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<font size=3>There have been times when people have criticized me for
sending out messages that contain negative information about
people. The accusation is that what I sent out is Loshon Harah, and
I am not allowed to disseminate such information. They claim that
even if the information is widely known and has appeared in the
media, one is not allowed to distribute it further. In light of
this, I present the commentary of RSRH on what Shimon and Levi did as it
appears in the new translation of his commentary to Bereshis 34: 25 -
31.<br><br>
Let me make it clear that I am in no way putting myself in the same
category as RSRH. I am simply looking for comments on this
issue.<br><br>
YL<br><br>
</font><font size=4><b>25 </font><font size=3><i>It was on the third day,
when they were in pain, that two sons of Ya’akov, Shimon and Levi,
Dinah’s brothers, each took his<br>
sword, and they came upon the city, which was resting trustfully, and
killed every male.<br><br>
</i></font><font size=4>26 </font><font size=3><i>They put Chamor and
Shechem, his son, to death by the sword, and took Dinah out of Shechem’s
house and left.<br><br>
</i></font><font size=4>27 </font><font size=3><i>Ya’akov’s sons came
upon the slain and plundered the city, because they had defiled their
sister.<br><br>
</i></font><font size=4>28 </font><font size=3><i>They took their sheep,
their cattle, and their donkeys — those that were in the city and those
that were in the field.<br><br>
</i></font><font size=4>29 </font><font size=3><i>They also plundered all
their wealth and they carried off into captivity their children and
women, and everything that was<br>
in the houses.<br><br>
</i></font><font size=4>30 </font><font size=3><i>Ya’akov then said to
Shimon and Levi: You have brought me trouble to discredit me among the
inhabitants of the land, the<br>
Kena’ani and the Perizzi. I am only few in number, and they will unite
against me and smite me, and [then] I and my household<br>
will be destroyed.<br><br>
</i></font><font size=4>31 </font><font size=3><i>They said: Shall he,
then, treat our sister like a harlot?<br><br>
</i></font><font size=4>25–31 </b></font><font size=3>Here begins the
part deserving of censure, and we do not need to cover<br>
it up. Had they killed only Shechem and Chamor, the brothers would<br>
certainly have been in the right. But they did not spare the
unarmed,<br>
defenseless men who were at their mercy. What is more, they looted<br>
the city. They made all the inhabitants of the place pay for a crime<br>
committed by their master. There was no justification for this.
Hence,<br>
Ya’akov berates them: “You have brought me trouble by your actions.<br>
Our reputation, our honor, were as clear as crystal, but now you
have<br>
sullied them, you have made me odious even among the Canaanites<br>
and the Perizzites. In addition to doing wrong, you also acted
imprudently,<br>
for we are so few in number . . .”<br><br>
Their one reply, <i>ha k'zonah</i> reveals their whole motive. The lord
of<br>
the manor would never have taken such liberties if the maiden in
question<br>
had not been a foreign, friendless Jewish girl. This thought makes<br>
Shimon and Levi realize that there are times when even the family of<br>
Ya’akov must take up the sword in defense of purity and honor. As
long<br>
as men on earth will respect the rights of only those who have the<br>
power, Ya’akov will have to know how to wield the sword. Ya’akov’s<br>
sons did not <i>want </i>to act prudently. They wanted to make others
fear<br>
them, so that no one would ever dare do such a thing to them again.<br>
Ya’akov’s daughters are not to be left vulnerable, at the mercy of
others.<br><br>
<b>Nevertheless, by killing innocent people for a crime committed by<br>
the high and mighty, Ya’akov’s sons went too far. </b>[My
emphasis]<br><br>
It is interesting that the account of this incident immediately
follows<br>
the account of the meeting between Ya’akov and Esav. There, we saw a<br>
flash of <i>kol Ya'akov</i>, an awakening of humane emotion in Esav’s
heart, and<br>
we recognized in this the first spark of humaneness that someday
will<br>
develop fully even in Esav. Here, we briefly see the sword of Esav
in<br>
the hands of the sons of Ya’akov. From this we learn, for the
clarification<br>
of Jewish history, the following truth:<br><br>
If, in the course of time, we have become a people that is revolted<br>
by the shedding of blood; if we have become the gentlest, the most<br>
merciful of nations, this does not mean that we are weak or
cowardly.<br>
The final days of our existence as a Jewish state demonstrated our
courage<br>
and fighting spirit, such that the strongest of Esav’s legions had
to<br>
be summoned to fight us. We, too, <i>can </i>wield the sword; we, too,
are<br>
<i>capable </i>of being bloodthirsty. Our gentleness and humaneness are
products<br>
of the education that God has given us through our history and<br>
through His Torah.<br><br>
It is only the methods and the proportions of their action that made<br>
Shimon and Levi deserving of censure. The motive that catalyzed<br>
Shimon and Levi, and the purpose they sought to achieve, were holy<br>
and justified. The spirit that moved them was indispensable for a
family<br>
that matured into a nation as “Ya’akov,” which had to endure all
forms<br>
of hardship and humiliation, and yet was called upon to stand tall
and<br>
persevere by resilience of spirit and nobility of mind in an
eternal,<br>
unparalleled march through the ages.<br><br>
We will see the aged father even on his deathbed cursing the
excessive<br>
violence employed by his sons, but at the same time blessing the
motive<br>
and the spirit which inspired their action. We will see the position
he<br>
assigned to Shimon and Levi within Ya’akov-Yisrael, a position of
powerlessness<br>
and dispersion, so that the sword in their hands would never<br>
again break all bounds of moderation. However, their strong spirit,
ever<br>
mindful of Israel’s moral and spiritual dignity and destiny, was to
remain<br>
alive and active as a reviving, sustaining, and saving force in all
spheres<br>
of the nation (see Commentary below, 49:7). The same sword that Levi<br>
wielded here against a foe from without to save his sister’s honor
will<br>
later be ruthlessly turned by the <i>Levi’im </i>against their own
brethren, to<br>
raise them from the depths of their moral corruption, to raise and
save<br>
without restraint or discrimination:<i>v'es achiv lo hakir v'es banov lo
yadah <br>
</i>(<i>Devarim </i>33:9).<br><br>
These traits, as revealed in this incident and as will be revealed
in<br>
future incidents, can, in the final analysis, explain why it was
necessary<br>
to refine and purify this race of men in the “iron crucible” of
suffering,<br>
to qualify them as the chosen models to be emulated by all mankind<br>
for its salvation. Not because we are a tractable nation, but
precisely<br>
because we are a stubborn and unyielding nation — <i>az she'bumos</i>, as
our<br>
Sages put it (see <i>Beitzah </i>25b) — did God choose us as His
instrument,<br>
forging us into the toughest, most enduring steel so that, by
winning<br>
us over to His Will, He might demonstrate the wondrous power of His<br>
providence and the wondrous power of His Torah.<br><br>
<br>
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