Shalom Friends;
This week, our Parshat HaShevua — Parshat Vayishlach is being sponsored by Tzvi and Shari Gherman and family of Ramat Beit Shemesh in honor of Vayishlach being Tzvi’s Bar Mitzvah Parsha and dedicated for the safety of the Chayalim and the liberation of all remaining hostages and their return home home without experiencing any further harm, as well as for the good health and security of kol Am Yisrael. and for a Refuah Shleima for R’ Shlomo Shmuel Ben Malka Sara. To Mishpochat Gherman, many thanks for your sponsorship and your continued kindnesses.
You can celebrate a Simcha — a birth, a Bar/Bat Mitzvah, a Chassuna or other Simcha event in your life, or commemorate a Yahrtzeit of a loved one, or for whatever other reason by sponsoring a Parshat HaShevua.
Please forward to your relatives and friends and encourage them to sponsor a Parshat HaShevua. And please be in contact with me with any questions, or for further details.
Best Regards,
Moshe Burt
olehchadash@yahoo.com
skype: mark.burt3
**********************************************
In introducing our Parshat Vayishlach, this author has, in previous years, discussed Yaakov’s fight with the moloch, his preparations for, and his confrontation with his estranged brother Eisev. This Parsha always seems to bring to mind that old Four Tops tune: “If you bite My neck, I’ll turn to Stone…”
This year’s Vayishlach vort is composed in the context of the ongoing War of Simchat Torah, in its second year, the ingenious and miraculous techniques utilized by Israel’s Chayalim and Mossad to assassinate Nasrallah, Sinwar and large numbers of Hamas and Hezbollah terror leaders and to eliminate large numbers of Hamas and Hezbollah’s army of terrorists. And, as this vort is composed, President-Elect Donald Trump (who we remember previously held the presidency from 2017 to 20 January, 2021) has begun putting together his cabinet and other officials. This author views Shechem’s abduction and assault of Dina and the response of Shimon and Levi with an eye toward the ongoing War of Simchat Torah and lessons learned or to be learned.
As Yaakov and Eisev had their climactic reunion and then continued on their separate ways, The Artscroll Stone Edition Chumash records;
“Yaakov journeyed to Succotah [transliteration as per the Hebrew in the Artscroll Stone Chumash] and built himself a house and for his livestock he made shelters; he therefore called the place Succot. Yaakov arrived… at the city of Shechem which is in the land Canaan… and he encamped before the city. He bought the parcel of land upon which he pitched his tent from the children of Chamor, Shechem’s father, for one hundred kesitahs. He set up an altar there and proclaimed; ‘G’d, the G’d of Israel.” (Sefer Breish’t, Perek 33, posukim 17 – 20 as rendered to English in The Artscroll Stone Edition Chumash)
Now provided is an excerpt from Rabbi Shmuel Goldin’s Parsha Summary, in his sefer, “Unlocking the Torah Text”, Sefer Breish’t on our Parsha Vayishlach (page 176) :
When the patriarch’s daughter, Dina, leaves the camp to see the women of the land, she is abducted and assaulted by Shechem, the son of Chamor, the ruler of the area. Shechem asks his father, Chamor, to solicit Yaakov for Dina’s hand in marriage. Chamor presents the request and also suggests that Yaakov’s family settle among the Shechemites and that the two peoples intermarry.
Rabbi Goldin now provides context on Shechem’s abduction and assault of Dina, Chamor’s solicitation of Yaakov on behalf of his son Shechem, Yaakov’s sons’ insistence on mass circumcision of the males of the city and the actions of Shimon and Levi (page 194) :
When Chamor presents the request to Yaakov, he also proposes that Yaakov’s family, as a whole. settle among the Shechemites and intermarry with the local population. Yaakov’s sons insist that, as a prerequisite to this arrangement, all male inhabitants of Shechem undergo ritual circumcision.
On the third day following the mass circumcision, Yaakov’s sons, Shimon and Levi, enter the city and, taking advantage of the weakened state of the inhabitants, slaughter all of the males. They then lay waste to the entire city.
