שימשון and יעקב

          Recently in נביא, we have been learning about שימשון the שופט. At the same time, in חומש, we have been learning about יעקב אבינו. In נביא one of the main things we said about שימשון was that he was very manipulative and willing to get what he wanted in perhaps not the most scrupulous of ways. We also said that towards the end of his life it seems as if שימשון had a major decline in spirituality and closeness to 'ה.

In חומש, on the other hand, we learned that though יעקב was very spiritual and close to 'ה, he had to become more worldly in order to be deserving of the political part of ברכת אברהם. I think that if the two had lived during the same time period and in the same geographical area, (providing they would be the same as they are where and when they are now) they could have balanced each other out. שימשון could have taught יעקב some of his ways of interacting with the rest of the world and יעקב could have taught שימשון some of his spirituality and control so that both could have the qualities they needed. We can see very obviously that שימשון would have benefited immensely, as would have all of  בנ"י. Also, we can see that even though יעקב seems to be gaining political prowess and worldliness, he still is very non confrontational and non political at the core (with his family). Whether that is a good thing or a bad thing, שימשון still might have been able to teach יעקב a few things about dealing with other people.