In the Haftarah this week we read the story of Samson from the book of Judges. There we learn that Manoah and his wife, members of the Tribe of Dan, were childless. This challenge of infertility resonates with many other important stories in the Bible. One day an angel appeared to Manoah’s wife, informing her that she will give birth to a child. This child, the angel instructed, was to be a lifetime Nazirite. Clearly this is the connection to Naso, this week’s Torah portion, where we learn the Nazirite Laws. In addition, the angel instructed her to abstain from all foods forbidden to a nazirite — such as wine or ritually impure foods — from the moment she would conceive. In this way Samson was going to be a Gold Star Nazir living the life of a Nazir in utero . The angel further informed the woman that her son will save the Jewish people from the Philistine oppression they were enduring at that time. And then the text goes on to say, “The woman bore a son, and she named him Shimshon (שמשון) – Samson. The boy grew up, and GOD blessed him.” (Numbers 13:24)

While this story follows the model of so many other heroes of the Bible in conception, the test is notably different because it does not share the rationale for his name. Why was he given the name Shimshon?

In Hebrew Shimshon (שמשון) is derived from the Hebrew word “shemesh” (שמש), which means “sun”. His name means “sun” or “sun child”. Samson is known for his incredible strength and struggles against the Philistines. But what is the rationale for it?

As much as Samson is known for his valor in fighting the Philistines, he is more famous for his downfall than his strengths. His is a tragic tale of a powerful but flawed individual who lost his strength and eventually his life due to his own actions and lustful desires. He was betrayed by Delilah, a woman hired by the Philistines, who tricked him into revealing the secret to his strength – his uncut hair. This led to his capture, the gouging out of his eyes, and his imprisonment. Despite his final act of strength in bringing down a temple and killing many Philistines, his downfall highlights the consequences of unchecked sin and the importance of remaining faithful to God.

This image reminds me of my of favorite thoughts in the Talmud. We know that there are 613 commandments, but from where does that number come from? We learn in the Talmud:

Rabbi Simlai expounded: Six hundred and thirteen commandments were communicated to Moshe, three hundred and sixty-five negative commandments, corresponding to the number of solar days, and two hundred and forty-eight positive commandments, corresponding to the number of the members of a person’s body. (Makkot 23b)

Rabbi Simlai teaches that the negative commandments form the 365 days of the sun and the positive from the 248 limbs of the body. From his time in utero he lived an enhanced life of additional commandments of the Nazir and he had enhanced power. Does his power come from the negative commandments associated with the sun?

All of this brings me to the interesting parallels between Superman and Samson.

In his unpublished memoir Superman’s co-creator Jerry Siegel credits a “strong influence” of Samson on the character of Superman. In his early comics, Superman is repeatedly touted as “possessing the strength of a dozen Samsons.” In “Superman #2” (September 1939) he knocks down the support pillars of a great hall, proclaiming that “a guy named Samson once had the same idea!” And on the cover of issue #4 (March 1940), he topples columns to bring down the roof atop scurrying crooks. While Samson was a judge, they both fought for truth and justice. All of these, Siegel wrote, were deliberate homages. Samson and Superman share some similarities as figures of extraordinary strength, but their origins and stories differ significantly.

Samson, a figure from the Bible, was a Nazirite whose immense strength came from God’s power, specifically “the Spirit of the Lord”. Superman, a fictional character, derives his powers from the yellow sun of Earth, which activates his Kryptonian abilities. But is the connection to sun also another level of homage to Samson? We also know that Kryptonite is Superman’s Achilles heal. Was Delilah Samson’s Kryptonite?

Each of should be blessed to be the superhero in the saga of our life. We need to know the source of our inner power and of course we all need to be careful around our Kryptonite.