Chapter 16 is the final chapter in the account of Shimshon, and it is a chapter of peaks: a peak of might in tearing out the gates of Azza, and opposite it a peak of decline - the relationship with Delilah, the cutting of his hair, the gouging out of his eyes, and his death beneath the ruins of the temple of Dagon. We will follow the order of the pesukim in light of the Malbim and the other commentators, and at the end of the chapter we will try to see an overall explanation of Shimshon's nature: who he was, what his role was, and what ultimately brought about his downfall.
וַיֵּלֶךְ שִׁמְשׁוֹן עַזָּתָה וַיַּרְא־שָׁם אִשָּׁה זוֹנָה וַיָּבֹא אֵלֶיהָ׃ - And Shimshon went to Azza, and he saw there a harlot woman, and he came to her.
The Malbim says: come and see his might. Shimshon enters the lions' den - a great city, surrounded by a wall, with doors and a bolt, and within it he enters a private house, lies down and sleeps, and is not the least bit afraid.
"אִשָּׁה זוֹנָה" - the Ralbag explains this to mean an innkeeper. This is actually not the plain meaning of the text, for the plain meaning is as it appears, and we already explained regarding Rachav in Sefer Yehoshua that there is no contradiction here: both things were true. A woman who was an innkeeper was usually, among other things, also a harlot. So both are words of truth - a harlot in its plain sense, and also from the word for food (mezonot), that she would sell various kinds of food. And from here there is a further proof of his might: through such an inn would pass the important and distinguished people of the world, and yet Shimshon was not afraid and stayed in her house.
And here the decline of Shimshon already begins, and with it the difficulty: how could it be that a judge in Israel would do such a thing, and how does this fit with the matter of his nezirut. For now we are only raising the questions, and with siyata dishmaya, at the end of the chapter we will see an overall explanation of Shimshon's nature.
לַעַזָּתִים לֵאמֹר בָּא שִׁמְשׁוֹן הֵנָּה וַיָּסֹבּוּ וַיֶּאֶרְבוּ־לוֹ כָל־הַלַּיְלָה בְּשַׁעַר הָעִיר וַיִּתְחָרְשׁוּ כָל־הַלַּיְלָה לֵאמֹר עַד־אוֹר הַבֹּקֶר וַהֲרַגְנֻהוּ׃ - Saying to the people of Azza, Shimshon has come here, and they surrounded and lay in wait for him all night at the city gate, and they kept quiet all night, saying, until the light of morning we will kill him.
Word was passed to the people of Azza that Shimshon was in the city, but they did not know where he was. They said: just as he entered, he will also have to leave, and we will wait for him at his exit. "וַיִּתְחָרְשׁוּ" - they kept silent and pretended as though they knew nothing, so that Shimshon would not be on his guard. They could have brought an army and made noise in the city, but they said: let us make it appear to him as though all is quiet, and we will set the ambush for him as he leaves the city.
And the Malbim, in his way, is especially original. For it does not say "it was told to the people of Azza" but rather "לַעַזָּתִים לֵאמֹר", and from here he expounds: Shimshon himself spread the word that he was in the city! Not only did he enter the lions' den, but he himself passed among the people and said: have you heard? They say Shimshon is here. And he was not afraid that they would recognize him, for in their times there were no pictures and no social networks, and who at all knew Shimshon's face? Those who met him - it was usually the last encounter of their lives. There were demonic descriptions of this man, but what he looked like, no one knew. And because they did not recognize him - "וַיָּסֹבּוּ", they went around searching for where he was, and they also lay in wait for him at the city gate and said: by the light of morning we will catch him.
וַיִּשְׁכַּב שִׁמְשׁוֹן עַד־חֲצִי הַלַּיְלָה וַיָּקָם בַּחֲצִי הַלַּיְלָה וַיֶּאֱחֹז בְּדַלְתוֹת שַׁעַר־הָעִיר וּבִשְׁתֵּי הַמְּזוּזוֹת וַיִּסָּעֵם עִם־הַבְּרִיחַ וַיָּשֶׂם עַל־כְּתֵפָיו וַיַּעֲלֵם אֶל־רֹאשׁ הָהָר אֲשֶׁר עַל־פְּנֵי חֶבְרוֹן׃ - And Shimshon lay until midnight, and he arose at midnight and seized the doors of the city gate and the two doorposts, and tore them out along with the bolt, and placed them on his shoulders, and carried them up to the top of the mountain that faces Chevron.
Shimshon surprised them: they expected him to leave in the morning, and he arose at midnight. The Malbim says: first, he could simply have broken the bolt and left, but he performed a greater feat of strength - he seized the doors and tore them out. And these were not the doors of a house but the doors of the city gate, enormous doors, and he tore out everything together with the doorposts and with the bolt. Second - "וַיָּשֶׂם עַל־כְּתֵפָיו", he carried them on his shoulders. Third - he carried them up to the top of the mountain that faces Chevron, a very high place, a day's journey from that place.
The Malbim notes a precise point in the wording: it says "וַיִּסָּעֵם," which is a strange expression. "He traveled" (vayisa) means he himself moved along; "vayasiem" would mean he moved them, in the intensive form (with a dagesh there), indicating an action performed with force and effort. Here it says "וַיִּסָּעֵם" - the verse comes to show with what ease he did this: while walking along on his journey he simply took them along with him too. Had it said "vayasiem," it would have implied that he invested effort and power to uproot them; the verse teaches that for him the matter was entirely simple.
In the Gemara in Maseches Sotah, daf 10: it was taught, Rabbi Shimon Chasid said, between Shimshon's shoulders was sixty amos, as it says "and he grasped the doors of the city gate and the two doorposts and tore them out together with the bar and placed them on his shoulders," and it is a tradition we have received that the doors of Azzah were no less than sixty amos. In other words, if the doors were sixty amos, how could he carry them if his shoulders were narrower than they were?
We have already explained several times that the words of Chazal and their riddles were largely stated by way of parable. The intent is not that Shimshon had shoulders thirty meters wide - such a person is not a man but a deformity, especially since we see him entering into a house, and we do not know of houses whose doorway is thirty meters. Rather, when Chazal speak in terms of measures, length and size, their intent is not external size but essence, something far more inner. When they tell me that Adam HaRishon was one hundred amos and the Holy One, blessed be He, reduced him to three amos, "and You placed Your hand upon me," the intent is not that he was fifty meters tall - and what would that even teach about his greatness? Was he perhaps a giant gorilla? Rather it refers to his attainments, and Chazal measure attainments through the parable of amos.
So too here: "between his shoulders sixty amos" means that he had the strength of a man whose shoulders are sixty amos. Just as today one says of a vehicle that it has one hundred horsepower - did a hundred horses go inside it? They are speaking of power. So too here: take the strength of all the men who would fill up sixty amos of shoulders, combine them all together - that is the strength of Shimshon, strength sufficient to lift the doors of Azzah.
