THE PROBLEM TRIBE

“For the children of Binyamin, their descendants, by their families, by their patrilineal house, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and above, all those fit for military service; those counted, for the tribe of Binyamin, were thirty-five thousand four hundred.” (Bamidbar 1:36-37)

Binyamin was one of the smallest tribes of Israel. At the time of the first census in the book of Bamidbar (in the second year following the exodus from Egypt), they were the second least populous tribe, with Yehudah at the top spot with 74600 military-aged men and Menashe at the bottom spot with 32200 men over twenty. They did grow somewhat during the forty years in the wilderness, so that at the time of the second census in the fortieth year, they had 45600 men over twenty. Even then, they were only the seventh largest tribe in the nation. This is somewhat surprising considering that the original Binyamin, son of Yaakov, had ten sons (Bereishit 46:21). Compare this with Dan who only had one son, Chushim (ibid verse 23) and yet in the first census numbered 62700 men over twenty and in the second census, 64400. It is unclear why their populations developed in such a strange way during the years in Egypt.

After the Children of Israel entered the land of Canaan, conquered it and distributed it amongst the tribes, Binyamin was to suffer an enormous blow that almost wiped the entire tribe from existence. This episode, one of the most tragic and sordid in the Tanach, is known as the ‘concubine of Giva’. It is to be found in the last three chapters (19-21) of the book of Shoftim. The episode begins and ends with virtually the same phrase (Shoftim 19:1 and 21:25), “It was in those days, and there was no king in Israel, each man would do what was fitting in his own eyes.” It was a situation approaching anarchy. There was no centralised government and each tribe basically ruled itself, if at all. A Levite who lived in the highlands of Ephraim was travelling with his concubine and his attendant in the province of Binyamin. It was late in the afternoon and he decided to stay overnight in the town of Giva. He was offered accommodation and hospitality by an elderly man who came from the same district that he did, but was now living in the territory of Binyamin. 

This is what happened on that fateful night (ibid 19:21-28): “He [the elderly man] brought them to his house and prepared food for the donkeys; they washed their feet and ate and drank. As they were feeling merry, behold – people of the city, lawless people, surrounded the house, banging on the door, and saying to the old man, the owner of the house, “Send out the man who came to your house, so that we may know him.” The man who was the owner of the house went out to them. He said to them, “No, my brothers! Please do not be wicked! Since this man has come to my house, do not do this disgusting thing! Here are my virgin daughter and his concubine! I will bring them out and you may molest them and do to them whatever you please. But do not do this disgusting thing to this man!” But the men were not willing to listen to him. The man grabbed his concubine and thrust her outside to them. They knew her and they molested her all night long until the morning; they sent her away as the dawn began to break. The woman arrived towards morning and collapsed at the door of the man’s house, where her husband was staying until it was light. Her husband got up in the morning, opened the doors of the house, and left to go on his way, and behold – his concubine wife was fallen at the entrance of the house, with her hands on the threshold! He said to her, “Get up, let us go!” but there was no answer. He took her upon the donkey, and then the man got up and went to his place.

When the man reached his home, he cut up the dead woman into twelve pieces and sent a piece to each of the tribes, together with a description of what had happened in Giva. He demanded justice for this savage attack. Representatives of the tribes gathered together and demanded that the citizens of Binyamin extradite the perpetrators but they refused to do so and an awful civil war ensued. The tribe of Binyamin suffered heavy losses both to its soldiery and citizenry and was almost destroyed and, to add insult to injury, the other tribes took an oath forbidding anyone to give his daughter as a wife to any man from Binyamin. There remained after the war only six hundred men who had fled the battlefield. All the women were killed. But in the end (Shoftim 21:15-17), “The people relented toward Binyamin, for Hashem had made a breach in the tribes of Israel. The elders of the congregation said, “What can we do [to provide] wives for the survivors? For the women of Binyamin have been destroyed.” They said, “The inheritance of the remnant of Binyamin must survive, and let a tribe not be eliminated from Israel.”

I heard a fascinating explanation from Rabbi Yitzchak Breitowitz of Ohr Somayach Yeshiva, Jerusalem, as to why Binyamin was so stubborn and refused to hand over the perpetrators. The other tribes of Israel considered themselves as provinces or states of a single nation, the Nation of Israel, much the same way as there are 9 provinces of South Africa or 50 states of North America. In these countries there is federal (or national) law as well as state (or provincial) law. The other tribes considered the rape and murder of the concubine as a federal/national matter and they demanded extradition. Binyamin, however, had a different view of the matter. They did not view the twelve tribes as a single nation but as twelve separate nations, each with its own leadership but without any common government. The only matter these nations had in common was their Israelite heritage. This is much the same as the different Islamic countries, all of which share a common religion but have their own governments. Binyamin viewed itself as a sovereign nation. Consequently, they believed they were under no obligation to hand over criminals who had committed a crime in their own country. They would take care of them as they saw fit. As a footnote, Rabbi Breitowitz mentioned that the first king of Israel was Saul who hailed from the tribe of Binyamin. Accordingly, this was a clever political move on behalf of Hashem who wanted the other tribes to fully embrace Binyamin after they had almost decimated the tribe. He compared this to Abraham Lincoln’s appointment of Andrew Johnson as Military Governor of Tennessee in 1862. Johnson, who was born in the former Confederate State of North Carolina, was a logical choice as Lincoln’s running mate in 1864 because Lincoln wanted to send a message of national unity in his re-election campaign after the Civil War. Thus he chose a former confederate leader – Johnson had served as Governor of Tennessee. Following their victory, Johnson became vice-president and after Lincoln’s assassination, he became the 17^th President of the United States.

Lee, Chani Merryl & Naomi join me in wishing you Shabbat Shalom! Rabbi Liebenberg.

This week’s YouTube message: https://youtu.be/xIuFgWJRBcU?si=U6ET6ysWVlrxC5WO

*Rosh Chodesh Sivan – Saturday night 16 & Sunday 17 May

Sivan is the month in which we celebrate Shavuot. On the 1^st of the month, the Israelites arrived at Mt Sinai. Tachnun is not recited from the 1^st Sivan to the day after Shavuot (8^th Sivan) inclusive. The Molad (appearance of the new moon) is on Shabbat 16 May at 18h02 and 15 chalakim (a chelek, literally a “portion”, is a Talmudic measure of time equal to one-eighteenth of a minute, or 3 and 1/3 seconds). 

Yom HaMeyuchas – Monday 18 May

The second day of Sivan is referred to as Yom HaMeyuchas, the Day of Distinction. On whatever day of the week the 2^nd of Sivan falls, Yom Kippur will occur on the same day of the week in the coming year. For more on the significance of this day, read the chapter in Rabbi Liebenberg’s book entitled, ‘The Lonely Day’, page 301.

Shloshet Yemei Hagbalah – Tuesday 19, Wednesday 20 and Thursday 21 May

The 3^rd, 4^th and 5^th days of Sivan are referred to as the “three days of surrounding the mountain.” On these days, the Nation of Israel prepared to receive the Torah on Shavuot. The laws of mourning that apply during the period of the Omer cease on the morning of the first day (Tuesday).