מפגש סיום

But Sisera fled away by foot to the tent of Ya᾽el the wife of Ĥever the Qenite: for there was peace between Yavin the king of Ĥażor and the house of Ĥever the Qeni. And Ya᾽el went out to meet Sisera, and said to him, Turn in, my lord, turn in to me; fear not. And when he had turned in to her into the tent, she covered him with a blanket. And he said to her, Give me, I pray thee, a little water to drink; for I am thirsty. And she opened a bottle of milk, and gave him drink, and covered him. Then he said to her, Stand in the door of the tent, and it shall be, if any man comes and inquires of thee, and says, Is there anyone here? that thou shalt say, No. Then Ya᾽el Ĥever’s wife took a tent peg, and took a hammer in her hand, and went softly to him, and drove the tent peg into his temple, and fastened it to the ground: for he was fast asleep and weary. So he died. And, behold, as Baraq pursued Sisera, Ya᾽el came out to meet him, and said to him, Come, and I will show thee the man whom thou seekest. And when he came into her tent, behold, Sisera lay dead, and the peg in his temple. So God subdued on that day Yavin the king of Kena῾an before the children of Yisra᾽el. And the hand of the children of Yisra᾽el prevailed more and more against Yavin the king of Kena῾an, until they had destroyed Yavin king of Kena῾an.

The Gemara elaborates on what happened when Sisera was in Yael’s tent. Rabbi Yoḥanan said: That wicked man, Sisera, had sexual intercourse with Yael seven times that day, as it is stated: “At her feet he sunk, he fell, he lay; at her feet he sunk, he fell; where he sunk, there he fell down dead” (Judges 5:27). Each instance of the terms “sunk,” “fell,” or “lay” in the verse indicates an act of intercourse, as Yael sought to tire and weaken Sisera to enable her to kill him. The Gemara asks: But how could Yael do this even for the noble purpose of killing the wicked Sisera, as she derived pleasure from the transgression of licentious sexual relations with a gentile? Rabbi Yoḥanan said in the name of Rabbi Shimon ben Yoḥai: Every act that is a benefit for the wicked

Dan shall judge his people, As one of the tribes of Israel. Dan shall be a serpent in the way, A horned snake in the path, That biteth the horse’s heels, So that his rider falleth backward. I wait for Thy salvation, O Lord.

Joshua ben Perahiah and Nittai the Arbelite received [the oral tradition] from them. Joshua ben Perahiah used to say: appoint for thyself a teacher, and acquire for thyself a companion and judge all men with the scale weighted in his favor.

And Ĥanna prayed, and said, My heart rejoices in the Lord, my horn is exalted in the Lord: my mouth is enlarged over my enemies; because I rejoice in Thy salvation. There is none holy as the Lord: for there is none beside Thee: neither is there any rock like our God. Talk no more so very proudly; let not arrogancy come out of your mouth: for the Lord is a God of knowledge, and by him actions are weighed. The bows of the mighty men are broken, and they that stumbled are girded with strength. They that were full have hired out themselves for bread; and they that were hungry have ceased: while the barren has born seven; and she that has many children has become wretched. The Lord kills, and gives life: he brings down to the grave, and brings up. The Lord makes poor, and makes rich: he brings low, and raises up. He raises up the poor out of the dust, and lifts up the beggar from the dunghill, to set them among princes, and to make them inherit the throne of glory: for the pillars of the earth are the Lord’s, and he has set the world upon them. He will keep the feet of his pious ones, and the wicked shall be silent in darkness; for it is not by strength that man prevails. The adversaries of the Lord shall be broken in pieces; out of heaven shall he thunder upon them: the Lord shall judge the ends of the earth; and he shall give strength to his king, and exalt the horn of his anointed. And Elqana went to Rama to his house. And the child did minister to the Lord before ῾Eli the priest.

Rav Hamnuna said: How many significant halakhot can be derived from these verses of the prayer of Hannah? As it says: “And Hannah spoke in her heart, only her lips moved and her voice could not be heard, so Eli thought her to be drunk” (I Samuel 1:13). The Gemara elaborates: From that which is stated here: “And Hannah spoke in her heart,” the halakha that one who prays must focus his heart on his prayer is derived. And from that which is stated here: “Only her lips moved,” the halakha that one who prays must enunciate the words with his lips, not only contemplate them in his heart, is derived. From that which is written here: “And her voice could not be heard,” the halakha that one is forbidden to raise his voice in his Amida prayer as it must be recited silently. From the continuation of the verse here: “So Eli thought her to be drunk,” the halakha that a drunk person is forbidden to pray. That is why he rebuked her. On the subject of Eli’s rebuke of Hannah, as it is stated: “And Eli said to her: How long will you remain drunk? Remove your wine from yourself” (I Samuel 1:14); Rabbi Elazar said: From here the halakha that one who sees in another

Her ways are ways of pleasantness, And all her paths are peace.