The story of Samson in a nutshell:

Around 3,000 years ago, the Jews of Israel found themselves subjugated to the Philistines, who  invaded, oppressed and persecuted them terribly. An angel came to an Israelite couple and told them that they would bear a son who would save the Jewish people, but that he must be raised and live as a Nazir- someone who “separates” themselves from worldly pleasures and is strictly dedicated to divine pursuits. There was also a condition:

Samson would be forbidden to cut his hair and through it he would attain his herculean strength.

So, Samson not only grew to be the true original hulk, but a righteous, pious scholar- so much so that he was chosen as ruling Judge for the Jews of the time. But Samson knew he was destined for more. His people were suffering so he devised a plan. Samson schemed to hit the Philistines, but fearful of retaliation against the Jews, he decided to act as a crazy lone wolf so that his actions could not be traced back to the Jews. His plan was simple: Take a Philistine wife as a pretext to infiltrate the enemy.

In the beginning, Samson had the Philistines playing straight into his plan. They too used his wife, encouraging her to discover and reveal Samson’s source of strength and how to neutralize it.

Every time Samson realized his wife’s trickery- he went out and attacked the enemy. And that’s how Samson protected the Jews for 20 years.

Then he met Delilah. Until then, Samson had been in control. But with Delilah, he fell in love. Promised riches by the Philistines to deceive her husband, Delilah pushed Samson mercilessly, crying that if he really loved her he would reveal the secret to his strength.

The Talmud says that when they were intimate, “at the moment immediately before his completion of the act of intercourse, she slipped away from beneath him.”

Tortured by Delilah’s sexual games, Samson finally revealed his secret. Delilah told the enemy and as they cut his hair while he slept, the spirit of God left him. Mortally weakened, Samson was captured by the enemy.

The Philistines gouged out Samson’s eyes- which according to the Mishna, was a measure for measure. Initially, Samson’s eyes led him to the women that would help accomplish his mission, but it was also his eyes that ultimately misled him, bringing about his downfall.

The final scene of Samson is harrowing. Betrayed by the woman he loved, bereft of his strength, blinded and brought out before the Philistines to dance at the feast celebrating his capture, he is then chained between two pillars. So he calls out to God one final time to save him. God returns Samson’s strength and he pulls on the pillars, bringing the building down- killing both 3,000 Philistines and himself.

The story of Samson isn’t here to teach us of the failings of man- how he followed his sexual inclinations and how they brought about his ruin. The lesson here is of the strange potential of sex and it’s power to run off course, derailing even the mightiest of men. Samson’s strength was divinely inspired- it is said that Samson was actually lame in both legs- only when activated by God could Samson not only stand, but fight and win.

But there was one struggle that Samson could not overpower- the one within himself, weakened by his desires. When it came to love he became human and  vulnerable. And though he was punished by God for straying, he was also forgiven and granted his strength to rectify his error, channeling his humanity for divine purpose one last time.