תורה בדרכו של אלן וינר
Yisrael and Meira Wiener
Grandpa’s love of riddles and puzzles is one we also share. When it comes to Grandpa, look no further than his library, where you can quickly find a book chock-full of fun brain teasers and puzzles or, alternatively, a book about the history of riddles. Below is one such book about puzzles and riddles that Grandpa gave us, which I have read cover to cover:
These riddles are not just engrossing problems to pass the time; they demand that you think in unique ways and explore strategies you may not have tried before. There is always a solution waiting around the corner, as long as you have the creativity, intuition, and skill to find it.
I remember hanging around in my apartment one Motzei Shabbos when I got a call from Ma and Grandpa. “This is strange,” I thought to myself, “how often do Ma and Grandpa call me right after Shabbos?”
Of course, they were calling me about a riddle they had heard from their friend over the weekend about a method to shuffle a deck of cards, and wanted to see if I could solve it, just like Grandpa had. With some careful thought and strategy, I was able to figure it out. The answer was clearly accessible, as long as I had a deck of cards in hand and a curious mind.
I would not have been nearly as successful, however, if I were alive during the times of the Shoftim and challenged by Shimshon to solve his famous riddle, the only explicit riddle mentioned in Tanach. Following his wedding with an unnamed Philistine woman in Shoftim 14, Shimshon was assigned by the people of Timnah, as was the custom at the time, 30 companions to accompany him after the wedding. Shimshon’s first order of business was challenging them with a riddle, where the wager was 30 tunics and 30 sets of clothing:
(יב) וַיֹּ֤אמֶר לָהֶם֙ שִׁמְשׁ֔וֹן אָחֽוּדָה־נָּ֥א לָכֶ֖ם חִידָ֑ה אִם־הַגֵּ֣ד תַּגִּ֩ידוּ֩ אוֹתָ֨הּ לִ֜י שִׁבְעַ֨ת יְמֵ֤י הַמִּשְׁתֶּה֙ וּמְצָאתֶ֔ם וְנָתַתִּ֤י לָכֶם֙ שְׁלֹשִׁ֣ים סְדִינִ֔ים וּשְׁלֹשִׁ֖ים חֲלִפֹ֥ת בְּגָדִֽים׃
Then Samson said to them, “Let me propound a riddle to you. If you can give me the right answer during the seven days of the feast, I shall give you thirty linen tunics and thirty sets of clothing;
(יג) וְאִם־לֹ֣א תוּכְלוּ֮ לְהַגִּ֣יד לִי֒ וּנְתַתֶּ֨ם אַתֶּ֥ם לִי֙ שְׁלֹשִׁ֣ים סְדִינִ֔ים וּשְׁלֹשִׁ֖ים חֲלִיפ֣וֹת בְּגָדִ֑ים וַיֹּ֣אמְרוּ ל֔וֹ ח֥וּדָה חִידָתְךָ֖ וְנִשְׁמָעֶֽנָּה׃
but if you are not able to tell it to me, you must give me thirty linen tunics and thirty sets of clothing.” And they said to him, “Ask your riddle and we will listen.”
(יד) וַיֹּ֣אמֶר לָהֶ֗ם מֵהָֽאֹכֵל֙ יָצָ֣א מַאֲכָ֔ל וּמֵעַ֖ז יָצָ֣א מָת֑וֹק וְלֹ֥א יָכְל֛וּ לְהַגִּ֥יד הַחִידָ֖ה שְׁלֹ֥שֶׁת יָמִֽים׃
So he said to them, “Out of the eater came food, and out of the strong came something sweet.” For three days they could not solve the riddle.
To Shimshon, and Shimshon only, the answer was obvious. The other year, he had wrestled with and killed a lion in the vineyards of Timnah, and when he returned to that spot a few days later, he found a beehive inside.
The solution to the riddle was therefore, very clearly, bees living inside a lion carcass. Super easy, right? If you happened to be following Shimshon around in the vineyards of Timnah, then yes, it would be. Indeed, it makes for quite an unforgettable sight, to the point that Lyle’s Golden Syrup has made the lion carcass their company logo!
