Chapter 10 of Sefer Shoftim is a transitional chapter: it opens with two judges about whom very little is said - Tola son of Puah and Yair the Gileadite - and continues into a particularly severe spiritual decline, following which Israel is delivered into the hands of the Philistines and the children of Ammon for eighteen years. At the end of the chapter the nation begins to breathe once more, removes the foreign gods and organizes for war, and from here the story of Yiftach opens in the next chapter. We will go through the pesukim in order.
Tola son of Puah - a judge who truly delivered
וַיָּקָם אַחֲרֵי אֲבִימֶלֶךְ לְהוֹשִׁיעַ אֶת־יִשְׂרָאֵל תּוֹלָע בֶּן־פּוּאָה בֶּן־דּוֹדוֹ אִישׁ יִשָּׂשכָר וְהוּא־יֹשֵׁב בְּשָׁמִיר בְּהַר אֶפְרָיִם׃ - And after Avimelech there arose to save Israel Tola son of Puah son of Dodo, a man of Yissachar, and he dwelt in Shamir in the hill country of Ephraim.
Notice the wording: "to save Israel." Avimelech did not save Israel at all, he only lorded over them. Therefore it is specifically about the one who arose after him that it says he arose "to save Israel" - he is the one who truly came to their rescue.
"Son of Dodo" - whose cousin? The verse does not explain. The Radak brings that some explain it means Avimelech's cousin, that is, the son of his father's brother. But the Radak finds this very difficult: the verse itself says "a man of Yissachar," and Avimelech was from Menashe, so how could a man of Yissachar be his cousin? Therefore we must explain that Dodo is a proper name: Tola son of Puah son of Dodo - the grandfather was called Dodo.
The reincarnation of Yavetz - correcting the mouth
The holy Arizal teaches that Tola son of Puah is the reincarnation of Yavetz. Yavetz was a man of vows, as he said "if Hashem will enlarge my boundary with students" and the like. And even though he fulfilled his vows, we nonetheless know that it is better not to vow at all than to vow and fulfill, as it says "it is better that you do not vow." Therefore he returned in reincarnation to make repair, and specifically under the name "Tola" (worm): the worm's power lies only in its mouth, and so too he sinned through the power of his mouth in his vows. And "son of Puah" too can allude to the mouth (peh), for the reincarnation came as a result of what he damaged with his mouth.
"And he dwelt in Shamir" - a judge who does not travel about
The holy Arizal says that here too there was a flaw. It is fitting for a judge to go from city to city and from place to place, to rouse the people to repentance, to strengthen them, to judge them and to look into the disputes among them - as Shmuel did. And here it says "and he dwelt in Shamir in the hill country of Ephraim": he settled himself in a fixed place, established his rule in one location and did not go out to judge the people. Yet the world stands upon three things, one of them being justice, and he did not go out to establish the world upon justice and did not travel from city to city.
Therefore he was reincarnated in the one who is the very symbol of judging Israel by traveling about: Shmuel the prophet. Of Shmuel it says that he would travel year by year, "and his return was to Ramah" - his return to his home in Ramah was but once a year, and the whole year through he would travel from city to city to judge Israel. And moreover, all his work was solely for the sake of the people: "I have not taken a single donkey from them." All this in order to correct the sin of Tola son of Puah, who dwelt in Shamir in the hill country of Ephraim.
And furthermore the Rama of Fano wrote in his work Gilgulei Neshamot, in the letter Tav, that Tola son of Puah had another reincarnation besides Shmuel, namely Benayahu son of Yehoyada. And what is the connection? Benayahu son of Yehoyada is the one who brought the shamir, that very shamir with which King Shlomo built the Beit HaMikdash. And notice: it was not Shlomo who went and brought the shamir, but specifically Benayahu, for Benayahu is connected to the secret of the shamir, being the reincarnation of Tola son of Puah, "and he dwelt in Shamir." For this reason the secret of the shamir was revealed specifically to him, and he was the one able to go and bring it.
וַיִּשְׁפֹּט אֶת־יִשְׂרָאֵל עֶשְׂרִים וְשָׁלֹשׁ שָׁנָה וַיָּמָת וַיִּקָּבֵר בְּשָׁמִיר׃ - And he judged Israel twenty three years, and he died and was buried in Shamir.