וַיְהִי אַחֲרֵי־כֵן וַיֶּאֱהַב אִשָּׁה בְּנַחַל שֹׂרֵק וּשְׁמָהּ דְּלִילָה׃ - And it came to pass afterward that he loved a woman in the Valley of Sorek, and her name was Delilah.
The Malbim says: what is meant by "afterward"? Come and see how one sin leads to another. At first he was with a harlot, and afterward the relationship becomes established with another woman, and not merely a physical union but "and he loved a woman" - a far more essential bond. Beyond that: the first one he converted when he married her, as we explained that he took her in marriage; but this one, says the Malbim, did not convert and retained her status as a gentile. So too it appears in the Yerushalmi, that in Timnah it was by way of marriage and not in Azzah. In contrast, the Ralbag brings that he converted her as well, and this is also the view of the Rambam as we saw at the beginning, that all the women in Shimshon's life underwent a process of conversion. In any case there is a dispute here.
And why did the verse emphasize "and her name was Delilah"? Chazal say: to tell you that she weakened (dildelah) his strength, his deeds and his heart. Delilah is from the root of weakening, as we will soon see how she brought this about.
וַיַּעֲלוּ אֵלֶיהָ סַרְנֵי פְלִשְׁתִּים וַיֹּאמְרוּ לָהּ פַּתִּי אוֹתוֹ וּרְאִי בַּמֶּה כֹּחוֹ גָדוֹל וּבַמֶּה נוּכַל לוֹ וַאֲסַרְנוּהוּ לְעַנּוֹתוֹ וַאֲנַחְנוּ נִתַּן־לָךְ אִישׁ אֶלֶף וּמֵאָה כָּסֶף׃ - And the lords of the Pelishtim came up to her and said to her, entice him and see wherein his great strength lies, and by what means we may prevail against him, that we may bind him to afflict him; and we will each give you eleven hundred pieces of silver.
Here the Malbim offers an introduction that will help us understand all the verses that follow. Note that the expressions "wherein his great strength lies" and "by what means we may prevail against him and bind him" recur further on, and mostly separately - because they are in fact asking her for two different things.
The first: "wherein his great strength lies." They were certain that his strength was not natural, for from his deeds it is clear that this is not human strength. If so, he has some special power, some amulet that he carries upon him, from which the mighty strength comes. Try to understand what the secret of the strength is, and once we know what the amulet is, perhaps we can take it from him and overcome him.
The second: even if he tells you that this is a natural strength, and that some people are stronger than others, try to get from him "בַּמֶּה נוּכַל לוֹ וַאֲסַרְנוּהוּ לְעַנּוֹתוֹ", where and in what manner we can bind him so that he cannot free himself. Some people have their strength in their hands and others in their legs, and we want to know what his "Achilles heel" is, what the weak point is, so that we can bind him there.
The Malbim notes a further precision: "וַאֲסַרְנוּהוּ לְעַנּוֹתוֹ" - they promise her that she has nothing to worry about, that they do not intend to kill him but only to torment him. And this was a promise they indeed kept, for later on they only gouged out his eyes and did not kill him.
וַתֹּאמֶר דְּלִילָה אֶל־שִׁמְשׁוֹן הַגִּידָה־נָּא לִי בַּמֶּה כֹּחֲךָ גָדוֹל וּבַמֶּה תֵאָסֵר לְעַנּוֹתֶךָ׃ - And Delilah said to Shimshon: Tell me, please, wherein your great strength lies, and with what you can be bound to torment you.
She asks him both questions, using the language of "הַגִּידָה־נָּא", one of affection and love. The entire sequence here is built so that Delilah, as a curious wife, asks her husband not to hide anything from her: you have strength, you have power, and from your wife you conceal it? And when we see later that she tries to bind him again and again, all of this was, in Shimshon's understanding, part of a game: Are you truly with me? Do you reveal your whole heart to me or hide something from me? This is how Shimshon understood things, and for a moment he did not suspect that she had negative intentions. Without this initial understanding we cannot grasp how he saw her repeatedly try to bind him and yet continued to talk with her.
וַיֹּאמֶר אֵלֶיהָ שִׁמְשׁוֹן אִם־יַאַסְרֻנִי בְּשִׁבְעָה יְתָרִים לַחִים אֲשֶׁר לֹא־חֹרָבוּ וְחָלִיתִי וְהָיִיתִי כְּאַחַד הָאָדָם׃ - And Shimshon said to her: If they bind me with seven fresh cords that have not been dried, then I will become weak and be like any other man.
Notice: Shimshon does not reveal to her wherein his great strength lies. The secret of his strength he does not disclose at all, and in fact he tells her that even he himself does not know it: I have strength, and I have no explanation for where it comes from. But he does tell her how one can bind him: if they take seven fresh cords, a cord being like a string, a thread, and bind him with them, he will not be able to overcome them.
וְהָאֹרֵב יֹשֵׁב לָהּ בַּחֶדֶר וַתֹּאמֶר אֵלָיו פְּלִשְׁתִּים עָלֶיךָ שִׁמְשׁוֹן וַיְנַתֵּק אֶת־הַיְתָרִים כַּאֲשֶׁר יִנָּתֵק פְּתִיל־הַנְּעֹרֶת בַּהֲרִיחוֹ אֵשׁ וְלֹא נוֹדַע כֹּחוֹ׃ - Now the ambushers were sitting for her in the chamber. And she said to him: The Pelishtim are upon you, Shimshon! And he snapped the cords as a strand of tow snaps when it touches fire, and his strength was not discovered.
The ambushers sit in the chamber. She had arranged with them: if Shimshon cannot free himself, then he is before you, deal with him; but if he frees himself, do not come out of the chest, remain in your place. In this way she ensured that even if she did not succeed the first time, she would not be "burned" in his eyes, and she could try again and again until she succeeded.
"כַּאֲשֶׁר יִנָּתֵק פְּתִיל־הַנְּעֹרֶת בַּהֲרִיחוֹ אֵשׁ" - tow is flax, which the moment it touches fire is immediately consumed. So too the snapping of the cords was without any effort. "וְלֹא נוֹדַע כֹּחוֹ" - this can be explained simply, that the secret of his strength was not made known to her. And the Malbim explains: because the matter was so easy for him, they did not discern the full extent of his strength and its limit. For if I bind you with something strong and you barely manage to snap it, I know what the full measure of your strength is; but if it was completely easy for you, I still do not know how much maximum strength you possess.
וַתֹּאמֶר דְּלִילָה אֶל־שִׁמְשׁוֹן הִנֵּה הֵתַלְתָּ בִּי וַתְּדַבֵּר אֵלַי כְּזָבִים עַתָּה הַגִּידָה־נָּא לִי בַּמֶּה תֵּאָסֵר׃ - And Delilah said to Shimshon: Behold, you have mocked me and spoken lies to me. Now tell me, please, with what you can be bound.
