From: Netvort@aol.com
Sent: Thursday, November 25, 2004
10:13 PM
To: JoshHoff@aol.com
Subject: Netvort : parshas
Vayishlach, 5765
A
Fine Mess You've Gotten Me into This Time
By
Rabbi Joshua (discomposedly known as The Hoffer) Hoffman
This week's
parsha contains an account of the abduction and rape of Dinah by Shechem, the
negotiations that Ya'akov's sons went through with Shechem and his father to get
Dinah back, and the denouement of the entire drama, when Shimon and Levi wiped
all of the males in the city and retrieved Dinah. Ya'akov, who did not take part
in the negotiations, but rather let his sons take the initiative, expressed his
displeasure to Shimon and Levi over their actions, but Shimon and Levi responded
that they could not let the treatment of their sister as a harlot go unanswered.
There is a great deal of discussion among the classical and later commentators
about the different halachic opinions that were reflected in this controversy
between Ya'akov and his sons. A study of the commentary of Ramban, with
Rabbi Chavel's Hebrew notes, to this section will acquaint one with the major
halachic approaches that have been offered. I would like to approach Ya'akov's
reaction on a more basic level. Specifically, I would like to understand what
Ya'akov meant when he told Shimon and Levi, "You have discomposed me, making me
odious among the inhabitants of the land, among the Canaanite and among the
Perizzite ; I am few in number and should the gather together and attack me, I
will be annihilated - I and my household" (Bereishis 34:30). Why did Ya'akov
place his emphasis on his own standing among the surrounding nations, by saying
'achartem osi' - i.e., you have discomposed me - when in reality it was the
entire family that was now at risk, as he goes on to say?
Rabbi
Hillel Lieberman, Hy"d (may God avenge his blood), one of the first victims of
the so-called 'second intifada,' which was launched in September 2000 by the
arch villain Y. Arafat, may the name of the evil rot, explained, in his
posthumously published commentary, Ahavas HaAretz, that the actions of Shimon
and Levi called into question, in Ya'akov's mind, the entire essence of the
message that he was trying to convey to the world. The Talmud (Shabbos 33b),
based on a verse in this week's parsha (Bereishis 33:18), tells us that when
Ya'akov entered Shechem, he immediately enacted changes for the benefit of the
city's inhabitants. He developed a coinage system for them, as well as market
places and bath houses. Citing Rav Kook in his Igros Rayah (volume one, pages
6-7), as well as in his commentary Eyn Ayah to Shabbos 33b, Rabbi
Lieberman writes that Ya'akov, by doing this, was carrying out one of the tasks
of the Jewish people, which is to bring benefit to the nations of the world.
When a Jew exerts efforts in a certain place, continues Rabbi Lieberman, part of
his personality becomes embedded there and identified with that place, as well.
Therefore, Ya'akov felt that when Shimon and Levi wiped out the entire male
population of Shechem, they undid the good work that he had done there, and
sullied his own name. That is why Ya'kov told them, "you have discomfited me."
Actually, Rav Kook, in his letter, gives a more detailed explanation
of the reason why Ya'akov made the improvements in Shechem than that cited by
Rabbi Lieberman. He writes that some people have the notion that a government
based on Torah is not able to function in a structured, functioning society, or,
to put it into modern parlance, "the real world." To dispel this notion,
Ya'akov, who 'sat in the tents' (Bereishis 25:27) and personified the Torah
scholar, made a point of establishing institutions in Shechem that would benefit
the city. It was, in fact, in Shechem that the Jewish kingdom would, in the
future, split into two, as a result of the people's rejection of the kingship of
the House of Dovid. Part of this rejection, writes Rav Kook, was based on the
erroneous notion of the incompatibility of Torah study, as displayed by King
Dovid and King Shlomo, with a functioning society. Ya'akov, as the
personification of the truth of Torah - as the prophet Micha (7:20) tells
us, that God "grants truth to Ya'akov" - benefited Shechem and thereby
demonstrated that the Torah is compatible with the 'real world.' Thus, the city
of Shechem was imprinted with the character of truth as displayed by Ya'akov's
synthesis of Torah and life in a functioning society. When his sons acted as
they did in that city, Ya'akov felt that his imprint would be lost, and his
impact on the future history of his people would thus be reduced. That is why he
rebuked Shimon and Levi so stridently, and emphasized his personal stake in what
they had done.
Please address all correspondence to the author (Rabbi Hoffman)
with the following address - JoshHoff @ AOL.com.
To subscribe to
Netvort, send a message with subject line subscribe, to
Netvort@aol.com. To unsubscribe, send message with subject line
unsubscribe, to the same address.