However, for any other person who had not seen the lion carcass, including the men challenged with the riddle, it would be impossible to solve. How was this fair? The answer to the riddle is in no way accessible or deductible with any reasonable stretch of the mind or imagination. Shimshon’s companions would surely be able to claim he was breaking the rules if they lost the challenge, so what was Shimshon’s strategy?
The Malbim discusses this story at length, dealing with this problem and multiple others that appear throughout the episode. He explains as follows:
החלק השני מהחידה שהוא מעז יצא מתוק, שלא היה אפשר שידעוה רק אם מצאו את הארי, וזה א"א, שא"כ היה שומע שמצאו ארי ודבש שדבר כזה יגידו ויספרו לדבר חידוש, ובזה ידע שאשתו גלתה להם, ויאמר אתם לא מצאתם חידתי, רצה לומר הגם שהגדתם חידתי, לא מצאתם אותה, רצה לומר לא מצאתם את הארי, רק אשתי היא עגלה בלתי מלומדה לחרוש, בה חרשתם, ולא החרישה רק הגידה.
The second part of the riddle, “from the strong came something sweet”, could not have been solved unless they had found the lion. That was impossible, for if they had heard that a lion with honey (inside it) was found, such a thing would have been reported and spoken of in public, and through this he knew that his wife revealed it to them. Therefore he said, “You have not found my riddle,” meaning, although you have solved my riddle, you have not really found it. In other words, you did not find the lion, but it was my wife, and “with my heifer you have plowed.” My wife was like a calf unfit for plowing, yet with her you plowed. She did not merely plow, but revealed it.
The Malbim explains that it was not a riddle per se, but a scavenger hunt. Shimshon had intended that his friends go out and find the lion with the honey inside, and then the solution would be obvious.
The Malbim derives this interpretation from the word וּמְצָאתֶ֔ם in Pasuk 12, which means to find. This word מצא is used both when Shimshon is presenting the riddle and when the men solve the riddle:
(יב) וַיֹּ֤אמֶר לָהֶם֙ שִׁמְשׁ֔וֹן אָחֽוּדָה־נָּ֥א לָכֶ֖ם חִידָ֑ה אִם־הַגֵּ֣ד תַּגִּ֩ידוּ֩ אוֹתָ֨הּ לִ֜י שִׁבְעַ֨ת יְמֵ֤י הַמִּשְׁתֶּה֙ וּמְצָאתֶ֔ם וְנָתַתִּ֤י לָכֶם֙ שְׁלֹשִׁ֣ים סְדִינִ֔ים וּשְׁלֹשִׁ֖ים חֲלִפֹ֥ת בְּגָדִֽים׃
Then Samson said to them, “Let me propound a riddle to you. If you can give me the right answer during the seven days of the feast, I shall give you thirty linen tunics and thirty sets of clothing;
(יח) וַיֹּ֣אמְרוּ לוֹ֩ אַנְשֵׁ֨י הָעִ֜יר בַּיּ֣וֹם הַשְּׁבִיעִ֗י בְּטֶ֙רֶם֙ יָבֹ֣א הַחַ֔רְסָה מַה־מָּת֣וֹק מִדְּבַ֔שׁ וּמֶ֥ה עַ֖ז מֵאֲרִ֑י וַיֹּ֣אמֶר לָהֶ֔ם לוּלֵא֙ חֲרַשְׁתֶּ֣ם בְּעֶגְלָתִ֔י לֹ֥א מְצָאתֶ֖ם חִידָתִֽי׃
On the seventh day the townspeople said to him before the end of the day: “What is sweeter than honey, and what is stronger than a lion?” He (Shimshon) said to them: “Had you not plowed with my heifer (his wife), you would not have solved my riddle!”
If the intention was for the men to solve a riddle, the Tanach would have likely used the word פתר, as it does with other puzzles in Tanach. For example, the Torah used the word פתר multiple times in describing Yosef’s interpretations of Pharaoh and his cellmates’ mysterious dreams.