Delilah believes him that he does not know wherein his strength lies, and so now she asks only "בַּמֶּה תֵּאָסֵר" - this you said you do know, so now tell me the truth.
וַיֹּאמֶר אֵלֶיהָ אִם־אָסוֹר יַאַסְרוּנִי בַּעֲבֹתִים חֲדָשִׁים אֲשֶׁר לֹא־נַעֲשָׂה בָהֶם מְלָאכָה וְחָלִיתִי וְהָיִיתִי כְּאַחַד הָאָדָם׃ - And he said to her: If they bind me tightly with new ropes with which no work has been done, then I shall become weak and be like any other man.
He tells her: I did not lie, I spoke the truth, only that I forgot to add conditions. First: not cords - which are a single strand, a thread - but ropes, cables braided from three, as in the expression "a branch of a thick tree" (etz avot). And second: that they be new, with which no work has been done, for there can be a new one that has already had work done with it.
וַתִּקַּח דְּלִילָה עֲבֹתִים חֲדָשִׁים וַתַּאַסְרֵהוּ בָהֶם וַתֹּאמֶר אֵלָיו פְּלִשְׁתִּים עָלֶיךָ שִׁמְשׁוֹן וְהָאֹרֵב יֹשֵׁב בֶּחָדֶר וַיְנַתְּקֵם מֵעַל זְרֹעֹתָיו כַּחוּט׃ - And Delilah took new ropes and bound him with them, and said to him: The Philistines are upon you, Shimshon! And the ambush was sitting in the chamber, and he snapped them off his arms like a thread.
Again "The Philistines are upon you, Shimshon," again the ambush sitting in the chamber, and this time he snaps them off his arms "כַּחוּט," like a thread. Note the change: the previous time it said "like a strand of tow when it smells fire," which is with no effort at all, while here it is like the snapping of a thread - already a little harder, requiring him to exert a bit of strength.
וַתֹּאמֶר דְּלִילָה אֶל־שִׁמְשׁוֹן עַד־הֵנָּה הֵתַלְתָּ בִּי וַתְּדַבֵּר אֵלַי כְּזָבִים הַגִּידָה לִּי בַּמֶּה תֵּאָסֵר וַיֹּאמֶר אֵלֶיהָ אִם־תַּאַרְגִי אֶת־שֶׁבַע מַחְלְפוֹת רֹאשִׁי עִם־הַמַּסָּכֶת׃ - And Delilah said to Shimshon: Until now you have mocked me and spoken lies to me; tell me wherein you can be bound. And he said to her: If you weave the seven locks of my head with the web.
The Metzudat David explains: if you wanted to jest and mock me - you have gotten what you deserve, the joke is over, now be truthful and do not mock me anymore. And the Malbim explains "עַד־הֵנָּה הֵתַלְתָּ בִּי" differently: the first time, when you said you had merely forgotten a detail - that they be new ropes - I thought you had indeed forgotten. But now, when it turns out that even with that detail you cannot be bound, it becomes clear to me that in the first instance too you mocked me knowingly and did not wish to reveal the truth. And if so, I ask that you now reveal the truth to me without lies.
Then he says: "אִם־תַּאַרְגִי אֶת־שֶׁבַע מַחְלְפוֹת רֹאשִׁי עִם־הַמַּסָּכֶת." Shimshon had seven groups of curls. What is the masechet (web)? In weaving there was an upper beam and a lower beam, two rods on the two sides upon which the warp threads were stretched - these are the stretched threads, the warp (shti) being from the same root as "foundation," the base. Afterward one takes the woof threads, which enter and intermingle with them, and weaves them into the warp threads, and thus a fabric of warp and woof is formed. Shimshon tells her: if you weave the warp threads together with the locks of my head, as though my hairs were the woof threads, and insert them into the warp threads with the web - by that property my strength will depart. And the complete apparatus is called "masechet" because it is arranged and set out and drawn over it, as in the expressions "one who sets up the warp" and "one who spans and makes a warp with two loops of the heddles."
וַתִּתְקַע בַּיָּתֵד וַתֹּאמֶר אֵלָיו פְּלִשְׁתִּים עָלֶיךָ שִׁמְשׁוֹן וַיִּיקַץ מִשְּׁנָתוֹ וַיִּסַּע אֶת־הַיְתַד הָאֶרֶג וְאֶת־הַמַּסָּכֶת׃ - And she fastened it with the pin, and said to him: The Philistines are upon you, Shimshon! And he awoke from his sleep and pulled out the pin of the loom and the web.
"וַתִּתְקַע בַּיָּתֵד" - she bound it as he said, and not only that but she even fastened it with a pin. In the Sefer HaRemez it is explained that the pin of the loom is the thick rod on which the fabric was rolled up. How did this work? One stretches the warp threads, inserts the woof, and every portion that is finished is rolled up; and again woof and again rolled up, and the warp threads too are rolled and long. And every portion that is finished is rolled onto the pin of the loom, which is very heavy. And she bound everything to the pin of the loom, so that it should be most firm and unable to move. And some explain that "vatitka bayated" means that the whole apparatus was fixed on pins in the ground, and she drove the pin that was in the ground in firmly so that he could not remove it.
And when he heard "The Philistines are upon you, Shimshon," he immediately awoke and pulled everything out - the upper beam and the lower one, the pin of the loom upon which the fabric was rolled, and the pin attached to the ground - he lifted it all as he rose. It was fortunate that it was not attached to the house, for if so the house too would have moved with him. And by this it became clear that here too is not the source of his strength.
And note two changes in this account. First: there is no mention here of "and the ambush was waiting in the room," for after they had seen twice that he was mocking her, they no longer relied on the matter, and they told her: when there is real news, call us; therefore they no longer wait in the room. Second: it says here "and he awoke from his sleep," and from this we learn that the entire act was done while he was asleep, and so too in the next account.
The Radak holds that everything she did, even the earlier times, was done while he was asleep, only that Scripture did not see a need to mention it. But the Metzudat David is precise: specifically here "and he awoke" is mentioned, since specifically here he was asleep. And why? Because there is a halacha that a nazir may wash and rub his hair but may not comb it, since in combing he pulls out hairs, like on Shabbat, and this is forbidden. If so, it cannot be that Shimshon would agree to have her weave his hair into the loom, for hairs would be pulled out, and he is a nazir. Therefore she had no choice but to wait until he fell asleep, and only then to do it. And so too in the next account, for he certainly would not agree that they shave the hair of his head, being a nazir of God. Therefore specifically in these two cases sleep is mentioned, and according to the Radak there was sleep in the earlier ones as well.