Rabbi Goldin continues by asking several questions regarding the actions of his two sons and discussing the commentaries’ struggles with the moral dimensions of Shimon’s and Levi’s action (pages 194-199) :
Are Shimon and Levi morally justified when they avenge the assault upon their sister? Can the destruction of an entire city be condoned as a response to the crimes of its prince? ….Was Yaakov complicit in the planned deceit of the Shechemites? If so, why does he later criticize his sons Shimon and Levi? If not, how could he [Yaakov] have possibly agreed to a plan that would have allowed for the assimilation of his family into Shechemite society? Yaakov only reprimands Shimon and Levi for making their family vulnerable to attack. Did Yaakov object to his sons’ actions on moral grounds as well?
….The commentators struggle with the moral dimensions of this difficult episode. The Rambam… find[s] legal grounds to justify both the deceit of the citizens of Shechem and the violent actions of Shimon and Levi.
The nations of the world, says the Rambam, are responsible to observe the seven Noachide laws upon pain of death.
Dina’s assailant clearly transgressed the Noachide law that prohibits abduction [i.e. sexual immorality]. The entire society of Shechem, however, incurred guilt as well. One of the seven Noachide laws mandates the establishment of courts of law…. obligates all… [other] societies to establish judicial systems to enforce the entire Noachide code. When the citizens of Shechem failed to maintain this legal standard by bringing the prince to justice, they, themselves, became liable to the death penalty. Shimon and Levi were, therefore, justified in exacting punishment upon the city. (Rav Goldin citing Rambam, Mishne Torah, Hilchot Melachim 9:14)
The Ramban objects to the Rambam’s interpretation of the Noachide code on two… levels. Firstly…, the requirement to establish courts of law refers to monetary issues and not to enforcement of the other Noachide laws. Secondly, one is guilty of a capital crime under the Noachide code only if an action is actually committed…. Although Shechem himself was certainly guilty of a punishable offense under the Noachide code, in this instance the citizens of the city were not.
The population of the city… was certainly guilty of other capital crimes unrelated to the event before us, such as idolatry and sexual immorality. Yaakov [if one presumes that he knew his sons’ plans to put all men of Shechem to death] and his sons had no legal right to exact punishment [on the population of Shechem] for those crimes. (Rav Goldin citing Ramban on Sefer Breish’t, Perek 34, posuk 13)
[Rabbi Goldin then writes, as this author understands and attributed to the Ramban] when Yaakov’s family demanded that the inhabitants of the city in Shechem undergo circumcision [in exchange for the family’s acquiescence to Shechem’s marrying Dinah], they fully believed that the Shechemites would not comply, that the proposed agreement would collapse, and that Dina would be returned without further harm. [The Ramban further understands that] Yaakov’s understanding of his son’s plans was, that if by some chance, the Shechemites did agree to circumcise themselves, Yaakov’s sons would enter the city of Shechem on the third day, take advantage of the weakness of the inhabitants and free their sister without further violence.
Rabbi Goldin continues in citing the Ramban and other unnamed commentators (ibid) :
Shimon and Levi, however, took matters into their own hands, violently avenged their sister’s honor and incurred their father’s reprimand. (This and the above paragraph: Rav Goldin citing Ramban on Sefer Breish’t, Perek 34, posuk 13)
Other commentators see hints within the text that the violent actions of Shimon and Levi were performed in self defense against an enemy that intended Yaakov and his family serious harm.
Clearly, these scholars maintain, the Shechemites were only going along with the agreement for personal gain at the expense of Yaakov and his family. At the first possible opportunity, Chamor and his subjects would have turned against Yaakov. Shimon and Levi acted to forestall such an eventuality. (Rav Goldin citing Da’at Zekeinim, Miba’alei Hatosafot, Sefer Breish’t, Perek 34, posuk 25)
Others [commentators] building on a Midrashic source [Rabbi Goldin citing Pesikta Zutrata, Sefer Breish’t, Perek 34, posuk 22-23] point to the words of Chamor as he convinces the Shechemites to undergo circumcision: “Their [Yaakov and his family’s] livestock, their possessions and all of their animals, will they not be ours?” (Sefer Breish’t, Perek 34, posuk 23)
Rabbi Goldin concludes (ibid, page 199):
Violence is neither totally condoned nor totally condemned; some acts are neither totally right nor totally wrong. Issues of good and evil are presented with all of their complexity in the Torah text. We are reminded that moral truth often lies beneath layers and layers of complicated contextual concerns.