He judged Israel for twenty three years, and was buried in the city of his dwelling, in Shamir.
Yair the Gileadite and his thirty sons
וַיָּקָם אַחֲרָיו יָאִיר הַגִּלְעָדִי וַיִּשְׁפֹּט אֶת־יִשְׂרָאֵל עֶשְׂרִים וּשְׁתַּיִם שָׁנָה׃ - And after him arose Yair the Gileadite, and he judged Israel for twenty two years.
וַיְהִי־לוֹ שְׁלֹשִׁים בָּנִים רֹכְבִים עַל־שְׁלֹשִׁים עֲיָרִים וּשְׁלֹשִׁים עֲיָרִים לָהֶם לָהֶם יִקְרְאוּ חַוֹּת יָאִיר עַד הַיּוֹם הַזֶּה אֲשֶׁר בְּאֶרֶץ הַגִּלְעָד׃ - And he had thirty sons who rode on thirty donkey colts, and they had thirty towns, which are called Chavot Yair to this day, which are in the land of the Gilead.
"Ayarim" comes from the word "ayir," a young donkey, as in "and a wild donkey's colt (ayir) is a man born." The ayarim were the young donkeys chosen for riding, and the verse comes to show their greatness and importance: it is as if we would say in our language that they were driving thirty Mercedes cars.
But what is meant by "and thirty ayarim they had"? You already said they ride on thirty colts, so what is being added, that the vehicle was registered in their name and not leased? Rather the meaning is "cities" (arim): each of them had a city of his own, and this was their wealth. And why did it use the term "ayarim"? The Radak says it is a play on words, for the sake of elegance, like "with the jawbone of a donkey (chamor), a heap, two heaps (chamortayim)," and that is why he wrote this expression here.
"They are called Chavot Yair" - kara et versus kara lo
We know that Yair ben Menashe captured the Chavot HaGilead, as brought in Sefer Devarim, "and he called them Chavot Yair." Is the verse here speaking of those same cities? No. It is speaking of a new reality that recalls the earlier reality, and therefore it names the new one after the old. Yair ben Menashe conquered and called his settlements Chavot Yair, and following the example of his valor, Yair the Gileadite too called the places he conquered "Chavot Yair," after the earlier appellation.
The Malbim is precise in the holy tongue, that there is a difference between "kara" followed by "et" and "kara" followed by the letter lamed. "Kara et" means to give it a proper name, as in "and he called them Chavot Yair" - that is their name. But here it does not say "and he called them" (vayikra otam) but rather "they are called for them" (lahem yikre'u), and the letter lamed teaches that this is a subordinate appellation attached to the earlier name. That is, it is not the proper name of the new cities, but I am naming the new cities after the earlier cities that were here. And all this is because of the resemblance: there in the land of the Gilead and here in the land of the Gilead, there a man named Yair ben Menashe and here Yair the Gileadite, and therefore he called his settlements by the same appellation.
וַיָּמָת יָאִיר וַיִּקָּבֵר בְּקָמוֹן׃ - And Yair died, and was buried in Kamon.
Seven forms of idolatry - and Hashem they did not serve even in partnership
וַיֹּסִיפוּ בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל לַעֲשׂוֹת הָרַע בְּעֵינֵי יְהֹוָה וַיַּעַבְדוּ אֶת־הַבְּעָלִים וְאֶת־הָעַשְׁתָּרוֹת וְאֶת־אֱלֹהֵי אֲרָם וְאֶת־אֱלֹהֵי צִידוֹן וְאֵת אֱלֹהֵי מוֹאָב וְאֵת אֱלֹהֵי בְנֵי־עַמּוֹן וְאֵת אֱלֹהֵי פְלִשְׁתִּים וַיַּעַזְבוּ אֶת־יְהֹוָה וְלֹא עֲבָדוּהוּ׃ - And the children of Israel again did what was evil in the eyes of Hashem, and they served the Baalim and the Ashtarot, and the gods of Aram, and the gods of Tzidon, and the gods of Moav, and the gods of the children of Amon, and the gods of the Pelishtim, and they forsook Hashem and did not serve Him.
