Navi Exam Notes

Besides for the sheet we have to know perek vov, zayin, and ches - right?
So here they are: (i'm missing a bit at the end)

PEREK VOV
Bnei yisroel are at the bottom of the cycle again and Hashem sends the midyanim to attack them – and everything they planted when it was about to be harvested the midyanim would trample the fields with their animals.
Bnei yisroel had 3 plans to escape the midyanim
1. built hideouts in mountains (minharos)
2. build caves
3. built fortresses
meam loez: minharos literally means tunnels –
opinion 1: according to some opinions refers to underground storage rooms. Very wide on the bottom and then at the top they tapered into a small hole – they would pour grain in through the small hole. From nahar – river – lashon of flowing.
Opinion 2: nahara means light – the point of the small hole was to provide light and people would hide there as opposed to the caves which were completely dark
they stationed lookouts on top of mountains – the watchperson would light a torch when he saw midyanim – and the person on the next mountain would see and light his torch – and soon all the people would know the midyanim were coming
bnei yisroel almost always failed
bnei yisroel became very poor because of this
zayin: malbim: they only complained about the bad that was being done to them, they didn’t realize it was a punishment as a result of their sins. So Hashem sent them a navi to rebuke them. They weren’t crying in a way of teshuva.
Pinchas ben alazar was the Navi– his whole generation died in the times of yehoshua, he was the only one still alive.

Ches: the navi’s name is not mentioned – most say it’s pinchas but some opinions say it’s an unknown navi

Tes: says I redeemed you from mitzrayim and chased out your enemies and gave you their land. Can’t be talking about mitzrayim…
Radak: refers to sichon & og – parshas chukkas sichon refused to let them through even though they wouldn’t hurt them – and even came out and greeted them with war

Yud: I said that I’m Hashem don’t fear, and you did not listen to my voice.
Meam loez: trying to convey that Hashem is always ready to hear bnei yisroel, no matter how low they’ve fallen
4 things the navi’s pointing out:
1. I raised you up from the land of mitzrayim
2. I took you out of slavery
3. I saved you from mitzrayim (yam suf)
4. I gave you their land (sichon & og – the amorim)
Why’s Hashem telling them not to FEAR the amori gods, not to worship them?
Fear is a type of worship – yiras Hashem also means to respect & be in awe. These same emotions are forbidden about the amori gods.

Yud Alef: a malach came and sat under a pistachio tree that belonged to yoash aviezri– gidon his son was crushing wheat in the wine pit to hide it from the midyanim.
Rashi: avi haezri – it was a person and all his descendants took his name – he was aviezer ben gilad ben menashe ben yosef
Gidon bno: Gidons special zechus was kibud av – his father would crush the wheat and he would sift it. He told his father you’re old and if the nations come, you won’t be able to run. He told him ‘you go and I’ll crush’.
As a result of this act, Hashem chose him as the shofet. Chazal learn that if a person honors his parents, he’s worthy of becoming a king/leader.
Yud Beis: And he appeared to him & said Hashem be with you, you brave soldier.
Yud Gimmel: Me? My master, and if Hashem is with us, why has all this befallen us, and where are all the wonders Hashem told our fathers about? Didn’t Hashem bring us up from mitzrayim? And now He has abandoned us, and put us in the hands of midyanim.
Yud Daled: Hashem turned to him and said go with this strength and save yisroel from the hands of midyan, have I not sent you?
Now he realized that this person talking to him was a malach.
Tes Vov: Me? Hashem, with what will I save yisroel? My thousand is the poorest of menashe, and I’m the youngest in my father’s house.
Tes Zayin: I will be with you and you will smite midyan like one person.

Yud Beis: Meam loez- from here chazal learn that a person should great someone with Hashem’s name, and it’s not using Hashem’s name in vain because Hashem specifically wants this.
Yud Gimmel: his main concern is not his own problems, but the plight of the nation – this is a true leader
Rashi: this was pesach (emesh-last night) he said father read to me hallel that says btzeis yisroel mimitzrayim – and now Hashem has abandoned us. If our ancestors were tzaddikim, Hashem should do it for us in their zechus. And if they were reshaim, just like Hashem did miracles for them ‘for free’, He can do for us also. Where are the miracles?
Meam Loez: The normal way to crush wheat in those days was with animals that the animals would stomp on it, but here he was doing it by hand. Why?
1) it would be much harder to flee with animals if the midyanim came
how could he crush wheat on yomtov? When he said ‘last night’ he meant 2 nights ago, it wasn’t yomtov anymore (only 1 day of yomtov). But in chol hamoed you can’t do a melacha unless you absolutely need to do it. But you do it with a shinuy. So that’s why he was using his hands and not his animals.
At that time pinchas was alive but he was very old and more of a malach than a person – he wasn’t appropriate to be a shofet
Gidon did the mitzvah of kibbud av and told his father to go inside – so Hashem chose him.
Gidon says Hashem I want a sign – that you’ll help anyway even if the yiden don’t deserve it. Gidon says wait here and I’ll prepare you food. The malach doesn’t eat it but he puts it as a korban for Hashem – it was consumed by fire, it even consumed the wet soup – this was a sign for Gidon.
There was the mizbayach of the baal and oxen they were fattening of the baal right in their backyard…

Chof hey: Hashem says to gidon – take the oxen you’ve been fattening and destroy your father’s baal mizbayach and cut down the asheira tree
Chof vov: Build a mizbayach for Hashem on top of this rock, in its place and take the 2nd ox and bring it up as an olah on the wood of the asheira tree that you cut down.
2 things in this command that are an exception:
1. not usually allowed to bring korban outside of Shiloh
2. not allowed to use things used for avoda zara
He was worried what the people will do to him if he does this.