There are many points and lessons to be drawn from Shimon’s and Levi’s actions, including the divergent (adjective: differing, deviating) paths they took at critical points during Am Yisrael’s forty years in Bamidbar and the impacts of these separate paths.. But this vort is focused on the deceit of Chamor and his son Shechem, as with the deceptions of Avimelech and Ephron — discussed in previous vorts. This author comes back to deceit by enemies and frequency of our acquiescence, for whatever reason, throughout our history through to modern-day and the War of Simchat Torah.
Am Yisrael, the government of Israel and the IDF military command must learn to read and accurately discern lies and deceit, and not let their personal biases and political agendas get in the way.
And by the way, it’s great that Israel knows to use deceptions against the terrorist enemy: Activate your pagers!
May it be that our Chayalim, regardless of the machinations of their high command, emerge totally victorious — eradicating from the face of the earth Hamas, their terrorist buddies and the so-called “innocent civilians” of Gaza who joined with Hamas in their murderous deeds, that the Chayalim return home whole — physically, mentally and spiritually and that the Chayalim Liberate and bring home all remaining hostages. And may we see the restoration of true unity within Am Yisrael.
May we, the B’nei Yisrael be zocha that our brethren — the refugee families from Gush Katif be permanently re-settled in Gush Katif, once the IDF, by the Yad Hashem, destructs and eradicates the wild beasts of Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Hezbollah, all other terror entities, and if necessary Iran, and that our brethren be made totally whole — be totally restituted for all that was stolen from them, that the thrice expelled families of Amona be restored to their rebuilt homes and the oft-destroyed Yeshiva buildings in Homesh be rebuilt, as well as the buildings of Yishuv Elchanan, all at total government expense. May our Chayalim return from battle unharmed — physically, mentally and spiritually and may all of the remaining hostages brutally taken by the wild beasts of Hamas be liberated and brought home to their families. Baruch Hashem that our dear brother Jonathan Pollard is now in his fourth year at home in Eretz Yisrael and continues in a new chapter in his life. May Esther Yocheved bat Yechiel Avraham have an aliyah in Shemayim and may her spirit and memory continue to lift Jonathan to at least 120 years. May the MIAs be liberated alive and returned to us in ways befitting Al Kiddush Hashem — as with the return in April, 2019, via Russia, of the remains of Zachariah Baumel, as should the remains of the two chayalim from the Gaza War of ten years ago. May we have the courage and strength to stand up and physically prevent the possibility of Chas V’Challila any future eviction of Jews from their homes and prevent Chas V’Challila the handing of Jewish land over to anyone, let alone to enemies sworn to Israel’s and Judaism’s destruction and eradication. May we see, in 5785, the REAL Jews from the Ukraine and Russia as well as the US and Canada, the real Jews via matrilineal descent, make Aliyah enmass — via thorough review by Misrad HaPanim. And may we soon and finally see the total end to the Communist Chinese Wuhan Lab corona virus pandemic and all like viruses and variants. May we fulfill Hashem’s blueprint of B’nei Yisrael as a Unique people — an Am Segula, not to be reckoned with as with “the nations” and may we be zocha to see the Moshiach, the Ge’ula Shlaima, as Dov Shurin sings; “Ki Karov Yom Hashem Al’Kol HaGoyim”, the Ultimate Redemption, bimhayrah b’yamainu — speedily, in our time”, — Achshav, Chik Chuk, Miyad, Etmol!!!
———————————————————
Moshe Burt, an Oleh, is a commentator on news and events in Israel and Founder and Director of The Sefer Torah Recycling Network. He lives in Ramat Beit Shemesh.
*********************************************************