The Story of the Concubine of Gibeah and its Parallels Today
In the story of the concubine in the city of Gibeah, (Judges 19-20), when members of the tribe of Benjamin committed a horrific act, the other tribes decided that this act cannot be silently ignored, but that action must be taken. They gathered together in Mitzpah in order to demonstrate a unity of conscience and thus said to the members of the tribe of Benjamin, “Now therefore deliver up the men, the base fellows that are in Gibeah, that we may put them to death, and cast away evil from Israel” (Judges 20:13). The tribe of Benjamin, however, chose not to extradite the evil doers, and thus brought war upon the tribe. One tribe against the rest of the tribe, ” And the children of Israel arose, and went up to Beth-el, and asked counsel of God; and they said: ‘Who shall go up for us first to battle against the children of Benjamin?’ And the LORD said: ‘Judah first’“(Judges 20:18).
Let us leave the pshat (the simple explanation) for a moment, and dive into the symbolism of the matter: with regards to the evil doers, the essence which covers up the horrific act – positions itself as opposite the essence in the name of Judah – that the greatness of which is the acknowledgement of the truth! Judah could have, easily, done a horrific act, and could have caused the execution of Tamar (Genesis 38) and come out “clean.” He was a man of courage and strength and nevertheless, immediately said of her “she is more righteous than I.” A refusal to admit the truth perpetuates the injustice, the evil, the corruption, and delays the process of Tikkun Olam, healing the world.
Let’s return not to the pshat – to the basic story. The warriors of the tribe of Benjamin were few in number – 26,700, compared to the combined army of the other tribes – 400,000 warriors. The war was decided in three battles. The warriors of Benjamin were courageous, and caused great losses to the side of the combined army of the other tribes over whom they were victorious in the first two battles over. In the third battle, however, they were defeated, not through straight combat, but through a tactical rouse of the other side.
“And the children of Benjamin came forth out of Gibeah, and on that day slaughtered down to the ground of the Israelites, twenty and two thousand men. And the people, the men of Israel, encouraged themselves, and again organized for battle in the place where they organized themselves on the first day. And the children of Israel went up and wept before the LORD until evening; and they asked of the LORD, saying: ‘Shall I again go forth to battle against the children of Benjamin, my brother?’ And the LORD said: ‘Go up against him.’ And the children of Israel came near to the children of Benjamin the second day. And Benjamin went forth against them out of Gibeah the second day, and cut down to the ground the children of Israel again eighteen thousand men; all these drew the sword. Then all the children of Israel, and all the people, went up, and came unto Beth-el, and wept, and sat there before the LORD, and fasted that day until even; and they offered burnt-offerings and peace-offerings before the LORD. And the children of Israel asked of the LORD–for the ark of the covenant of God was there in those days. And Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, stood before it in those days–saying: ‘Shall I yet again go out to battle against the children of Benjamin my brother, or shall I cease?’ And the LORD said: ‘Go up; for to-morrow I will deliver him into thy hand.’ And Israel set liers-in-wait against Gibeah round about. And the children of Israel went up against the children of Benjamin on the third day, and set themselves in array against Gibeah, as the other times. And the children of Benjamin went out against the people, and were drawn away from the city; and they began to smite and kill the people, as during the other times, in the field, in the highways, of which one went up to Beth-el, and the other to Gibeah, about thirty men of Israel” (Judges 20:21-31).
The battle against evil is not always successful, and despite the fact that we may cry from heartache that we must fight as all, and over the losses that are experienced by both sides, and while it is possible to despair following two defeats and to think that we may never succeed, nonetheless, we believe that if we struggle once more, in the next round, there will certainly be victory.
The collective tribes fight against the tribe of Benjamin, but refer to that tribe as “my brother.” Is it possible that “evil” can be our brother? Is that part of the whole? Does it have a part to play in this world? There are answers to these questions which can be learned and decided as to whether they are acceptable to us, but one conclusion is plain in and of itself – the war is to completely destroy the evil, and not to destroy the people. Battling evil is a defensive war – one of no choice. Fear of death, and great is the sorrow over death in war that calls for causing a change for the benefit of the world, and not to destroy, to kill, and to lose, as a result of narrow interests, and were it not for tem – which when they are behind us – make the world better.
These days, the world needs a war whose purpose is to “cast away evil from Israel.” As a metaphor – the enlightened Islam is the tribe of Benjamin of today and we all know who the evil doers are. Will the enlightened Islam do that which is tasked of it and cast out the evil from its midst, with determination, and with the knowledge that thus it will defend itself against it, too?
On the other hand, “Israel” is merely a code name for any person or society whose consciousness is that of the “one.” This consciousness is the understanding that the world is based upon spiritual laws no less – if not more – than on physical laws. There is the scientific rule of attraction and there is the force of attraction of the consciousness. Just as the law of attraction attaches us to the ground due to the force of creation, thus, too, there is strength in man which, ultimately, after all of the failures and the fears, attaches us to good. This force, too, comes from creation, from the fact that it is formulated in the language of man in these words: “And he breathed into his nostrils the breath of life” (Genesis 2:7). God, the creator of all, breathed into man a part of himself – this is the soul of man, the essence, the perception that knows all of the contradictions of the world and experiences them with one great unity.
A few days ago, there was a terrorist attack in Paris. ISIS, Al Qaeda and their ilk have gone wild with atrocities, and terrorist organizations gain victories, all wanting exclusivity. The current consciousness is one which demands exclusivity of belief, which does not understand pluralism of thought and kills all that is in its path. How do we change such a consciousness? They are a minority which causes great suffering. So, too, the story of the concubine in Gibeah was about “only” a single woman. But the outcome of her story was of a society which refused to accept the evil acts that a minority of the society was perpetrating, and resolved that something must be done.
The world now finds itself in a battle to rid itself of evil. Is the world determined enough? To my great dismay, it would appear that with every new horrific act, the determination to fight it increases and becomes stronger. Is there no shortcut? To my understanding, we must admit the truth – both internally and externally – and chance the reality before evil becomes reality.
Shabbat shalom u’mvorach! (A blessed and peaceful Sabbath!)