The Malbim explains: "and they continued" - still during the lifetime of the judge. Not like what we have seen until now, that when the judge died they returned to their corrupt ways, but here, even during his lifetime they continued to do evil in the eyes of Hashem.
Rashi enumerates seven forms of idolatry written here: the Baalim, the Ashtaroth, the gods of Aram, the gods of Tzidon, the gods of Moav, the gods of Bnei Amon, and the gods of the Pelishtim. If so, what is meant by "and they forsook Hashem and did not serve Him"? Rashi answers: they did not serve Him even in partnership with these.
There is idolatry in which one worships only the idol itself, like those who believe in Buddha and the idolatries of the East, and there is idolatry in partnership. Christians, for example, are considered idolatry in partnership, for they believe both in Hashem and in His "son" in quotation marks, in that impure and abominable thing, the impure trinity, so that within their worship there is something combining idolatry with the service of God. This is unlike Islam, which contains no idolatry at all but only the service of God. Some wanted to view the Kaaba in Saudi Arabia as a form of idolatry like Markulis, a stone that is worshiped, but plainly most of the poskim hold that Muslims are not considered idol worshipers. And here the verse teaches: they served seven forms of idolatry, and Hashem they did not serve even in partnership.
"Not even like this lupine bean did My children make Me"
Our Sages say: the Holy One, blessed be He, said, not even like this lupine bean that is eaten as a dessert did My children make Me. A very harsh expression. And Chazal bring a parable of a king who made a feast for one of his servants and invited all of the king's armies, from the private to the chief of staff, all of them he invited, and the king himself he did not invite. The king said: would that you had made me like one of the soldiers, would that you had made me a private and invited me, at least that. So says the Holy One, blessed be He: you served all of them, would that you would take Me as one of your idolatries and serve Me too. But what did you do, you erased the Holy One, blessed be He, and went to serve all those vanities?
Chazal say that they had three hundred and sixty five houses of idolatry in Damascus, and they would serve each one on its day, and there was one day in the year on which they would serve all the idolatries in the world. And even on that day, the day on which they appease everyone and try to be on good terms with everyone, the Holy One, blessed be He, they did not serve. The idea is astounding: the Holy One, blessed be He, the Creator of the world, you already went through all the options, three hundred and sixty five, and the central option you do not go to?
What is the logic in this? In order to permit themselves illicit relations
The logic is very simple. The Gaon of Vilna brings that we have a tradition that beside every house of idolatry there was a house of harlotry. And for this reason you find that this expression recurs consistently: "and they went astray after the Baalim," "their harlotries," "her adulteries," and the like - fixed expressions of harlotry that come regarding idolatry. And the reason: it was the way of the idol worshipers and the priests to entice the people to come to them by permitting them illicit relations in public, permitting harlotry, and in effect permitting a throwing off of all the chains of morality. If so, why not serve the idol? Idolatry is very liberal. But if one must serve God, this is forbidden and that is forbidden, do not do this and do not do that, and it is very restrictive.
And as a result they would go and serve all the idolatries in the world. I have no problem serving all of them, only not the one that restricts me. Because the moment I also serve the Holy One, blessed be He, deep down I know that this is the true God, and if this is the true God, how can I continue to hold on to the rest of the idolatries? If so, it is preferable to forsake completely: I did not see, I did not hear, I do not know, I do not recognize, and then I can continue to follow the willfulness of my heart. But if I recognize that Hashem is the true God and serve Him even as one option, I have thereby erased all the rest of the idolatries. And why is it hard for me to erase them? Because only through them can I follow the desires of my heart.
There was a man named Aldous Huxley, from the family of the one who advanced Darwin's theory on the origin of species. He composed an essay which he called "Confessions of a Professional Skeptic," and in it he wrote thus: we wanted with all our might to believe that the world has no meaning, and therefore we took every action to spread the theory that the world has no meaning. And why? What did you gain from this? Rather, that if there is no Creator for the world, there is no meaning to the chains of morality, and accordingly he writes that we wanted to throw off ourselves the chains of morality, particularly in the area of modesty (there he is more blunt, and I express it delicately). In simple words: we did not want restrictions, we wanted to do whatever came to our minds, and since this was so, we went and believed in all those ideas, even though there is nothing real in those theories.