וַתֹּאמֶר אֵלָיו אֵיךְ תֹּאמַר אֲהַבְתִּיךְ וְלִבְּךָ אֵין אִתִּי זֶה שָׁלֹשׁ פְּעָמִים הֵתַלְתָּ בִּי וְלֹא־הִגַּדְתָּ לִּי בַּמֶּה כֹּחֲךָ גָדוֹל׃ - And she said to him: How can you say "I love you," when your heart is not with me? These three times you have mocked me, and you have not told me wherein your great strength lies.
Note the change: until now she had asked "with what can you be bound," for she believed him that he did not know wherein his strength lay. But now, seeing that he would not reveal the secret of being bound, she reverses the request: the secret of being bound you keep hidden, at least reveal to me what the secret of the strength is, what you carry with you, what amulet gives you strength that is not natural.
And the Malbim adds further: she feared that Shimshon was not a fool, and after three times he would already understand that there was something behind it: why is she so insistent on binding me? This is surely not out of her love. Therefore she told him: forget it, I am dropping the whole matter of binding, just tell me what the secret of your strength is and where it comes from. And therefore it says "and you have not told me wherein your strength is great" and not "with what you can be bound."
וַיְהִי כִּי־הֵצִיקָה לּוֹ בִדְבָרֶיהָ כָּל־הַיָּמִים וַתְּאַלְצֵהוּ וַתִּקְצַר נַפְשׁוֹ לָמוּת׃ - And it was, when she pressed him with her words all the days and urged him, that his soul was grieved unto death.
"She pressed him" - she distressed him with words each and every day. "And urged him" - Chazal say it is like "and slipped away from him," that at the time he was with her she would slip out from under him, and this caused him great distress.
וַיַּגֶּד־לָהּ אֶת־כָּל־לִבּוֹ וַיֹּאמֶר לָהּ מוֹרָה לֹא־עָלָה עַל־רֹאשִׁי כִּי־נְזִיר אֱלֹהִים אֲנִי מִבֶּטֶן אִמִּי אִם־גֻּלַּחְתִּי וְסָר מִמֶּנִּי כֹחִי וְחָלִיתִי וְהָיִיתִי כְּכָל־הָאָדָם׃ - And he told her all his heart, and said to her: A razor has never come upon my head, for I am a nazir of God from my mother's womb; if I were shaved, my strength would leave me, and I would become weak and be like all men.
The Malbim says: "and he told" - he was enticed like a naive dove, as in the expression "a silly dove without heart." And this time he answered both questions together: wherein his strength is great, the nezirut, it is not a natural strength but comes from the nezirut in me; and with what he can be bound, through shaving, that the moment they shave me I can be bound even with simple shackles, no need for anything special.
And the Malbim is precise: Shimshon did not lie the previous times! In all the previous times he said "and I would become like one of men," and here he said "and I would become like all men." And this is a rule: "one" adjoined to the definite article always indicates something special, as in "and offer him there as a burnt offering upon one of the mountains" - the special one. That is, in the previous times he told her: even if they bind me, I will be like the special man in strength, I will not weaken at all. And here he said "like all men" - I will be weak like all people. From here it is proven that only here did he tell the truth, and in the earlier times he did not lie but merely spoke vaguely.
וַתֵּרֶא דְלִילָה כִּי־הִגִּיד לָהּ אֶת־כָּל־לִבּוֹ וַתִּשְׁלַח וַתִּקְרָא לְסַרְנֵי פְלִשְׁתִּים לֵאמֹר עֲלוּ הַפַּעַם כִּי־הִגִּיד לִי אֶת־כָּל־לִבּוֹ וְעָלוּ אֵלֶיהָ סַרְנֵי פְלִשְׁתִּים וַיַּעֲלוּ הַכֶּסֶף בְּיָדָם׃ - And Delilah saw that he had told her all his heart, and she sent and called for the lords of the Philistines, saying: Come up this time, for he has told me all his heart. And the lords of the Philistines came up to her, and brought the silver in their hands.
The written form is "for he told her" while the read form is "for he told me": the written form relates the truth, and the read form relates what the messenger reported to the Philistines - or the reverse, that the written "he told her" is the language of the messenger who told the Philistines.
Chazal ask: How did Delilah know that this time it was the truth? After he had mocked her three times, presumably he would do so again now. Chazal answer: that wicked woman recognized in that tzaddik that he would not utter Hashem's name in vain, and since he said "I am a nazir of God," he would not invoke Hashem's name over a falsehood, and from this she understood that his words were true.
The Radak adds: notice that this time he revealed both things. He had always revealed only by what means he could be bound and not the source of his strength, whereas here he revealed the source too - the nezirut. From this she understood that this time he spoke of things as they truly were. The Malbim follows the same line and adds depth: he was not obligated to tell her "if I were shaved" in a general way, whether I shave myself or another shaves me. He could have said, "if I shave the hair of my head my strength will leave me," and then, even had they shaved him and his strength remained, he would have an excuse: it was not I who shaved, and only if I willingly nullify my nezirut will my strength leave, but not under compulsion. Once she saw that he was laying all his cards on the table and keeping no escape route for himself, she understood that this time it was the complete truth. Therefore she sent word: "come up this time," and they came up with the silver in hand, for they knew that this time they would receive the merchandise.
Yet the question still stands: How did Shimshon do such a thing? What was he thinking? After all, if she had tried all the previous times, she would try again now. The answer is that Shimshon believed his strength would not leave him, for the nazir Shimshon had two elements: that no razor should pass over his head, and that he should not drink wine. Shimshon said: I still do not drink wine, and this I did not reveal to her. And since the nezirut of wine remained in me, even if they shave me, my nezirut is still upon me and my strength is with me. This is what appears in the next pasuk.
וַתְּיַשְּׁנֵהוּ עַל־בִּרְכֶּיהָ וַתִּקְרָא לָאִישׁ וַתְּגַלַּח אֶת־שֶׁבַע מַחְלְפוֹת רֹאשׁוֹ וַתָּחֶל לְעַנּוֹתוֹ וַיָּסַר כֹּחוֹ מֵעָלָיו׃ - She made him sleep upon her knees, and she called for the man, and she shaved off the seven locks of his head, and she began to afflict him, and his strength left him.
"She made him sleep" - according to the Radak this happened every time, and according to the Metzudat David only here and the previous time, because a nazir would certainly not agree to have his hair cut. "And she called for the man" - this is the one who shaves. And why does it say "and she shaved" rather than "and he shaved"? Says the Radak: either she commanded him to shave, and it is as if she did it; or because a mitzvah performed oneself is greater than through an agent, and she wanted to gain the credit herself, so she took the shears from him and said: I will begin. "And she began to afflict him" - already during his sleep he began to feel himself weakening, that his strength was diminishing.
