:ו. בְּסֹדָם אַל תָּבֹא נַפְשִׁי בִּקְהָלָם אַל תֵּחַד כְּבֹדִי כִּי בְאַפָּם הָרְגוּ אִישׁ וּבִרְצֹנָם עִקְּרוּ שׁוֹר
6. Let my soul not enter their counsel; my honor, you shall not join their assembly, for in their wrath they killed a man, and with their will they hamstrung a bull.
Right before Yaakov died, he gave blessings to each of his sons. However, in this passuk we see Shimon and Levi were given a blessing that would seem to be negative, and a punishment for their actions against the city of Shchem. Yaakov says "Let my soul not enter their counsel." Why does Yaakov say this? What does it mean? What is this counsel he is referring to?
Rashi has an interesting interpretation on this: that this is the future incident of Zimri
that Yaakov is referring to.
As we see, Shimon and Levi did something worthy of their father's discomfort when being addressed. What are other interpretations of these words? Why does Yaakov seem to be giving these two sons a curse? What did these two brothers do that they deserve this? Is there any positive interpretation of such an outburst? How could this be considered a blessing?
Another interpretation that Rashi gives in Pasuk Vav “בקהלם” that Yaakov is warning his sons that they shouldn’t join Korach’s rebellion against Moshe and Aaron.
ReplyDeleteI think this is a good interpretation because it’s showing that Hashem has told Yaakov the future of Bnei Yisroel, and he is warning his sons about it.
Ramban says that Yaakov was mad at Shimon and Levi because they killed the whole town of Shchem after they all had a bris for themselves and agreed to convert to be Jewish. This made a huge chillul Hashem on Yaakovs family and Yaakov was mad about this incident then he blessed his sons.
ReplyDeleteEven though Shimon and Levi didn’t do the right thing, I feel as though at the end of the day Yaakov is dying and it’s his last words to his sons and it’s not nice to leave everything on a bad note.
Midreshet moriah- Rav Eli Wagner quotes the Rambam in Hilchot Melachim who says that Shimon and Levi were justified in killing the town of shechem. They violated one of the 7 mitzvot bnei Noah by setting up courts to combat injustice which was a punishment worthy of death. So, Shimon and Levi were allowed to do what they did. Rav Wagner then quotes Rav Michael Rosensweig who says that Yaakov was very aware of why Shimon and Levi did what they did, and that they were “justified” in doing it. He says Yaakov rebuked his sons because of the way they carried out their goal. At this point in the Torah Brit Milah was only associated with Avraham Avinu. Avrahams whole life was dedicated in following Hashem and in teaching others about Monotheism and God. By Shimon and Levi using a Brit milah to kill an entire town, they are doing the opposite of what this whole mitzvah is about and are associating this action to Avraham. That is why Rav Rosensweig says that Yaakov rebuked his sons. To teach them that when confronting something in our life even if we’re right, make sure you are doing it in a way that would make הקדוש ברוך הוא proud.
ReplyDeleteI really loved this answer because I had never even thought to make this connection between what Shimon and Levi did with Avraham. I think that Yaakov’s rebuke makes sense now in that he was just trying to teach them a lesson in how to approach situations while still doing a kiddish Hashem.
Rashi comments on the harshness of the "blessing" that Yaakov gave to Shimon an Levi. Yaakov didn't just tell them what they did wrong overall rather he gave them very specific examples on when and how they sinned. He also was telling them their main personality flaws. From this we see that Yaakov didn't simply criticize them rather he criticized them with the hope they they will use his advice to help them improve. Rav Y Dov Krakowski comments that the constructive criticism that Yaakov is giving Shimon and Levi is actually the best blessing, which is a chance to become better people and to improve their foolish ways. With this constructive criticism and advice Yaakov is setting up his children for success. I really loved this answer because although this is a very harsh "blessing" Yaakov is only doing it because he cares and wants his sons to improve. He is giving them tough love because he clearly cares and I believe that this is much more effective then just telling them he loves them because it will really help them change.
ReplyDeleteSource: https://www.ou.org/torah/parsha/rabbi-y-dov-krakowski-on-parsha/parshas-vayechi/
According to Rabbi Samuel Klibanoff it is of the opinion of many mefarshim that Yaakov is now unleashing harsh words towards shimon and levi regarding their actions back in Shchem. The Last time the 3 of them had a conversation about this, levi and shimon had the last word and now it was yaakov's turn to. He concludes his Bracha to them by saying “divide them in Yaakov and scatter them in Israel.” a simple analysis of this is yaakov believed that the two of them can no longer be together because they will cause more trouble in the future if they are.
ReplyDeleteSource: https://www.jewishlinknj.com/divrei-torah/10951-parshat-vayechi-the-lessons-of-shimon-and-levis-bracha
Ricky Weiss
ReplyDeleteakeidat yitzchack says that’s it may seem like like Yaakov is harshly rebuking them what Yaakov was really saying is the idea that sometimes seemingly negative and undesirable qualities like overzealousness can be used for good. He (A.Y.)brings an example of a solder. to be a good solder besides for being brave and courageous one has to have some anger. He also adds that what Yaakov meant when rebuking them was that qualities of anger, passion and zealousness would have been better if it was distributed equally between all of the nation and not concentrated in shimon and Levi. I think the idea of using seemingly bad traits to do good things is really relatable and relevant to us because we are not perfect. all of us have bad traits that we should work on. one way to do that would be to use them for the good.
https://www.ou.org/torah/parsha/parsha-from-ou/vayechi_a_real_blessing_/
According to Rabbi Yehonassan Gefen who writes for Aish.com, he says that Yaakov criticizes Shimon and Levi for being impulsive. He punished them by adding “I will separate them in Yaakov and disperse them in Israel “. He claims the purpose of the Pasuk was to prevent the brothers from doing future damages.
ReplyDeleteNaama Katz
ReplyDeleteThe Seforno says that Yaakov is not cursing his sons, rather, he is giving them the tools on how to control their anger. He explains that Arur here means the lessening of, as in the lessening of their anger. Seforno explains that Yaakov is giving them this Bracha, because he wants them to be able to control themselves and reduce their anger.
I find this really interesting because it shows how a father is always trying to look out and do what’s best for his children. Here we see that through Yaakov. We see that Yaakov is ultimately trying to help his sons and take care of them.
Anya Weitz
ReplyDeleteRashi also comments on the words “and with their wrath they killed a man” not men, man as ik they killed ONE man, rather than saying each individual person and one they each did bad rashi put them all together as one man.
I don’t personally agree with this because i feel that it is important to differentiate every individual for what they did bad and why shimon and Levi killed each of them, not putting them all together as only one person
This blessing is not truly negative. The Malbim says that “rebuke is a sign of love.”. Loving parents know that they need to rebuke their children for the Childs' own benefit, in order to educate them.
ReplyDeleteSource: http://www.inner.org/vayechi-from-rebuke-to-blessing
I believe that this answer makes a lot of sense because we know that Yaakov truly loved his sons and he would not have given them a seemingly negative bracha for no reason.
(In response to my comment) I think that it is sad that Shimon and Levi will be separated but at the same time even though they are brothers, they don’t need to come in a package and can do more good when apart
ReplyDelete