Dear TBZ Community:
This week’s Torah portion, Vayechi, recounts the death of Jacob and the blessings and words he shares and gives to his children and grandchildren. It begins with the blessing to his grandchildren, Efraim and Menashe, the sons of Joseph. This led to the practice of parents blessing their sons, honoring Jacob’s early sentiments: יְשִׂימְךָ אֱלֹהִים כְּאֶפְרַיִם וְכִמְנַשֶּׁה (May God make you like Efraim and Mensahe).
Following that, Jacob summons his children and he blesses them. Now, as you read the blessings and the words he shares, you might wonder if these are truly blessings, as he does not wish them good or recognize the good in them. He does, however, see each of them for who they are and what they have done, naming their virtues and strengths along with their weaknesses. He acknowledges the good that they have done, and the not so good, while also recognizing their mistakes, their failings, and even their violence ways.
The blessing of Shimon and Levi (chapter 49, verses 5-7) exemplifies this blessing:
שִׁמְעוֹן וְלֵוִי אַחִים כְּלֵי חָמָס מְכֵרֹתֵיהֶם
Simeon and Levi are a pair; their weapons are tools of lawlessness.
בְּסֹדָם אַל־תָּבֹא נַפְשִׁי בִּקְהָלָם אַל־תֵּחַד כְּבֹדִי כִּי בְאַפָּם הָרְגוּ אִישׁ וּבִרְצֹנָם עִקְּרוּ־שׁוֹר
Let not my person be included in their council,
Let not my being be counted in their assembly.
For when angry they slay a man, and when pleased they maim an ox.
אָרוּר אַפָּם כִּי עָז וְעֶבְרָתָם כִּי קָשָׁתָה אֲחַלְּקֵם בְּיַעֲקֹב וַאֲפִיצֵם בְּיִשְׂרָאֵל
Cursed be their anger so fierce, and their wrath so relentless.
I will divide them in Jacob, scatter them in Israel.
Commentaries and rabbinic interpretations connect these words to the act of zealotry and violence of Shimon and Levi following the rape of Jacob’s daughter, Dinah.
As we read in Genesis 34, Shimon and Levi demanded the people of Shechem circumcise themselves so they could marry the women from Jacob’s clan. And, while the people of Shechem were still hurting from the circumcision, the brothers slaughtered them:
וַיְהִי בַיּוֹם הַשְּׁלִישִׁי בִּהְיוֹתָם כֹּאֲבִים וַיִּקְחוּ שְׁנֵי־בְנֵי־יַעֲקֹב שִׁמְעוֹן וְלֵוִי אֲחֵי דִינָה אִישׁ חַרְבּוֹ וַיָּבֹאוּ עַל־הָעִיר בֶּטַח וַיַּהַרְגוּ כָּל־זָכָר
On the third day, when they were in pain, Simeon and Levi, two of Jacob’s sons, brothers of Dinah, took each his sword, came upon the city unmolested, and slew all the males.
Their weapons are tools of lawlessness, כְּלֵי חָמָס מְכֵרֹתֵיהֶם. Though the word מְכֵרֹתֵיהֶם m’cheroteihem is translated as lawlessness, it is hard to translate as it only appears once in the Torah. It is clear that Jacob is calling his sons out for their acts of violence.
The Midrash reads this as saying “their weapons were stolen.” It was Esau who was ordained to live by the sword, Jacob and his descendants were to flourish through their piety. When Simeon and Levi resorted to violence, they appropriated Esau’s method of dealing with conflict (Genesis Rabbah 99:6, as quoted in Humash Etz Hayim, page 300).
Jacob is able to name consequences of using that violence. He curses them, his own kin, and he scatters them, preventing their violent ways from becoming the style in which his descendents lead.
The Italian commentator Sforno writes:
People who make use of weaponry in their day to day activities are not suitable material for wielding political and military power.
The Torah is unambiguous in calling them out: their zealotry and violence is the wrong way to go.
Together with more than three hundred colleagues in the United States, I signed a letter vowing to block far-right Israeli lawmakers from our communities. Like Jacob, we are naming and protesting those who use violence and hatred in the name of God and the Jewish people. Like Jacob, we are lifting our voices (and our keyboards), saying that this is not the right way. And we will continue to call it out, protest it, and stand against it. You can read articles about this in the Times of Israel, JTA, Washington Post, and other places.
In the words of Rabbi Jill Jacobs, CEO of T’ruah, the Rabbinic Call for Human Rights: “As Jewish leaders, we have a moral obligation to unite in the face of extremism and speak out against those who use our shared faith to justify harmful actions and policies” (read the full statement of T’ruah here). And as I have often said, the time calls for us to stay involved and not disengage from our commitment to Israel, and definitely not to stand on the sidelines. I have spoken to colleagues and friends in Israel who urge us to stay involved, to call out the injustices, to show our commitment by protesting. In the words of Daniel Sokatch, CEO of the New Israel Fund:
“To those who urge patience we say, the time for standing on the sidelines and hoping for the best has passed. In the words of Elie Weisel: ‘We must take sides… Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.’ In response to a coalition espousing homophobia, racism, and intolerance, we must prepare to stand up and speak out. We must say: not in our name, not on our watch. And to those extremists and their blacklists already threatening the rights of so many in Israel, we say today: We will see you in court, we will see you in the Knesset, we will see you in the streets. We will not back down and we will not give up.”(Read the full statement here).
We are called Israel, Jacob is called Israel. And Israel calls out his sons, his own kin. We do the same.
And this is why our upcoming dual-narrative trip to Israel is even more crucial and meaningful: we will continue learning and deepening our connection with Israel, understanding the conflict and its narratives, and seeing the people who are tirelessly working and will have to do so even harder to stop the current government from their tools of lawlessness. For those joining me and Rabbi Andy Vogel of Sinai on this trip, we will learn and experience this firsthand. For our community in Brookline, we will bring the experience home and continue learning together.
I am looking forward to this trip. I am leaving on Saturday night, January 7th, and I will be back in Boston, God willing, on January 20th. I plan to write my next two Shabbat N’kabla messages from Israel with updates and reports from the trip. If you use social media, I plan to post pictures and updates on Facebook and Instagram.
Looking forward to seeing many of you this Shabbat and then upon my return.
Wishing all of our fellow travelers from TBZ and Sinai (31 in total, including me and Rabbi Andy Vogel) a wonderful and safe trip.
Please join me this evening at 7pm for an important event on Zoom: What Is Antisemitism and Why Is It So Hard to Understand? Join Rabbi Lev Meirowitz Nelson, Director of Leadership and Learning at T’ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights, for a progressive discussion of antisemitism. We’ll cover a brief history of antisemitism, with a focus on how it shows up in the United States today, and how antisemitism interacts with other forms of bigotry. We’ll also cover issues related to Israel, such as when criticism of Israel is or is not antisemitic and how best to respond. Zoom link here.
May this Shabbat bring renewal and blessings to all of you and your loved ones.
May we find strength, courage, and patience, and open our hearts with generosity.
May all those who are ill find healing. And may we have a joyful, sweet, and peaceful Shabbat.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rav Claudia