And this is exactly what Chazal said: Israel served idolatry only in order to permit themselves illicit relations in public. And this is the reason for "and they forsook Hashem and did not serve Him": that if I acknowledge Hashem, may He be blessed, then I am bound to deny all the rest of the idolatries, and then I become restricted. Therefore I will serve all of them, so long as I can do whatever comes to my mind.
Eighteen years of oppression
וַיִּחַר־אַף יְהֹוָה בְּיִשְׂרָאֵל וַיִּמְכְּרֵם בְּיַד־פְּלִשְׁתִּים וּבְיַד בְּנֵי עַמּוֹן׃ - And the anger of Hashem was kindled against Israel, and He sold them into the hand of the Philistines and into the hand of the children of Ammon.
In the wake of the seven forms of idolatry and the straying from the path, the anger of the Holy One, blessed be He, was kindled, and He sold them into the hand of the Philistines and into the hand of the children of Ammon. Let us see just how harsh the reality was.
וַיִּרְעֲצוּ וַיְרֹצְצוּ אֶת־בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל בַּשָּׁנָה הַהִיא שְׁמֹנֶה עֶשְׂרֵה שָׁנָה אֶת־כָּל־בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל אֲשֶׁר בְּעֵבֶר הַיַּרְדֵּן בְּאֶרֶץ הָאֱמֹרִי אֲשֶׁר בַּגִּלְעָד׃ - And they oppressed and crushed the children of Israel in that year; for eighteen years they oppressed all the children of Israel who were beyond the Jordan in the land of the Emorite, which is in the Gilad.
"They oppressed and crushed" - expressions of shattering and expressions of hardship. And what is meant by "in that year, eighteen years"? The Malbim says two things. First, the length of time: for eighteen years they were under the Philistine and Ammonite boot. Second, that it began immediately, already "in that year," and from there it continued for eighteen years.
The commentators add that the hardship persisted in its full force all eighteen years. It was not like a person who buys a slave, who in the first and second year subdues him and afflicts him so that he will submit to him, and afterward gradually removes the yoke from him. Here it was "they oppressed and crushed" for eighteen years: all eighteen years they pressed the yoke and did not lighten it at all.
The Radak brings an additional explanation: "in that year" is as if it said "from that year" onward for eighteen years. This fits with what the Malbim explained, that they were punished immediately: in that year and from then onward for eighteen years.
"Have we forsaken our God?" - a confession with an excuse
וַיַּעַבְרוּ בְנֵי־עַמּוֹן אֶת־הַיַּרְדֵּן לְהִלָּחֵם גַּם־בִּיהוּדָה וּבְבִנְיָמִין וּבְבֵית אֶפְרָיִם וַתֵּצֶר לְיִשְׂרָאֵל מְאֹד׃ - And the children of Ammon crossed the Jordan to fight also against Judah and against Benjamin and against the house of Ephraim, and Israel was greatly distressed.
וַיִּזְעֲקוּ בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל אֶל־יְהֹוָה לֵאמֹר חָטָאנוּ לָךְ וְכִי עָזַבְנוּ אֶת־אֱלֹהֵינוּ וַנַּעֲבֹד אֶת־הַבְּעָלִים׃ - And the children of Israel cried out to Hashem, saying: We have sinned against You, for have we forsaken our God and served the Baalim?
The children of Ammon cross the Jordan to fight also against Judah and against Benjamin and against the house of Ephraim, and as a result great distress comes upon Israel, and they cry out to Hashem. But the Malbim asks: what is meant by "for have we forsaken our God"? It should have said "for we have forsaken our God and served the Baalim," so what is the meaning of "for have we"?