וַתֹּאמֶר פְּלִשְׁתִּים עָלֶיךָ שִׁמְשׁוֹן וַיִּקַץ מִשְּׁנָתוֹ וַיֹּאמֶר אֵצֵא כְּפַעַם בְּפַעַם וְאִנָּעֵר וְהוּא לֹא יָדַע כִּי יְהֹוָה סָר מֵעָלָיו׃ - She said, the Philistines are upon you, Shimshon! He awoke from his sleep and said, I will go out as at other times and shake myself free. But he did not know that Hashem had left him.
"I will go out as at other times" - as in the previous times, when I would shake off sleep and succeed in an instant to pull out the whole web with the loom and undo the pegs, perhaps now too. But "he did not know." The Radak asks: he had already revealed to her all his heart, so how did he not know? One answer, as we said: he thought he was still a nazir from wine, and therefore his strength was upon him. A second answer of the Radak, which is simpler: in his sleep he forgot. A person who awakens from sleep, in the first moments does not remember what is happening to him, half asleep and half awake, and therefore in those moments he did not know that his strength had left. And a further explanation of the Radak: "he did not know" does not refer to the removal of his strength but to "that Hashem had left him" - he indeed knew that his natural strength had gone, but he thought Hashem was still with him and therefore he could overcome them. He did not know that the moment he desecrated his nezirut, Hashem was already not with him and did not wish to attach Himself to him.
וַיֹּאחֲזוּהוּ פְלִשְׁתִּים וַיְנַקְּרוּ אֶת־עֵינָיו וַיּוֹרִידוּ אוֹתוֹ עַזָּתָה וַיַּאַסְרוּהוּ בַּנְחֻשְׁתַּיִם וַיְהִי טוֹחֵן בְּבֵית הָאֲסוּרִים׃ - The Philistines seized him and gouged out his eyes, and they brought him down to Azzah and bound him with bronze chains, and he was grinding in the prison house.
"They seized him" - even though he was weakened, out of great fear they needed to grasp him forcefully, and then they gouged out his eyes. "With bronze chains" - this was how they bound prisoners.
And why was he grinding? Says the Radak: it was accepted in their time that prisoners do not work for their livelihood, while on the other hand the warden of the prison had to feed them - and would he bear their expenses? Today it is at the expense of the taxpayer, who pays for all the rotten fruits of the educational system, while the prisoner sits and learns through the internet how to make more sophisticated sabotage devices. But in their time they would say: justify your stay here, finance your own imprisonment. Therefore they had them grind at the mill, which is the most exhausting labor and requires no leaving the prison house - they bring the mill, they bring the wheat, and grind. This is what the Torah says, "until the firstborn of the maidservant who is behind the mill" and "until the firstborn of the captive who was in the dungeon" - it is all one, the captives and the maidservants would grind, and this was the manner of their employment.
By contrast, Chazal expound the word "grinding" (tochen) as in what is said in Iyov, "then let my wife grind for another," which is a euphemism. And so each one would bring his wife to Shimshon so that she would conceive from him and they would bear great mighty men. The Radak says that this derash is far fetched here, for by this stage Shimshon's strength had already departed, so what did they have to expect from him? Why would they think that mighty sons like him would be born, when he is weak and beaten?
In this connection the Chatam Sofer says something novel and very interesting: one of the women brought to Shimshon in the prison was Orpah, Naomi's daughter in law. Orpah, after all, turned her back (oref) on her mother in law, yet she had absorbed holiness, for Rut and Orpah were married to Machlon and Kilyon and absorbed holiness from them. Indeed, when she parted from Naomi and kissed her, the main sparks of holiness left her. And Chazal say that Orpah is Harafah, the mother of Golyat and all those mighty men.
Says the Chatam Sofer: it turns out, then, that from Shimshon sprouts the kingdom of the House of David. For King David gained all his fame from the killing of Golyat: through this it became known who David was, through this he merited to become the king's son in law, and from there his kingdom grew. And how so? When Shimshon was with Orpah, he took from her the small remnant of holiness that remained in her from Machlon's union, he drew the holiness from her, and then Golyat was born, who was pure impurity, complete evil. And about this Yaakov prayed, "I have hoped for Your salvation, Hashem": he asked that the kingdom of the House of David sprout after the serpent's bite. For "Dan shall be a serpent upon the way" was said of Shimshon, for Shimshon is of the aspect of the serpent; and the kingdom of David will sprout through the serpent's bite, when Shimshon comes upon Harafah, who is Orpah, and takes from her the spark of holiness, and Golyat, who is complete evil, is born from her, and when David topples this evil his kingdom becomes famous. And this is "וְהוּא יָחֵל לְהוֹשִׁיעַ אֶת־יִשְׂרָאֵל" said of Shimshon, that from him will sprout the horn of King David, peace be upon him, for he fathered Golyat who was killed by David, and from there the kingdom of the House of David grew.
And Rabbi Yaakov Chaim Sofer wondered from where the Chatam Sofer derived this tremendous novelty, to connect Shimshon with Golyat and say that Shimshon came upon Orpah and fathered Golyat from her. He wrote in his work "Hadar Yaakov" that he turned to Rav Chaim Kanievsky and asked him whether there is a source for the Chatam Sofer's words, and Rav Chaim answered him that he had once seen a book containing a Tosefta on Targum Yonatan, and he copied the Tosefta for him and showed him that it is written there explicitly like the words of the Chatam Sofer. He added that presumably the Chatam Sofer, who does not cite it in the name of the Tosefta, did not see the Tosefta itself but rather in the Abravanel or in other commentators who brought it, but it is clear that this is his source. And in Rav Chaim Kanievsky's work "Lamechaseh Atik" that same Tosefta is brought, that Golyat was of the seed of Shimshon.
וַיָּחֶל שְׂעַר־רֹאשׁוֹ לְצַמֵּחַ כַּאֲשֶׁר גֻּלָּח׃ - And the hair of his head began to grow again after it had been shaved.
What does the verse come to tell us? Says the Radak: it tells you that Shimshon already understood that the strength was beginning to return to him, for immediately after he was shaved his hair began to grow. And the Malbim is precise in the wording: it could have said "litzmoach" in the light conjugation (kal), yet it says "לְצַמֵּחַ" in the heavy conjugation (piel). And the difference is between something that happens easily and naturally and something that happens by force, that is, not according to the way of nature. His hair began to grow not according to nature, as it were all at once.
The Malbim adds: even otherwise, if you do not explain it this way, a difficulty immediately arises: they knew that his strength was hidden in his hair, so why did they not take care to shave him every day? Rather, they did not believe that within a few hours his hair would grow. And therefore "and the hair of his head began to grow" in an unnatural manner, immediately after he was shaved. And the Metzudat David explains "כַּאֲשֶׁר גֻּלָּח": according to the number of the locks in which he was shaved, so it began to grow. And it stands to reason that just as everything connected to seven alludes to lofty matters, the seven Sefirot and many other matters, so too here, that his strength returned according to that original seven fold property.
