13)
[2] This teaching is found in Sefer Chareidim, in chapter 66, sif 38, in the new printing.
[1] The actual pasuk from sefer Shoftim is worded differently than it is quoted here. The actual pasuk reads as follows:
“And HaShem turned to him and He said, ‘Go with this strength and you shall save [the People of] Israel from the palm of Midian. Behold I have sent you.” (Shoftim: 6; 14)
The defense that Gidon presented to the angel, which led to him being blessed with the strength to save the People of Israel, is stated in the previous pasuk, as follows:
“And Gidon said to him, I beseech you my master, if HaShem is with us, [then] why has all of this occurred to us, and where are all of His wonders, of which our fathers related to us, saying, ‘Did HaShem not bring us up from Egypt, and now HaShem has deserted us and has given us into the palm of Midian?” (Shoftim: 6; 13)
[2] This teaching is found in Sefer Chareidim, in chapter 66, sif 38, in the new printing.
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