Why Did Yaakov Get Angry at Shimon and Levi for Killing Shechem? â Daily Chizzuk by Rabbi Eliezer Berland Shlitâa
THE DAILY CHIZZUK BY MOREINU HARAV ELIEZER BERLAND SHLITâA â THE DISPUTE BETWEEN THE RAMBAM AND RAMBAN REGARDING THE KILLING OF SHECHEM BY SHIMON AND LEVI AFTER THE ABDUCTION OF THEIR SISTER DINA SUNDAY, 6 IYAR 1785 â THE RAMBAN CLAIMS THAT THE RAMBAM IS STRINGENT IN THIS DEBATE, BUT IN THE END, HE HIMSELF IS EVEN MORE STRINGENT. These are his holy words: A PERSON AT THE AGE OF 13 MUST ALREADY KNOW THAT HE NEEDS TO PRAY IN A MINYAN. HE NEEDS TO PRAY THREE PRAYERS IN A MINYAN FROM THE AGE OF 13! SHIMON AND LEVI AT THE AGE OF 13 WENT AND KILLED AN ENTIRE CITY -- SHECHEM. IF SOMEONE ABDUCTS THEIR SISTER, THEY KILL THE WHOLE CITY! âFor having sold meâ (Bereishit 45:5). Yaakov wanted to act [to resolve the incident with Shechem] using diplomatic means. Shechem, Chamor â it could be handled diplomatically. You donât need to actually kill people â a complete city. Everyone would have come to defend Shechem. You couldnât go to war with Shechem â everyone would come. 24,000 would come to defend them. In the end, Yaakov killed hundreds of thousands â âwith my sword and my bowâ (Bereishit 48:22). So the Chatam Sofer says that this was the drasha (Torah exposition) of Shimon and Levi. From where do we learn that one needs to give a drasha at their bar mitzvah? From Shimon and Levi! Because thereâs a dispute between the Rambam (Maimonides) and Ramban (Nachmanides) on this issue. The Ramban attacks the Rambam, but in the end, he himself is more stringent than the Rambam. The Ramban says that they simply have the status of animals. He says that their blood is considered like animal blood. In the end, he is even more stringent than the Rambam. The Rambam says that what Shechem did has the status of theft, because a Noahide [a non-Jew] is not liable for an unmarried woman. Even if he rapes her, he is not liable for an unmarried woman, but he is liable for theft. If you stole a girl from her father, the entire city is liable for theft. Here, bring the Sfat Emet, parashat Vayishlach [the Rav shlitâa asks the attendant to bring the book]. He says that this was the drasha of Shimon and Levi. We have an entire Sfat Emes saying that this was the drasha of Shimon and Levi. According to the Ramban, they deserved death because they were like animals, that they descended to the level of animals and their blood was considered like animal blood. According to Rambam, they were liable for theft. Everyone needs to learn the Ramban with the parashah. Shimon and Levi were right. This was the drasha in honor of their bar mitzvah. They wanted to rescue their sister, but why did you have to get rid of the whole city? Kill Shechem alone. âThe sons of Yaakov answered Shechem and his father, Chamor, with deceptionâ (Bereishit 34:13). They ask: How could such Tzaddikim, Tzaddikei Yesod Olam (foundations of the world), who in the future would have gates at the entrance to Jerusalem [named after them] â that one person would enter Reuven Gate, another Shimon Gate, another Levi Gate. There are gates, each one according to its tribe.  You canât just enter straight in. They test each person to see if he is worthy of entering Jerusalem. The next world isnât like this world, where everyone just enters. SO HOW COULD HAVE SUCH TZADDIKIM HAVE DONE THIS TO SHECHEM? BUT REALLY YAAKOV SHOULD HAVE BEEN THE FIRST ONE [TO SAVE DINA]! THEY TELL HIM: NOT ONLY ARE YOU ANGRY AT THEM WHEN THEY SAVED YOUR DAUGHTER AND YOU DONâT EVEN IDENTIFY WITH THEM, BUT YOU SHOULD HAVE BEEN THE FIRST ONE TO GO AND SAVE YOUR DAUGHTER â âWITH MY SWORD AND MY BOW.â  THEY TOOK YOUR DAUGHTER, ABDUCTED YOUR DAUGHTER â GO FIGHT THEM! GO INTO SHECHEMâS HOUSE AND ATTACK THEM! âIF THEY SAW SOMEONE VIOLATE ONE OF [THE MITZVOT] AND DID NOT TRY HIM TO EXECUTE HIMâ (RAMBAM, HILCHOT MELACHIM 9:14). IF SOMEONE DOESNâT JUDGE, HE IS KILLED. The Rambam is a million times more stringent than the Ramban. True, on one hand, the Ramban is more stringent than the Rambam. [According to the Rambam,] itâs not enough that every Noahide is obligated to execute another Noahide [if he transgresses]. If he doesnât execute him, then he himself is liable to execution. If you saw a Noahide commit a transgression, stealing a child, for instance, and you donât kill him, you yourself are liable to the death penalty. So since the people of Shechem didnât kill Shechem themselves, they were liable to death â this is the opinion of the Rambam. Either all the people of Shechem kill them, and if not, then the people of Shechem are liable to death for not having killed Shechem. Shechem ben Chamor needed to be executed. Chamor ben Chamor. If you see someone take paper without permission, paper thatâs worth less than a peruta [the minimal value thatâs considered legally significant], then [the thief] is liable to execution. He needs to ask for permission: âCan I take the tissue?â If thereâs an Arab worker here that brings things from the grocery store, and right now his nose is dripping, he needs to ask, âDo you permit me to take a tissue?â If he takes without permission, heâs liable to execution. And if I donât execute him, I myself am liable to execution. According to the Rambam, if I donât kill him, then I am liable to death â terrifying things! The Ramban says that this cannot be, but in the end, the Ramban is more stringent than the Rambam. The Rambam says that every Noahide who doesnât kill the other Noahide is liable to death. Perhaps he took tissue without permission, drank a glass of water without permission. The Ramban comes along and in the end is more stringent than the Rambam. He says that they have the status of animals. People who do these kinds of acts have the status of animals. Their blood is water. They arenât even human. [AFTER ALL THIS, WHY DIDNâT YAAKOV KILL SHECHEM HIMSELF, AND EVEN REBUKED SHIMON AND LEVI WHO DID SO?!] BUT THE RAMBAN SAYS THAT [THE PEOPLE OF] SHECHEM TRULY WANTED TO CONVERT. HE SAYS THAT YAAKOVâS ANGER [AT SHIMON AND LEVI] WAS ONLY BECAUSE THEY TRULY, TRULY WANTED TO CONVERT, AND THEY WERE ALREADY TRUE CONVERTS, AND IT WAS FORBIDDEN TO KILL THEM. Bezrat Hashem, may we merit to a complete redemption speedily in our days, Amen. https://vimeo.com/1081185088