Shoftim; 7-12
Perek 7 – HaShem reduces size of Gidon’s army from 32,000 to 300 and gives him a sign tht he’ll be victorious. Gidon splits camp into 3 and frighten the Midyanites into killing each other by their swords. Bnei Yisrael pursue Midyan and occupy the land.
Perek 8 – Gidon pacifies men of Efrayim for not having called on them to fight. People of Sukkot and Penuel refuse to give bread to Gidon’s men and (after he capture 2 Midyanite kings) Gidon punishes them. Gidon declines leadership, land quiet for 40 years, and after Gidon dies Bnei Ysirael return to idolatry.
Perek 9 – Gidon had 70 sons. 1 of them, Avimelech, wins support of people of Shchem. They give him money to hire men to kill the other sons of Gidon so Avimelech would rule. Yotam, the youngest son, escapes and curses the Shchem-Avimelech partnership. Arguments thus break out between Shchem and Avimelech, and Ga’al rallies people of Shchem against Avimelech. Avimelech attacks Shchem and kills them. Woman grinds Avimelech’s reign to a halt by throwing a millstone onto his head from a tower. Ouch. Causes his death.
Perek 10 – Different rulers, 44 uneventful years. Bnei Yisrael serve idols and nations of Plishtim and Amon crush Bnei Yirael in Ever HaYarden for 18 years. Bnei Yisrael call out to HaShem, who reprimands them for serving idols. We do teshuva.
Perek 11 – After being rejected from his father’s house, Yiftach HaGiladi is called upon to be leader when Amon attack. (Simba?!) Yiftach debates with king of Amon to no avail, and makes a vow that whatever comes out of his house will be a korban to HaShem if he is victorious. He defeats Amon, and his daughter is the first one out of his house, His daughter goes to live in separation.
Perek 12 – Efrayim challenges Yiftach for not calling on them to fight (like perek 8). Civil war amongst Bnei Yisrael as 42,000 from Efrayim die. Different rulers after Yiftach.
Dvar Torah:
In 7;13 Gidon gets a sign from HaShem that he will be victorious in battle; the dream of a roasted barley bread rolling through and destroying the enemy. Rashi explains that this occurred on Pesach, during which the Korban Omer is offered (of barley) and this merit enabled the victory of Bnei Yisrael. Rashi’s source, the Midrash (Rabba Emor 25) quotes different views on the merit of this Korban; Rav Yochanan says it allowed Avraham to inherit Israel, others say it won the battle for Gidon, and Rav Levi says its merit foiled the plans of Hamman in Purim. Why does this sacrifice give so much merit; why is it so important?
Rav Yosef Salant asks further; why is the korban called the ‘korban omer’ – an omer is a volume. All the other korbanot are named after the way they are baked or their ingredients (eg Korban Mincha after its grain used). Why name the korban omer after a volume?
He explains that the ’omer’ is to remind us of another ’omer’ in the Torah – the omer of Manna which we received daily in the desert (Shmos 16;16). The Eved Hamelech explains that the lesson of the Manna is that just like in the desert HaShem nourished the Bnei Yisrael, so too our job is to study Torah and do mitzvos with all our strength believing that HaShem will help us with our physical needs (the subject of hishtadlus – that we must do something to generate this income – is not for now). Ie we can’t claim that earning a living leaves no time for Torah study, since HaShem is the Source of both of them.
This is exactly what the prophet Yirmiyah called out to the Bnei Yisrael to avoid the destruction of the Beis HaMikdash; They claimed ’how will we live if we just study Torah,’ and Yirmiyah took out the flask of Manna and said ’see…that from this Manna your forefathers were nourished. There are many ways at HaShem’s disposal to nourish those who fear Him’ (As quoted by Rashi parshas Beshalach).
The Korban Omer and our counting to Shavuos every year – the ’counting of the Omer’ is to remind us of this fundamental principle – to have full bitachon in HaShem. The Korban Omer is brought from the new barley crop, and until it is offered it is forbidden to use any of the new grain. The Omer thus symbolises the recognition that all blessing emanates from HaShem – even the produce of the fields which are ostensibly the result of very hard labour by the farmers and labourers.
Now we can go back to our original question…it is now understandable why this mitzvah acts as such a merit for Bnei Yisrael; since it shows Emunah and Bitachon in HaShem, which is the most fundamental principle of the Torah. The Omer reminded Gidon and his warriors that the field of the battle, like the field of grain, is under HaShem’s control and in that merit the miracle occurred.
