Years ago our rabbi asked where some story was located in Scripture and someone exclaimed without thinking, "The book of Samson!" Well, as you probably know, there is no "book of Samson" but there is a Book of Judges, or Shoftim, where the story of Samson, Hebrew: Shimshon, can be found. We look at the connection between the Parashat HaShavua, Numbers 4:21-7:89 and this passage in Judges. The parasha is called Naso נשׂא. It means "lift" but in this sense it is "lifting" the heads in order to take a count commanded by HaShem. A total of 8580 Levites from 30 to 50 are counted to do the work of moving the Mishkan. In this week's parasha, we hear about the enigmatic procedure of a strange potion and the rules of Sotah, the mitzvot about being a Nazir, and a list of the 12 Heads of the Tribes, each one called a "Nasi" which is the same root as "naso". A נשׂיא "nasi" is one who is lifted up to lead, so we get the translation, "chieftan". Also in this parasha, we see the famous blessing of the Kohanim. Then the leaders of the twelve tribes bring offerings for the inauguration of the altar. What this podcast is mostly about is Judges 1:13-25, the brief haftarah that connects to the weekly parashah. It shows the implementation of the Nazir vow and how it actually looks in practice. Our Messiah Yeshua was separated and also born of a woman who was not supposed to be pregnant, similar to the mother of Shimshon/Samson. We also take a look at what his name means and why it is important. As well as his parents' names and their prophetic meanings. Shalom and please write with any feedback or questions to FootStepsOfTheMessiah@gmail.com.