Chof zayin: gidon took ten men from the servants and he did like Hashem told him. He was scared of what his fathers house and the people of the town would do to him if he did it during the day. He did it at night.

Chof ches: the people of the city woke up in the morning and the mizbayach of the baal was broken and the asheira tree was cut down, and the 2nd cow was brought as an olah on the mizbayach!

Chof tes: and one man said to his friend, who did this? They searched out and sought and they found out it was gidon – since he was the most connected cuz of his father. (or one of the 10 servants told)

Lamed: The people of the city said to Yoash take out your son and he will die because he broke the mizbayach of the baal and he cut down the asheira tree that was next to it.

Lamed alef: Yoash says to all the people ‘will you fight for the baal?’ will you save him (does he need you to save him)? Surely he (gidon) will be dead by morning if baal is a god. Let him fight for himself because he destroyed the mizbayach.

Lamed beis: They called him Yerubal because he faught with the baal because he broke down his mizbayach.

Midyan comes and he should attack them. He gathers people, gidon blows the shofar and people come to help fight. Gidon asks for a sign that even if the yidden aren’t worthy we’ll still be victorious in war.

Sign #1: Ill put a piece of wool on the floor, and I come back the next morning the wool is wet and the floor is dry

Hashem said you have so many peope you’ll probably think it was your strength and not a miracle
Send home anyone who’s scared or trembling
Scared -- of their sins
Trembling – scared of war
Vayitzpor – it was early morning
22,000 people left early in the morning so they wouldn’t be embarrassed
veterfenu – purify for you – Hashem will say which ones you should take and which ones you should leave
He separates like the silvermith purifies silver
Take them down to the water:
3 options:
1. licks with his tongue from the water like a dog licks
2. kneel on their knees
3. scoop up the water & stand up
make #1 & 2 go
shows strength, endurance, self control
if they kneel shows they served avoda zara
people used to bow to their reflection
out of 10,000 people 300 people remained who didn’t bow down
and they took the food of the people who left and their shofars
the camp of midyan was down in the valley
that night Hashem said to gidon go down to the camp because I’ve given them in your hands. But if you’re afraid to go, go down you and your lad, to the camp (Hashem will give him a sign there). They went down to the end of the armed people
they were like so many locusts, their camels were like the number of grains of sand
he hears one man telling him his dream “a roasted bread of barley turned over the camp” his friend says ‘this must be the sword of gidon, Hashem has given the whole camp to him’

tes vov: shivro – interpretation
gidon says: Hashem has given midyan into YOUR hands – being very humble
divides the men into 3 legions, gave shofars to them, and empty pitchers and torches
shofros: to remember the zechus of matan torah – thunder & lightening
simply – it was night so they needed torches and then they put it in the jugs so the other camps shouldn’t realize that theyre coming,
(barley – zechus of korban omer)
he said watch me and do im going to come to the edge of the camp and do what I do
yud ches: I’ll blow my shofar, and all those that are with me you should also blow your shofars & say ‘for Hashem and for Gidon”
rashi: the sword that kills begins from Hashem and their victory is through gidon
when the guards woke up in the middle of the 2nd watch, they blew the shofars & shattered the jugs
attacked when the guards had just woken up cuz they were still a little drowsy
they held the torches in their left, shofars in right, the midyanim screamed & ran away
the midyanim killed each other
gidon sent messengers to run towards mitzrayim, block them to the water
they captured the 2 officers of midyan
cut off their heads & brought them to gidon

PEREK CHES
the bnei efrayim were very upset at gidon, because he didn’t officially call them to fight – he just called them to chase.
Gidon says what you did is so much greater compared to what I did, I starte it but you got them.
Gidon’s army passed the yarden, they were tired but they still chased.
Kikaros- loaves
The people of sukkos were Jews
Do you already have the zevach and tzalmuna in your hands?
They were scared that if midyan would win, midyan would take revenge on sukkos.
Yud gimmel: the sun had still not set
They asked a boy to write down who the elders of sukkos were

tes vov: and they came to the men of sukkos and he said here are zevach and tzalmuna that you embarrassed me saying is the hand of zevach and tzalmuna now in your hand?
Tes zayin: he took the elders of the year (77 men)
yud zayin: the migdal pnuel he broke, and he killed the men of the city.
Pnuel was punished more harshly because they had no reason not to help – sukkos had a reason that they were scared of midyan taking revenge, but pnuel had protection
Rashi: he killed them because when he starting breaking their tower they fought back
Yud ches: they say to zevach and tzalmuna – (who were CAPTURED) – who did you kill?
Radak: asking what did they look like? They looked like princes (or like gidon)
He says they are my brothers, the sons of my mother! Had you not killed my brothers, I wouldn’t kill you.
Chof: he said to yeser his bechor, go and kill them, and the lad did not draw his sword, because he was scared because he was still a lad.
Zevach and tzalmuna say you get up and harm us, because like man is your strenth
And gidon got up and killed zevach and tzalmuna
They were asking for an easy death
He took beautiful ornaments that were on the neck of the camel
Abarbanel: they didn’t think it was proper that a kid should kill great kings like this, that the kid will take credit for killing 2 kings
The men of yisroel said to gidon, rule over us, because you saved us from the hands of midyan