וְסַרְנֵי פְלִשְׁתִּים נֶאֶסְפוּ לִזְבֹּחַ זֶבַח־גָּדוֹל לְדָגוֹן אֱלֹהֵיהֶם וּלְשִׂמְחָה וַיֹּאמְרוּ נָתַן אֱלֹהֵינוּ בְּיָדֵנוּ אֵת שִׁמְשׁוֹן אוֹיְבֵנוּ׃ - And the lords of the Pelishtim gathered to offer a great sacrifice to Dagon their god and to rejoice, and they said, Our god has delivered into our hand Shimshon our enemy.
"Our god" is Dagon, and they were certain that this was the victory of their god Dagon over the God of Israel.
וַיִּרְאוּ אֹתוֹ הָעָם וַיְהַלְלוּ אֶת־אֱלֹהֵיהֶם כִּי אָמְרוּ נָתַן אֱלֹהֵינוּ בְיָדֵנוּ אֶת־אוֹיְבֵנוּ וְאֵת מַחֲרִיב אַרְצֵנוּ וַאֲשֶׁר הִרְבָּה אֶת־חֲלָלֵינוּ׃ - And the people saw him, and they praised their god, for they said: Our god has delivered into our hand our enemy, the destroyer of our land, who slew many of us.
The Malbim notes a precise distinction: here there is the thanksgiving of the lords and the praise of the people, and what is the difference? The lords, who are the important and honored ones, made a sacrifice and gave thanks only on account of his being their enemy. But the people praised on account of three things: one, that he was our enemy; two, "the destroyer of our land" - for he used to burn their fields, and this concerns the people who work the land, not the lords who are the officers; three, "who slew many of us" - for he did not strike the officers but the people in the fields. It turns out that the people had two additional things to praise for.
וַיְהִי כְּטוֹב לִבָּם וַיֹּאמְרוּ קִרְאוּ לְשִׁמְשׁוֹן וִישַׂחֶק־לָנוּ וַיִּקְרְאוּ לְשִׁמְשׁוֹן מִבֵּית הָאֲסוּרִים וַיְצַחֵק לִפְנֵיהֶם וַיַּעֲמִידוּ אוֹתוֹ בֵּין הָעַמּוּדִים׃ - And it came to pass, when their hearts were merry, that they said: Call for Shimshon, that he may make sport for us. And they called for Shimshon out of the prison house, and he made sport before them, and they set him between the pillars.
Chazal say: from here we learn that the Philistines were scoffers. And that is why, when Israel left Egypt, "God did not lead them by way of the land of the Philistines" - for the Holy One, blessed be He, did not want those arrows of scoffing among the Philistines to have a spiritual effect on the people of Israel as they passed through their land. And how do we know they were scoffers? From our very verse, "that he may make sport for us."
Here the Malbim points to a precise nuance: they asked "וִישַׂחֶק־לָנוּ" with a shin, and when they called him it says "וַיְצַחֵק לִפְנֵיהֶם" with a tzadi. When I see two seemingly synonymous words, I must recognize that there is a difference between them: sachok (with a shin) indicates that the one making sport is himself glad, whereas tzachok (with a tzadi) is an action I perform in order to make you laugh, even though I myself am not glad. They asked that he make sport and be merry, but Shimshon in his state was far from being merry, and especially given the terrible desecration of God's name that was taking place here. Therefore, having no choice, it says "וַיְצַחֵק" and not "וַיְשַׂחֵק" - he made them laugh, but heaven forbid he did not rejoice himself. And simply understood, "וַיְצַחֵק" means that he told them of his mighty deeds and of the things that had happened to him, things in which they would find amusement and merriment.
וַיֹּאמֶר שִׁמְשׁוֹן אֶל־הַנַּעַר הַמַּחֲזִיק בְּיָדוֹ הַנִּיחָה אוֹתִי וַהֲמִישֵׁנִי אֶת־הָעַמֻּדִים אֲשֶׁר הַבַּיִת נָכוֹן עֲלֵיהֶם וְאֶשָּׁעֵן עֲלֵיהֶם׃ - And Shimshon said to the lad who held him by the hand: Let me rest, and let me feel the pillars upon which the house stands, that I may lean upon them.
That is to say: let me feel the pillars upon which the house rests, and let me lean upon them, for I am weary and wish to rest a little.
וְהַבַּיִת מָלֵא הָאֲנָשִׁים וְהַנָּשִׁים וְשָׁמָּה כֹּל סַרְנֵי פְלִשְׁתִּים וְעַל־הַגָּג כִּשְׁלֹשֶׁת אֲלָפִים אִישׁ וְאִשָּׁה הָרֹאִים בִּשְׂחוֹק שִׁמְשׁוֹן׃ - Now the house was full of men and women, and all the lords of the Philistines were there, and on the roof were about three thousand men and women, watching while Shimshon made sport.
וַיִּקְרָא שִׁמְשׁוֹן אֶל־יְהֹוָה וַיֹּאמַר אֲדֹנָי יֱהֹוִה זָכְרֵנִי נָא וְחַזְּקֵנִי נָא אַךְ הַפַּעַם הַזֶּה הָאֱלֹהִים וְאִנָּקְמָה נְקַם־אַחַת מִשְּׁתֵי עֵינַי מִפְּלִשְׁתִּים׃ - And Shimshon called to Hashem and said: Lord God, remember me, I pray You, and strengthen me, I pray You, only this once, O God, that I may take revenge upon the Philistines for one of my two eyes.
I always say that it is good that there are songs, because that way at least people know some verses. What is "remember me, I pray You"? Chazal say, and Rashi brings: remember for me the twenty years that I judged Israel, and I never said to any one of them, move this staff for me from one place to another. Even such a small request, as judge of Israel, could you bring me the staff from over there, even that I never asked.
"That I may take revenge upon the Philistines for one of my two eyes" - and what of the second eye? Shimshon said: leave the reward for the second eye for me in the world to come, and here grant me the revenge for one of my two eyes.
וַיִּלְפֹּת שִׁמְשׁוֹן אֶת־שְׁנֵי עַמּוּדֵי הַתָּוֶךְ אֲשֶׁר הַבַּיִת נָכוֹן עֲלֵיהֶם וַיִּסָּמֵךְ עֲלֵיהֶם אֶחָד בִּימִינוֹ וְאֶחָד בִּשְׂמֹאלוֹ׃ - And Shimshon grasped the two central pillars upon which the building stood, and he braced himself against them, one with his right hand and one with his left.