וַיֹּאמְר֣וּ אֵלָ֔יו חֲל֣וֹם חָלַ֔מְנוּ וּפֹתֵ֖ר אֵ֣ין אֹת֑וֹ וַיֹּ֨אמֶר אֲלֵהֶ֜ם יוֹסֵ֗ף הֲל֤וֹא לֵֽאלֹהִים֙ פִּתְרֹנִ֔ים סַפְּרוּ־נָ֖א לִֽי׃
…
וַיֹּ֤אמֶר לוֹ֙ יוֹסֵ֔ף זֶ֖ה פִּתְרֹנ֑וֹ שְׁלֹ֙שֶׁת֙ הַשָּׂ֣רִגִ֔ים שְׁלֹ֥שֶׁת יָמִ֖ים הֵֽם׃
…
וְשָׁ֨ם אִתָּ֜נוּ נַ֣עַר עִבְרִ֗י עֶ֚בֶד לְשַׂ֣ר הַטַּבָּחִ֔ים וַ֨נְּסַפֶּר־ל֔וֹ וַיִּפְתר־לָ֖נוּ אֶת־חֲלֹמֹתֵ֑ינוּ אִ֥ישׁ כַּחֲלֹמ֖וֹ פָּתָֽר׃
The use of מצא with regard to Shimshon implies that the answer was to be found by searching the nearby areas.
Rav Eliyahu Elitzur in the Da’at Mikra Chumash takes this idea a step further, and explains why this challenge was especially relevant here.
היה זה אחד ממנהגי החתונה, שמנו חבורת בחורים לשמש בני לוייה של החתן ולנצח על המשתה והשמחה. הם היו חייבים לדרוש ולחקור בכל פרשת הנשואין, ולעמוד על כל הפרטים והמאורעות הקשורים בה, כדי לשמח אחר כך את לב המסבין בדברי חידודים ורמזים מאותו ענין…ולא יכלו להגיד — מהו האכל העז ומהו המאכל המתוק שיצא ממנו כי לא התחקו על עקבות שמשון ולא חקרו אחריו כראוי, מתוך שזלזלו בו. אלו יצאו המרעים — השושבינין לקראתו כפי שחייבם נמוסי תפקידם, היו רואים את עדת הדבורים בגוית האריה וכל פרטי המעשה היו נודעים להם. שלשת ימים — עד היום הששי של המשתה, כי ביום השלישי חד את החידה כאמור.
He explains that the purpose of assigning men to Shimshon after his wedding was not just that they would feast and drink with him, but to accompany him wherever he would go. They would serve as a dependable entourage, providing him company and support during the days surrounding the wedding.
If they had performed their duty diligently, they would have greeted Shimshon when he was coming to Timnah and have observed the lion carcass with the honey inside. The answer to the riddle would have been strikingly obvious. Shimshon cunningly presented them with a challenge that specifically targeted their laziness, as if to rebuke them for neglecting their one job.
This understanding, in a strange way, reflects the Gemara in Brachos 62a, where it is described how various Tannaim and Amoraim would follow their teachers into strange locations, like the bathroom or under their beds, to observe how they functioned in all capacities. There are many different ways to learn and grow. You can read books and solve puzzles, only leaving your chair to go to the bathroom or find something to eat. Alternatively, as with Shimshon and Chazal above, you could follow great people around, see what they’re seeing, learn what they’re learning, and watch how they approach the world.
With Grandpa, this second approach works quite well. Certainly, you could walk into Ma and Grandpa’s library in Allentown, find a book, plop down on the couch, and spend a lifetime reading. You probably still would not be able to finish all of Grandpa’s books, but you would certainly learn a great deal. However, another approach is to see what Grandpa is reading, research what he is researching, and ask him about it. Just by following Grandpa around for one day, you would learn a great deal more. After all, who else is learning the Meshech Chochmah’s thoughts on the Parshah and then studying the history of Jesus and Judaism in the same sitting? We know we can only think of one person like that. Grandpa, we hope to keep learning from you for many years to come, both from your seemingly endless knowledge and from the humility and kindness you bring to every interaction.
Happy Birthday!
