BS”D
DIRECTED DISPERSION: PARSHAT VEYECHI
Shira Smiles shiur 2017/5777
Summary by Channie Koplowitz Stein
As Yaakov senses his life coming to a close, he gathers his sons around him to
give them each one final, personalized blessing. Indeed each son gets his
individual blessing except for Shimon and Levi who are addressed jointly.
Further, the text of their blessing sounds more like a curse than like a
blessing: “Shimon and Levi are comrades (brothers), their weaponry is a stolen
craft. In their conspiracy may my soul not enter … For in their rage they
murdered people and at their whim they maimed an ox. Accursed is their rage for
it is intense, and their wrath for it is harsh; I will divide them within Jacob
and I will disperse them among Israel.”
In order to mitigate the effects of unbridled anger, Yaakov sentences these two
tribes to dispersion. How? Rabbi Belsky relates Rashi’s explanation and expands
upon it. Levi will need to travel around the country to collect terumot
and maasrot, priestly donations and tithes, and will also be teachers of
adults, while Shimon will be the itinerant teachers of young children. Rabbi
Belsky asks an amazing question. Do we want people with management anger issues
to teach our children and become their role models? How can we attribute purity
to Shimon and Levi so that they will be proper role models, asks Rabbi
Grosbard. Further, what does Yaakov add by seemingly repeating “separating them
within Jacob” and “dispersing them among Israel.” While Levi, rather than
having contiguous tribal property will have cities scattered throughout the
land, Shimon actually had a tribal territory, albeit his cities were completely
surrounded by Judah.
When Yaakov began addressing his sons, he originally wanted to impart to them
the timing of the end of days. This did not happen. According to Rabbi Leff,
Yaakov opted to give them insight into their strengths and weaknesses so that
they could use them to help bring the redemption earlier.
Rabbi Wolbe elaborates on this idea. Yaakov’s blessing to each of his sons, and
in particular to Shimon and Levi, was the blessing of self knowledge.
Understanding one’s character traits, one’s strengths and weaknesses, is the
most significant gift one can get. To illustrate, Rabbi Wolbe writes that when
a person dies, three angels come to him and ask him his name. What they are
really asking is what is his essence, what trait lies at the core of his
character. If he doesn’t know that, he will put forth all sorts of
characteristics which the angels will immediately dispel as being self serving
rather than altruistic, not really reflecting the true image of God within him.
If you know what your core trait is, you can measure all your actions and all
other traits against that yardstick and thereby continuously improve yourself.
Additionally, everyone has a core negative trait that balances out the
positive, sort of like the yin and yang of a person (lehavdil). When one
knows what his triggers are, one can work to improve them or to use them for
positive results. As the Netivot Shalom points out, only once you know
your essence can you effectively develop the positive and control the negative.
Rebbetzin Felbrand in her powerful book Grow! Presents excellent
guidelines to help us identify our core traits, and since all character traits
are interconnecting, working on one will also affect all the other traits.
Besides identifying what you admire most in other people, ask yourself what
activities give you the greatest sense of satisfaction and accomplishment and
what your greatest aspiration is.(Along these lines, I have heard that
imagining writing your own epitaph or obituary will help you focus on what
trait you want to be remembered for.)
Every negative character trait can be re-purposed in the service of Hakodosh
Boruch Hu, writes the Modzitzer Rebbe in Divrei Yisroel. It this
context, Dispersing Shimon and Levi among all of Bnei Yisroel can have a
positive effect of helping the people control their inclinations toward sin.
Rabbi Dinner in Mikdash Halevi explains that this purpose can be
accomplished only when they are achim, comrades with a sense of
brotherhood and responsibility for each other. It was precisely this sense of
responsibility for others that was the catalyst for Shimon and Levi to kill the
people of Shechem, “Shall our sister be treated as a harlot?” Of all the
brothers, only Shimon and Levi took upon themselves the responsibility of
rescuing Dinah and restoring honor to her name.
This sense of responsibility is the trait Rav Belsky focuses on as the most
important for a teacher of Torah. A teacher’s focus on content is less important
than his focus the student before him and taking responsibility for his
development. Hashem Himself is the One Who teaches Torah to His nation Israel,
and those who would be His emissaries in this great task Must emulate that same
love and sense of responsibility toward others as Hashem Himself displays. As
such, anger must be external and channeled, and not be allowed to infect and
destroy the relationship. It is precisely those who have this sense of
responsibility toward the development of their charges who should be dispersed
among the people and be their teachers.
Zealousness and passion are related to anger notes Rabbi Scheinerman in Ohel
Moshe. An effective parent or teacher is one who teaches values as well as
skills with passion and love of both his students and his subject matter.
Student relate to the emotional content more than to the subject content.