וַיֹּאמֶר שִׁמְשׁוֹן תָּמוֹת נַפְשִׁי עִם־פְּלִשְׁתִּים וַיֵּט בְּכֹחַ וַיִּפֹּל הַבַּיִת עַל־הַסְּרָנִים וְעַל־כָּל־הָעָם אֲשֶׁר־בּוֹ וַיִּהְיוּ הַמֵּתִים אֲשֶׁר הֵמִית בְּמוֹתוֹ רַבִּים מֵאֲשֶׁר הֵמִית בְּחַיָּיו׃ - And Shimshon said, Let me die with the Philistines, and he pushed with all his strength, and the building fell upon the lords and upon all the people who were in it. So the dead whom he killed at his death were more than those he had killed in his life.
וַיֵּרְדוּ אֶחָיו וְכָל־בֵּית אָבִיהוּ וַיִּשְׂאוּ אֹתוֹ וַיַּעֲלוּ וַיִּקְבְּרוּ אוֹתוֹ בֵּין צָרְעָה וּבֵין אֶשְׁתָּאֹל בְּקֶבֶר מָנוֹחַ אָבִיו וְהוּא שָׁפַט אֶת־יִשְׂרָאֵל עֶשְׂרִים שָׁנָה׃ - And his brothers and all his father's household came down and carried him up and buried him between Tzorah and Eshtaol, in the tomb of Manoach his father. He had judged Israel for twenty years.
Now let us return to the overall question. Why did we need a man like Shimshon at all? We have already explained this in the course of our study: the people of Israel did not have enough merits for Hashem to send them a complete savior, one who would remove them entirely from beneath the hand of the Philistines. Hashem wanted to raise up a judge who would ease their burden, who would strike the Philistines in a personal way, so that the people of Israel as a whole would have no quarrel with them, but rather the Philistines would have a personal quarrel with Shimshon. All of Shimshon's disputes were, as it were, private disputes, so as not to entangle the people of Israel in them. This is the meaning of "for he was seeking a pretext against the Philistines": a pretext was needed, and for the sake of that pretext he married that first woman. And Shimshon, in his holy might, would manage to overcome all these situations.
Yaakov Avinu prophesied about him: "Let Dan be a serpent by the way, a viper by the path, that bites the horse's heels so that its rider falls backward." Shimshon is of the nature of a serpent, but on the side of holiness. It is said of the serpent that it takes no pleasure in its food, and so too Shimshon took no pleasure from the sin, for all his deeds were for the sake of Heaven. "That bites the horse's heels": in Chazal the horse alludes to the desire for illicit relations, as in the expression "pursuing a pleasing conversation" like a horse. The verse comes to hint that he succeeded in biting and overcoming, and just as the serpent bites without pleasure, so too Shimshon managed to be in the act without pleasure. Therefore Yaakov thought he would be the Mashiach, for "nachash" (serpent) has the same numerical value as "Mashiach," and he supposed that Shimshon would rectify the sin of the primeval serpent and be of the nature of a serpent within holiness. But when he saw his end, he said, "For Your salvation I hope, Hashem," and Targum Yonatan renders: and not for the salvation of Shimshon the son of Manoach, for in the end his salvation was not complete.
What truly brought him to his downfall, after we have seen his powers, that all his deeds were in holiness and he was not harmed? Rav Dessler says: Shimshon's greatness lay in his eyes, and with his eyes he sinned. What does this mean? When Shimshon saw something, he knew that if I desire it, it is from Hashem. My eyes are lofty eyes; when I desire something, the Holy One, blessed be He, desires it. For this reason all those women were permitted to him: the moment he desired them, it was not a private desire but the will of Heaven. So it was with the first woman, "for she is right in my eyes," and his parents simply did not know this, and they said to him, "Is there no woman among the daughters of your kinsmen and among all my people?" They did not know that she was from Hashem, and they did not know that Shimshon possessed such a power that whatever he saw with his eyes was the will of Hashem.
And what was his error? Chazal say: he took pride in his eyes. Hear in what Shimshon sinned, in something exceedingly subtle of pride. In that which he took pride, in that he was punished. "She is right in my eyes": do you not understand that what I see is the will of Heaven? There was here something subtle of pride, and that subtle thing caused him in the end to be punished through his eyes, that they gouged out his eyes.
And that subtle thing, says Rav Dessler, flawed something in the "for the sake of Heaven." Now notice what happens: when a person performs a mitzvah, even if it is not one hundred percent for the sake of Heaven, and even if it is not for the sake of Heaven at all, it is still a mitzvah. But when a person commits a transgression, if the "for the sake of Heaven" was flawed, it is terribly grave, for it reverts to being a transgression. What permitted the matter to you? The "for the sake of Heaven." "Great is a transgression performed for its own sake," because it is for its own sake. And if something in the "for its own sake" was flawed, woe and alas, it remains a transgression.
And Rav Dessler says: even though we see that Shimshon was humble, for he did not tell his parents what he had done to the lion, nonetheless in something exceedingly subtle there was a flaw of pride, in that he said "she is right in my eyes." From here the downfall began: since the "for the sake of Heaven" was flawed, the might departed accordingly, the spiritual protection was accordingly damaged, and accordingly he became vulnerable to transgression like any person. And then the connection with Delilah already becomes an outright act of transgression, and one transgression drags along another, and through this he also loses his physical might through the cutting of his hair and flaws his nazirite status. In the end, since he had flawed the "for the sake of Heaven," he strove that his death would be for the sake of Heaven, and he said "Let me die with the Philistines," that his death should be entirely for the sake of Heaven, and through this he would merit to rectify the flaw that had been at the beginning.
In passing I will mention a story that touches on this same matter of speaking ill. A certain man told Rav Moshe Feinstein that he had spoken disparagingly about the daughters of Lot. That night two very old women appeared before him, their heads and faces covered, and they said to him: We are the daughters of Lot, and we have come to answer you regarding the claim you made against us. They said to him: We could have concealed the matter and said that we had conceived from the holy spirit, and created a new religion. On the contrary, we wanted to teach the entire world that if a woman is pregnant, it is from a human birth, from a man, and therefore we said it was from a father and named him "Ben Ami," so that people would not go astray after idolatry and would not tell tales about a hundred-year-old virgin who conceived from the holy spirit. It emerges that our intention in the act was for the sake of Heaven. And finally they said to him: Since you spoke ill against us, and this is a great sin, you will be punished measure for measure. Just as the spies who spoke ill of the land had their tongues extended and died a strange death, so your tongue will swell and be extended, and you will die a strange death. When he finished telling these things to Rav Moshe Feinstein, he turned his face to the wall and expired. Rav Moshe Feinstein said that this dream was a true dream, because of the explanation they gave. They also asked Rav Chaim Kanievsky about the story, and he said that there may well be substance to it.