The Malbim explains in an original way: they say this as a question of wonder. "We have sinned against You" - Master of the Universe, it is true that we sinned, but "have we forsaken our God and served the Baalim?" That is, we did not worship the Baalim as an exclusive god, but rather we worshipped the Baalim together with the worship of God. Therefore it did not seem to them so great a sin: we worshipped both God and the Baalim, and if so we did not forsake You, Master of the Universe. After all, the Baal was for us like an intermediary between us and our God, and we did not forsake Hashem completely. As it were, they find justification for themselves: we sinned, true, it is not fitting to serve idolatry, but have we forsaken You?
Hashem's answer: "And you have forsaken Me"
וַיֹּאמֶר יְהֹוָה אֶל־בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל הֲלֹא מִמִּצְרַיִם וּמִן־הָאֱמֹרִי וּמִן־בְּנֵי עַמּוֹן וּמִן־פְּלִשְׁתִּים׃ - And Hashem said to Bnei Yisrael: was it not from Egypt, from the Emorite, from Bnei Ammon, and from the Pelishtim,
וְצִידוֹנִים וַעֲמָלֵק וּמָעוֹן לָחֲצוּ אֶתְכֶם וַתִּצְעֲקוּ אֵלַי וָאוֹשִׁיעָה אֶתְכֶם מִיָּדָם׃ - and the Tzidonim, Amalek, and Maon oppressed you, and you cried out to Me, and I saved you from their hand?
וְאַתֶּם עֲזַבְתֶּם אוֹתִי וַתַּעַבְדוּ אֱלֹהִים אֲחֵרִים לָכֵן לֹא־אוֹסִיף לְהוֹשִׁיעַ אֶתְכֶם׃ - Yet you have forsaken Me and served other gods, therefore I will no longer save you.
The idea behind these words: the Holy One, blessed be He, says, I saved you in the past, and now do not tell tales that you did not forsake Me. You asked, "Did we forsake Hashem?" - yes, you forsook Him, "and you served other gods" alone, and not as you claimed, that you worshiped idolatry as an intermediary between yourselves and Hashem. And indeed we saw this explicitly in the pesukim above: "And they served the Baalim and the Ashtaroth... and they forsook Hashem and did not serve Him." If so, what you said is false. Would you try to tell Hashem things that are not true? Does He not examine the heart and the kidneys?
Let us examine the description of the history. The Malbim notes the vavs: "from Egypt and (u) from the Emorite" - there is a vav, "from Bnei Ammon" - without a vav, "and (u) from the Pelishtim" - there is a vav. It emerges that the verse created a division of two against two: from Egypt and from the Emorite against from Bnei Ammon and from the Pelishtim. And what is its intent? The Holy One, blessed be He, says: just as I saved you from Egypt and from the Emorite, so too can I save you now from Bnei Ammon and from the Pelishtim. This is not a historical account but a comparison: this against that.
And it continues: "and the Tzidonim, Amalek, and Maon oppressed you, and you cried out to Me, and I saved you from their hand." Lest you say: Egypt and the Emorite are history, that was many years ago, so indeed You performed miracles then, but what You say now about Bnei Ammon and the Pelishtim, we do not quite believe that You will save us. Therefore the Holy One, blessed be He, says to them: I will give you present day examples. Tzidonim, Amalek, and Maon - not in the distant history, but in the recent generations, and you cried out to Me and I saved you. Behold, even in the recent generations I performed miracles for you and saved you. But now what can be done - "yet you have forsaken Me and served other gods" alone, "therefore I will no longer save you": not as in the distant past and not as recently, I will not save you at all.
"Go and cry out to the gods you have chosen"
לְכוּ וְזַעֲקוּ אֶל־הָאֱלֹהִים אֲשֶׁר בְּחַרְתֶּם בָּם הֵמָּה יוֹשִׁיעוּ לָכֶם בְּעֵת צָרַתְכֶם׃ - Go and cry out to the gods you have chosen, let them save you in the time of your distress.
You have gods that you chose, the Baal - go and cry out to him, he will save you, in him you invest and to him you turn all the time. And this is like what is written in the Torah: "Where are their gods, the rock in whom they trusted, who ate the fat of their offerings and drank the wine of their libations? Let them rise up and help you, let them be a shelter over you." The Holy One, blessed be He, says: you turn to a god, you serve it, you believe in it, you pour libations to it and offer sacrifices to it - so "let them rise up and help you," and how do you suddenly come to seek My help? So writes Chovot HaLevavot: when a person trusts in something, the Holy One, blessed be He, leaves him in the hand of the one he trusted.
