The beginnings of Shimshon
When it comes to the special Torah readings for the holidays, I always get a bit confused; So I read the whole of Nasso last week and I decided to read the Haftorah and the Brit Chadashah readings this week. What a lovely surprise to find that Judges Chapter 13 is the portion from the Prophets! It details how Samson's mom, who is never named, came to have a son called Shimson . It's so exciting and contains a reference to the Messiah ! Verse 2 lets us know that Shimson's dad's name was Manoach , that he was from the tribe of Dan and that his wife was barren and childless. Verse 3 jumps right into the angel of ADONAI appearing to the woman and telling her that even though she is barren, she will bear a child. Reminiscent of Sarah . Verses 4-5: The angel also says to her that she must refrain from consuming anything from the grapevine because her son will be a Nazir from the womb and will begin to deliver Israel from the Phil...
