: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, 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:
Let my soul not enter their counsel: This is the future incident of Zimri (that Yaakov is referring to), when the tribe of Shimon gathered to bring the Midianitess before Moshe, and they said to him, “Is this one forbidden or permitted? If you say she is forbidden, who permitted you to marry Yitro’s daughter?” Let my name not be mentioned in connection with that affair. Therefore, the Torah depicts Zimri as “Zimri the son of Salu, the prince of a father’s house of the Shimonites” (Num. 25:14), but the Torah did not write, “the son of Jacob.” - [from Sanh. 82a, Gen. Rabbah 99:6]
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?
The Akeidat Yitzchak teaches that the bracha given to Levi and Shimon may seem like a curse but in reality it is a blessing. But How is it a blessing? It seems like a curse? The qualities that Yaakov “blesses” on them are the qualities of anger and temper. These qualities may seem bad but in reality they can be used for good. They are qualities that a good soldier and hero should have in order to defeat the enemy. Yaakov wanted these qualities to be in and spread throughout the Jews in order to make Israel a good and strong army. Yaakov is giving them a blessing to have these attributes, but to use them for good, and to help protect the Jews.
ReplyDeleteYaakov curses his sons because he sees their wasted potential, according to the Ramban. Shimon and Levi forced all of Schem into circumcision. Yaakov saw this as an opportunity for kiruv, but his sons fail to notice that and treat the matter brutally and harshly, and it becomes a chilul Hashem. His bracha to his sons serves as a word of guidance to realize their true potential.
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ReplyDeleteAccording to the Or Hachayim, even though it may seem that Yaakov cursed his sons, it may have been done for their own benefit. There is this idea that if a father speaks harshly towards or punishes his child, it is out of love for his son. A child that goes off the path of his father is not being punished out of cruelty but rather out of love, so what seems to be a curse is in fact a blessing.
The midrash rabah comments that Yaakov may have spoken harshly to Shimon and Levi to prevent further sins in the future (like Chet Ha aygal). He wanted them imprinted with the idea that sins of our past can come back and haunt us. Even when forgiven, they may carry consequences we must face for a lifetime. Levi took this and remembered it later during chet ha aygal. Yaakov was not cursing his sons, rather he was trying to warn them about the danger of sins. He was trying to protect them and prevent them from further transgressions.
ReplyDeleteWhere’s the bracha for Shimon and Levi? It seems like they got a curse from their father. Rashi explains the words אָרוּר אַפָּם as “He only cursed their rage.” Therefore, he didn’t curse them, rather he focused on the negative trait they displayed in those two incidents. The Vilna Gaon says that all service of Hashem is dependent upon improvement of one’s character and all sins stem from unimproved character traits. A man should train himself to follow the straight path according to his nature. How does that help us understand how Yaakov was trying to help Shimon and Levi? Yaakov cursed their negative trait, hoping they would learn from it and then use their traits to do great things instead of bad. Later, by חטא העגל, we see that Levi was not involved in the sin. They took Yaakov’s bracha, improved their character, and didn’t sin with everyone else. Their bracha was hidden in the challenge to channel a negative quality into a positive one.
ReplyDeleteRabbi Kalonymos Kalman Shapiro ztl., the Piaseczna Rebbe writes in his introduction to Chovos HaTalmidim, “Every father and every teacher knows that their children and students will not remain children forever, but will eventually grow in years and possibly in Torah knowledge and spiritual devotion. Yet there exist fathers and teachers who are concerned only with what they see right now. Since all they see, right now, are children, the goal of their efforts is to educate their charges to become good children. They wish to infuse them with only a child's measure of Torah and awe of God. This they consider sufficient. But a teacher or parent who does this is sinning against God and against His people.
ReplyDeleteFathers and teachers must know that their task is to educate and uncover children of the Lord and giants of Israel. They must see the children sitting in front of them as great souls still immature; their task is to get them to grow and flourish. A teacher is a gardener in the garden of God, assigned to cultivate it and guard it from harm.
Even if some of the children seem rebellious, or flawed in their character, the teacher must know that the nature of soul-seeds; of unripe angels, is to taste bitter as they are ripening and to be filled with nectar in their maturity. Neither the nature, nor any particular quality of a Jewish child, is absolutely evil.
This is what the holy Baal Shem Tov and his disciples have taught us. What is necessary is just to know how to use these qualities and how to help them develop and grow. For example, a particular child may be very stubborn- which is a character flaw. His teacher may suffer greatly because of the child's stubbornness. Yet if the teacher were to reflect, he would realize that when this child matures and receives as his own the yoke of Torah and of service to God, he will perform all his service of God with great stubbornnessand self-sacrifice…he will be as strong as the wall of a fortress.”
When “HASHEM saw everything He created and it was Tov Meod-very good”, the Talmud explains what gave creation an upgrade from“good” to “very good”. The statement reads, “Tov meod, zu Yetzer Hora”- Very good, this is the Negative Inclination!” What’s very good in the child can become a Yetzer Hora. Too neat and clean or being overly sensitive can be dangerous. The opposite is true too. What’s negative about the person or child can be sublimated and disciplined into very goodness, if not greatness. Whoever can give someone a real read on anything flattering or even painfully true about them is helpful like an MRI.
Yaakov told Shimon and Levi that their anger was cursed, and not them. In the end, Levi held onto that fiery nature and reserved it for special emergencies. It came to positive fruition by the sin of the Golden Calf when Levi stepped up to defend the honor of heaven when others were less prepared to do the same. It was the proper employment of that anger that put them on a pedestal for all time. What Yaakov told them, and the way it was received was ultimately the ultimate blessing not in disguise.
According to the Ramban, Yaakov did not agree with Shimon's and Lavi's plan of attacking the people of Schem because they attacked after the people had a bris and were very weak.
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