ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Joab in rabbinic literature

Okay, so imagine you're playing with Lego blocks. You have different sizes and shapes of blocks and you want to build a really cool tower.

But sometimes, some of the blocks don't fit together perfectly. Maybe one block is a little too big or a little too small. You have to figure out what to do with these blocks so that your tower doesn't fall down.

In Jewish stories and teachings, there is a character named Joab. He was like a Lego master. He knew how to fit all the different pieces together, even if they didn't seem like they could work.

But sometimes, Joab used his skills in a tricky way. He would use pieces that didn't really fit together perfectly, but he would force them to work anyway. This could cause problems later on, like the tower falling apart.

In rabbinic literature, Joab is often used as an example of how to use skills and knowledge in a good way or a bad way. It's important to use our skills to help and build up others, but we have to be careful not to use them in a sneaky or damaging way.