In closing, it is fitting to mention the words of the Ben Ish Chai. He too wondered about what Chazal said, that Shimshon followed the straightness of his eyes: "she is right in my eyes." How is it possible that Shimshon, the greatest of his generation, should stumble by marrying the daughter of a foreign god, especially since the pesukim state explicitly "for it was from Hashem" - is it conceivable that it was the will of Hashem for Shimshon to be with a gentile woman?
He explains this based on the words of the Chida in his sefer "Chomat Anach" regarding Shlomo HaMelech, where the matter likewise requires reflection: how is it possible that Shlomo married foreign women from many nations, and married the daughter of Pharaoh - something that seems entirely inconceivable for a righteous man of whom it is said that Hashem loved him, the author of Shir HaShirim, Kohelet and Mishlei, the beloved of Hashem, Yedidyah. Rather, Shlomo had a plan. In our shiurim on Tanach we explained one approach: that Shlomo wanted the women to bear sons who would be princes, and who would be educated under him and return to their kingdoms and spread faith in Hashem there, and by this he thought to perfect the world under the sovereignty of the Almighty. But here we will see the matter in greater depth.
The Chida explains that Shlomo wished to sort out the sparks of holiness, and the way to do so, in his view, was to be with those foreign women and draw out from them the sparks of holiness. How does this work? When a holy man is with a foreign woman, a reality of union is created, and that holy spark present in that nation connects to him, and thereby the spark is redeemed from the reality of impurity and connects to holiness, while the portion of impurity within Yisrael passes over to the domain of impurity. This is the sorting out of the sparks of holiness.
But where was Shlomo's mistake? Says the Chida: the sorting out of the sparks is not accomplished by bringing the impurity into the holiness, but rather precisely the opposite - that holiness descends into the depths of the kelipot and from there sorts out the holy spark. An example of this: the Arizal writes that the sorting out of the sparks of holiness is accomplished during nefilat apayim, when the soul of the righteous person descends into the depths of the kelipot and brings out the sparks from there. And therefore it is written that the matter is dangerous, for when you descend into the depths of the kelipot you are liable to remain there, to be drawn in and cling to the kelipah. For this reason the Sefaradim, who recite "LeDavid eilecha Hashem nafshi esa," do not actually perform nefilat apayim and do not lower the head onto the arm, as do the Teimanim and Ashkenazim, who do not recite "LeDavid eilecha Hashem nafshi esa" and therefore do perform nefilat apayim. Only one of a very high level can descend into the depths of the kelipot in order to draw out and extract from them the sparks of holiness swallowed within them. And Shlomo erred in this - he brought the kelipot into his palace, brought the daughter of Pharaoh and made her royalty, and this is not the way.
Says the Ben Ish Chai: Shimshon did not err in this. Shimshon knew that the matter could not be carried out here, and therefore he knew that he had to descend to the Pelishtim, to the place of impurity, and there - through the connection with those foreign women - to draw out the sparks of holiness and to accomplish the sorting out of the sparks from the kelipah of the Pelishtim. And therefore he goes to them and does not bring them to him; he goes down to Aza and does not bring them to his home, unlike the error of Shlomo who came after him. Only the deficiency was as we explained: it lacked one hundred percent being for the sake of Heaven, and since it was not entirely for the sake of Heaven, the matter of physical desire and foreign fire entered in, and caused him to be harmed and drawn after the kelipot of impurity - and not only did he fail to draw the sparks of holiness here, but he was himself drawn after the impurity.
Accordingly, says the Ben Ish Chai, you will understand the words of Chazal that the Holy One, blessed be He, blessed Shimshon in his member like a rushing stream. "In his member" refers to the covenant, and "like a rushing stream" - that he had the power to sort out the sparks of holiness like a stream that rushes and cleanses. The Holy One, blessed be He, blessed him in his member so that he could carry out this rectification. Only the rectification was not completed, because something was flawed in the "for the sake of Heaven"; and when there is a deficiency in the "for the sake of Heaven" - if it is a mitzvah, it is not complete, and if it is a transgression - woe and alas, it is a plain transgression. For a transgression is permitted only if it is for its own sake, as with Yael and Sisra, and when there is a deficiency in "for its own sake" there is here a great flaw.
And accordingly he explains further: when Shimshon was thirsty for water he said, "Master of the Universe, if there is nothing between me and them but the merit of the mila, it is fitting that I should not fall into their hands." Now seemingly, why specifically the merit of the mila - does he not have the merit of tefillin, the merit of Shabbat, and many other merits? Rather, he knew that it was specifically in this that Hashem had blessed him with a special blessing, and that through the matter of the mila the rectification would come. And this is "for he sought a pretext against the Pelishtim," and he did not know that it was from Hashem - that he descend into the kelipot and from the depths of the kelipah bring out the sparks of holiness. He said: Master of the Universe, since this is my task, and this is the mila, in its merit I ask that You save me from the hand of the Pelishtim. And he expands further in explaining the matter, and one who wishes may look in "Mishnat HaGilgulim" page 280 in note 452, where I brought and quoted his words in the name of the Ben Ish Chai.
And it must be emphasized and noted, as is already brought in the sefarim, that we today have no concept whatsoever of a transgression for the sake of Heaven. In the early generations we saw such concepts, but in the later generations we have not found such a thing, and therefore all these matters do not apply to us at all. And from this confusion, one who thinks he knows becomes confused - Shabtai Tzvi and his companions, who went to commit transgressions "for the sake of Heaven" in order to make rectifications in the world, and we all know that they ended in conversion to Islam, in killing, and in enormous damage to Klal Yisrael in the entire matter of faith in the coming of the Mashiach. The concept of a transgression for the sake of Heaven has not applied for thousands of years, and let no one come to err in this.
Chapter 16 opens at the height of might - Shimshon enters Aza alone, himself makes it known that he is there, and at midnight uproots the doors of the gate along with the doorposts and the bar and carries them, in the course of a day, to the top of the mountain, with an ease that the mind cannot bear. And immediately the descent begins: one transgression leads to another, from the woman in Aza to the love of Delilah; three tests of binding in which he guarded his secret, and finally - through daily nagging that vexed his soul unto death - he revealed his whole heart, was shaved, his strength departed, and he did not know that Hashem had departed from him. And all this, Rav Dessler teaches, stemmed from something exceedingly subtle of pride in "she is right in my eyes," which flawed the "for the sake of Heaven"; and since the "for the sake of Heaven" was flawed - the might departed, the protection was flawed, and the deed reverted to being a transgression. And in the end Shimshon returns and rectifies: he prays "Remember me now and strengthen me now," says "Let my soul die with the Pelishtim," and turns his death into a deed that is entirely for the sake of Heaven, and the dead whom he killed at his death were more than those he had killed in his life. And it remains for us only to conclude with the words of Yaakov Avinu: "For Your salvation I have hoped, Hashem" - we await the true and final salvation, which is the salvation of Hashem.