1 Shevat · Yahrzeit
Shaul HaMelech
Shaul ben Kish of the tribe of Binyamin
Yahrzeit - 1 Shevat Burial place - the city of Yavesh Gilad (Jabesh-Gilead) (in the eastern part of the Jordan, opposite Beit Shean);The first Jewish king. He was born in the year 2823 from Creation, in the 12th year of the rule of the judge Shimshon (the mighty Samson). At the age of 59 he was anointed as king by the prophet Shmuel (who, incidentally, was 9 years younger than Shaul). He died at the age of 61 (four months after Shmuel).
His life is described in detail in the First Book of Shmuel. From it we learn of the future king's first meeting with the prophet, who already knew of the great role Shaul was destined to play in Jewish history. The prophet declared him king twice: once when he anointed him in fulfillment of the prophecy that Shaul would become the savior of the Jews from the Plishtim (Philistines), and a second time in Mitzpah, where the lot by which the people chose their king fell on Shaul. Very soon he was able to show that his selection was deserved, when under his leadership the Jews crushed the huge army of the king of Amon, who had besieged the cities of Gilad, the ancestral Jewish territory east of the Golan. He also fought successfully against the Plishtim. But after Shaul defeated Amalek in battle and did not kill the king of the Amalekites, the prophet Shmuel announced to Shaul that Ha-Shem was rejecting his kingship, and secretly anointed the young Dovid as king - the very Dovid whom Shaul, unaware of this, had brought close to himself. Yet as soon as Dovid won his battle against the giant Golyat (Goliath), which the people greeted with great enthusiasm, the king began to regard him with suspicion. Over time this suspicion grew into open hostility and hatred. Dovid was forced to flee for his life. Shaul spent his final years in ceaseless pursuit of Dovid.
He fell together with his sons in battle against the Plishtim, never having managed to fully free the Jewish people from their rule.
Shaul was the first Jewish king after the period when judges ruled the people. But even more than that, he was someone who can rightly be called a national hero.
A segula connected to the grandfather of King Shaul The grandfather of King Shaul - Avi'el ben Tzror: "And there was a man of the right hand (Binyamin), and his name was Kish ben Avi'el ben Tzror ben Bechorat ben Afiach - a son of my right hand: a mighty man of valor." (Melachim I, 9:1) An interesting segula - lighting candles made of beeswax for the success and good fortune of one's children on the 29th of every month - the day before Rosh Chodesh. This tradition originates from the grandfather of King Shaul - Avi'el ben Tzror - and it was in the merit of his lighting candles on this day every month that his grandson was blessed with the kingship. His nickname was "Ner," since he was the first to introduce public lighting in the streets. He collected money from the community and set up lamps in dark places. As for the father of King Shaul - Kish ben Avi'el, he sent his son out after his lost donkeys, and it was in this way that Shaul reached the prophet Shmuel, who anointed him as king. And it is more likely he who is mentioned among the ancestors of Mordechai the Jew in the Book of Esther: "A Jew was in Shushan the capital; and his name was Mordechai ben Yair ben Shimi ben Kish, a man of the right hand." (Book of Esther, chapter 2, verse 5). The Babylonian Talmud (Tractate Megillah, page 12) states that there were many generations between Shimi and Kish (the father of King Shaul). But it is said that he was "a man of the right," meaning from the tribe of Binyamin. (Based on a lesson by Rabbi Alexander Tzvi Sypkov)