"Only save us, please" - falling into the hand of Hashem and not into the hand of man
וַיֹּאמְרוּ בְנֵי־יִשְׂרָאֵל אֶל־יְהֹוָה חָטָאנוּ עֲשֵׂה־אַתָּה לָנוּ כְּכָל־הַטּוֹב בְּעֵינֶיךָ אַךְ הַצִּילֵנוּ נָא הַיּוֹם הַזֶּה׃ - And Bnei Yisrael said to Hashem: we have sinned, do to us according to all that is good in Your eyes, only save us, please, this day.
This time Bnei Yisrael admit outright: "we have sinned." Not like before, "we have sinned, but," rather we have sinned, without excuses. Yet on the face of it the words are not understood: "do to us according to all that is good in Your eyes" - after all, what is good in His eyes is to hand you over to Ammon and the Pelishtim, and immediately they add "only save us, please, this day." A moment ago it was said to them that He wants to hand them over into their hand, and they say do as is good in Your eyes, only save us? This is to break the barrel and yet preserve its wine, and that does not work.
The Malbim explains that they confess their sin and say: Master of the world, You are just, we have sinned. But against whom did we sin? Against You we sinned. If so, from the perspective of "Let us fall into the hand of Hashem, for His mercies are great, but into the hand of man let me not fall." The words make great sense: we sinned, we deserve punishment, we acted improperly, so You punish us. "Let us fall into the hand of Hashem" - plague, illness, harm, all in the hand of Hashem. But "into the hand of man let me not fall," for man has no mercy, man is cruel. Just as David requested, so too they request: if there is an account against us, You settle it, but not through these cruel ones.
"And His soul was grieved for the misery of Israel"
וַיָּסִירוּ אֶת־אֱלֹהֵי הַנֵּכָר מִקִּרְבָּם וַיַּעַבְדוּ אֶת־יְהֹוָה וַתִּקְצַר נַפְשׁוֹ בַּעֲמַל יִשְׂרָאֵל׃ - And they removed the foreign gods from among them and served Hashem, and His soul was grieved for the misery of Israel.
The people of Israel remove the foreign gods from among them and serve Hashem, and this time it is truly sincere. Yet the four words "and His soul was grieved for the misery of Israel" are obscure, and the commentators labor to explain them.
The Radak brings the explanation of the Rambam, and so too the Malbim brings it: "His soul" means His will. And so we find in many places - "If it is your soul's wish... hear me and entreat for me to Ephron son of Zohar," meaning if it is your will; "And you shall love Hashem with all your soul" - with all your will. According to this, "and His soul was grieved for the misery of Israel" means: His will ceased from increasing the misery of Israel. At first Hashem wished to increase their misery, that is, their hardships, their sufferings and their pain, and now, following their removal of the foreign gods and serving Hashem, His will ceased - His soul was grieved from continuing and prolonging the days of their suffering.
An additional explanation is brought by the Ralbag: "and His soul was grieved for the misery of Israel" is as if to say that He grew weary of the headache that this people cause Him. Each time they stray from the path, then they repent and He must save them again, and again they stray, and again He brings a king upon them, and again they cry out, and around it goes again, and the whole matter becomes a burden for Him. Hashem's will was too short to save them a complete salvation, since they, as it were, bring misery upon Hashem and weary Him. And as we saw regarding one who steals, that the Holy One, blessed be He, says "I hate thieves because they burden Me." I bring this only as an example so that we not mistakenly think that there truly is something that burdens Hashem or that there is misery for Hashem; this is an expression according to the concept familiar to us, that this thing has already wearied me - His soul was grieved, as it were, from the pain that the people of Israel cause Him, being like a dog that returns to its vomit.
And the Malbim explains: since the people of Israel repent, His soul shortened the misery of Israel, as if to say "His soul, and it shortened the misery of Israel" - it is Hashem's will to shorten the misery of Israel and to put an end to the sufferings they endure.