It is apparent that anger and passion can be both a blessing and a curse. Rabbi
Zaichik explains that by Yaakov pointing out this trait in their character, he
was telling Shimon and Levi to use this trait positively so that it would
indeed be a blessing. In this context it makes sense for Shimon to be
surrounded by Yehudah so they could learn from Yehudah the sense of control
over oneself which Yehudah, as the future Monarch of all Israel, needed and
exhibited for proper sovereignty writes Limudei Nison.
Understanding more clearly the spiritual and mystical elements of the
relationship of Shimon to both Yehudah and to Levi will give us a better
insight into Yaakov’s blessing. While all three were the sons of Leah, each was
blessed with a different character from birth, as derived by their names. It is
also important to note at this juncture, as Rabbi Wolfson relates, that Knesset
Yisroel is comprised of both a hidden and a revealed aspect. The hidden
aspect is the birthright of every Jew, the “pintele Yid” within each soul
irrespective of personal merit. On the other hand, there is also the revealed
aspect of the Jew, an aspect that must be earned, but is available to every
Jew. Although the concealed aspect is associated with Leah and the revealed
aspect with Rachel, both aspects are available within every Jew.
Rabbi Hillel Adler takes this concept and uses it to illuminate the complex
relationships between the different brothers and tribes. He notes in Parsha
Illuminations that Shimon and Levi possessed potential holiness from the
womb. That Hashem saw Leah and opened her womb, writes Rabbi Adler, does not
refer to the relationship between Yaakov and Leah, but rather to Leah’s
relationship with evil, that she hated evil and literally cried her yes out at
the prospect of being married to the evil Esau. Hashem heard her cries. This
hatred of evil was transmitted to her son Shimon from the womb itself, and so
she named him Shimon, for Hashem had heard her cries. Her cries were silent,
and reflected her love of holiness and purity. Therefore Shimon could become
the guardian of holiness and purity and come to champion the honor and purity
of Dinah. He could also see within Yosef some of the traits of Esau and perhaps
a preoccupation with physical appearance that would also prompt him to act
against Yosef. This form of silent prayer, prayer is heard and comprehended
only by God, can be understood by man only in the Next World.
In contrast, Yehudah is the open articulation of prayer, as Leah expresses her
gratitude to Hashem in his name. Shimon’s silent prayers, inaudible in this
world, can be subsumed within Yehudah’s open prayers in this world, especially
since as king, Yehudah will articulate the prayers for both this world and the
next. Therefore, it is appropriate that Shimon’s territory should be surrounded
by Yehudah’s and that Moshe’s blessing for him should not be articulated but
alluded to in the blessing Moshe gives Yehudah.
Levi was also possessed of holiness from the womb. He too could articulate that
holiness and was therefore separated to serve Hashem. Therefore he was
scattered throughout Bnei Yisroel to act as guardians of the holiness, a task
Shimon, the concealed, inarticulate brother could not do. At the time of
Moshiach, when the land is again divided, Shimon will indeed get a defined
portion.
Maor Vashemesh, Rabbi Kalonymus Kalman Halevi Epstein, brings a
completely different, psychological perspective to the anger of Shimon and
Levi. He writes that the anger of Shimon and Levi was directed at themselves
rather than at others. They were such perfectionists in their own observance
that every slight fault in their observance appeared magnified so that they
always appeared angry. Further, with this sense of perfection, they could not interact
with others and would live a sad, angry life of isolation, what Maor
Vashemesh calls frum, and what we would refer to as farfrumt
or perhaps “holier than thou”. What Yaakov was telling them was that they
should be involved with others, both the elite Yisroel of the nation as well as
with the everyday people, the Yaakov element. When they can interact with them
all, even in discussing day to day matters, when they become social human
beings, they will lose their anger and be happy.
Yaakov’s blessings to the individual tribes are meant to offer insights and be
blessings to all of Bnei Yisroel and for all times in our history. Toward this
end, Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch presents us with some beautiful messages and
prescience on the part of our Patriarch. While the anger or passion of Shimon
and Levi could indeed pose a great danger to others, it could also serve as a
source of strength and pride. When the nation is flourishing, notes Rabbi
Hirsch, a united and powerful Shimon and Levi can indeed pose a threat to the
nation. Therefore, says Yaakov, when the nation is flourishing in their Yisroel
capacity, let me disperse them throughout the land and let them be dependent on
others for their sustenance. On the other hand, when they are downtrodden and
in exile, in the Yaakov condition, let me apportion them and divide them
throughout the people to give them strength in their convictions and pride in
their Jewishness so that their spirit would remain alive and strong throughout
the difficult Diaspora.
Let us continue to be proud of our Yiddishkeit, strong and passionate in our
observance, seeking constant self improvement. May the blessings of Yaakov
Avinu and of Moshe Rabbenu, the consummate teacher of Torah, be fully realized
in all their positive aspects in the near future.