The Preparation for War
וַיִּצָּעֲקוּ בְּנֵי עַמּוֹן וַיַּחֲנוּ בַּגִּלְעָד וַיֵּאָסְפוּ בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל וַיַּחֲנוּ בַּמִּצְפָּה׃ - And the children of Ammon were gathered together and encamped in Gilead, and the children of Israel assembled and encamped in Mizpah.
"Were gathered together" - we have already seen this expression, that the meaning is that they assembled their army for war, and the manner of assembling was through calls, and therefore it is called "were gathered together." And they encamp in Gilead, that same city that the sons of Machir son of Menasheh captured, and the children of Ammon encamp there because they wanted to capture it. The people of Israel see that they are encamped there, and come to encamp in Mizpah in order to fight them.
Yet from the words of the verse further on it seems that this gathering did not lead to a practical result, for afterward they gather again. Therefore the Radak explains: since the children of Ammon saw the children of Israel gathering and encamping in Mizpah and preparing to wage battle at the gate, they withdrew and returned to their land - they packed up their equipment and went back. And therefore we see in the next chapter that they return and gather again to come to war, but this gathering was a gathering that dispersed.
The Malbim explains that at that time the children of Ammon had already crossed the Jordan to fight against Yehudah and Binyamin, and were already ready for battle inside the land itself. For in Gilead they had oppressed them eighteen years, and their appetite only grew, and they decided to enter inside the land, as we saw that they came to the house of Ephraim and also to Yehudah and Binyamin, "and Israel was greatly distressed." And when they saw that the people of Israel were coming against them, they returned to stand in the place where they had been before, in Gilead, which they had harassed for many long years. But the children of Israel had already assembled, and the place where they now stand to fight against them is the Gilead, and they prepare to wage battle at the gate. And how do they do this?
וַיֹּאמְרוּ הָעָם שָׂרֵי גִלְעָד אִישׁ אֶל־רֵעֵהוּ מִי הָאִישׁ אֲשֶׁר יָחֵל לְהִלָּחֵם בִּבְנֵי עַמּוֹן יִהְיֶה לְרֹאשׁ לְכֹל יֹשְׁבֵי גִלְעָד׃ - And the people, the princes of Gilead, said one to another: Who is the man who will begin to fight against the children of Ammon? He shall be head over all the inhabitants of Gilead.
"Who is the man who will begin to fight against the children of Ammon" - who is the man who will open the battle, rather than wait until the children of Ammon come to fight against us. "Yachel" means that we ourselves will strike the first blow, we will take them by surprise, and through this the terrible affliction of the children of Ammon will be removed from us. And whoever does this will be head over all the inhabitants of Gilead.
In summary: The chapter opens with two judges who arose to save Israel, and from the words of the Arizal and the Rema of Fano we learned that even in the name of Tola son of Puah and in the place of his dwelling are hidden secrets of rectification: the rectification of the sin of the mouth through reincarnation, and the rectification of "and he dwelt in Shamir" in Shmuel the prophet, who traveled from city to city to judge Israel without taking from them a single donkey, and in Benayahu son of Yehoyada, to whom the secret of the shamir was revealed. From there the chapter descended to the very bottom of the decline: seven forms of idolatry, and Hashem they did not serve even in partnership, and all this because idolatry releases a person from the bonds of morality, as our Sages said that Israel worshiped idols only in order to permit themselves forbidden relations in public. As a result they were sold into the hands of the Philistines and the children of Ammon, and were crushed for eighteen consecutive years without relief. At first they cried out only halfheartedly, with an excuse - "Have we then abandoned our God?" - and to this Hashem answered them that their words were not true, and reminded them that He had saved them in the distant past and also in the recent generations, but now "Go and cry out to the gods whom you have chosen." Only when they confessed without condition - "We have sinned, do to us whatever is good in Your eyes, only save us," better in the hand of Hashem whose mercies are many than in the hand of man - and actually removed the foreign gods and served Hashem, His soul grew short over the toil of Israel, and already the preparation for salvation was being arranged: the children of Ammon encamped in Gilead, Israel at Mitzpah, and the princes of Gilead seeking the man who would open the war and become head - and from here the story of Yiftach will begin.