Parshat Vayishlach  18 Kislev 5763, 23 November 2002

Shabbat Shalom: Parshat Vayishlach     Genesis 32:4-36:43

By Shlomo Riskin

Efrat, Israel - One of the most difficult questions which must be faced in a war against terror - such as America against Taliban Afghanistan and Israel against the Palestinian authority (Hamas) - is that of "collateral damage": in order to "get" the terrorists, there is often no choice but to bomb an enclave in which there may be innocent family members or neighbors. Is it preferable to conduct a house to house individual target search rather than indiscriminate aircraft bombing, a procedure which will often endanger our own soldiers (as happened when 13 Israelis were killed in Jenin)? What is the most ethical way to conduct a war?

A careful exploration of the most difficult confrontation between the family of Jacob and the people of Shechem will provide the answer. A cursory reading of the account (Genesis, Chapter 34) may lead to the conclusion that Shimon and Levi, sons of Jacob, were the terrorists of the tale. "Shekhem, son of Hamor the Hivite, Prince of the land, saw, seized, raped and afflicted" Dinah, the daughter of Jacob. Shekhem falls in love with his victim, and effectuates a meeting between the families to discuss possible wedding plans. The sons of Jacob express their willingness to intermarry and engage in social and business intercourse on the condition that all of the male people of Shekhem be circumcised. They agree - but on the third day following the mass circumcision, "when they were hurting, two of the sons of Jacob, Shimon and Levi, Dinah's brothers, took their swords, came upon the city unaware, and slew every male." It would certainly seem that Shimon and Levi murdered innocent people!

There are, however, a number of textual questions which beg to be answered. First of all, when the sons of Jacob present their plan for circumcision, the Bible introduces it with the words, "And the sons of Jacob answered Shekhem and Hamor his father with deceit..." (Genesis 34:13). Why doesn't father Jacob suggest the circumcision, and why are all of the sons speaking deceitfully?

Secondly, Jacob's reaction to Shimon and Levi's deed is not moral outrage but merely tactical concern: "You have muddied me, to cause me to be odious amongst the inhabitants of the land; I am few in number, and they will gather against me, smite me, and destroy me and my household"(Genesis 34:31). And interestingly enough, Jacob's concern was unfounded: "And (Jacob's family) journeyed; and a terror of G-d was upon the cities that were round about them, and they did not pursue after the sons of Jacob" (Genesis 35:5).

Thirdly, the very last words of the chapter - and the incident - are given to Shimon and Levi: "Ought they be allowed to make our sister as a harlot?"(Genesis 34:31). From this it would seem that the Bible accepts this response of Shimon and Levi! And finally, the blessings bestowed upon Levi make him the ancestor of the Priestly and Levitical line of the ministries of the Holy Temple, and Shimon is the father of the educators and Torah teachers! Apparently Jewish history decides that these sons were worthy of producing Jewish religious leadership!

I believe that the actions of Shimon and Levi become understandable - and perhaps even justifiable - when we discover the whereabouts of Dinah during this "meeting of mahatonim" to plan the wedding. Dinah was still being held captive in Shekhem! This is clear from the Biblical text when the brothers declare as part of their proposed plan, "And if you will not be circumcised, we shall take our daughter and leave" (Genesis 34:17), and the result of the slaughter of the males is that "they took Dinah from the house of Shekhem and they left" (Genesis 34:26). Clearly the object of the game is to rescue Dinah; the brothers apparently plan to take her out when the people of Shekhem were too weak to prevent them from doing it, and Shimon and Levi argued - and acted on - the principle that a terrorist nation must be punished.

Indeed, the philosopher - legalist, Maimonides totally supports Shimon and Levi. Maimonides explains that while Moses was commanded to teach the 613commandments only to Israel, he was similarly commanded to enforce the seven Noahide laws of morality - especially "thou shalt not murder"- upon every Gentile; "And whoever does not accept them, must be killed" (Laws of Kings 8,10). Apparently this student of Aristotle believed that anyone who doesn't accept the Noahide laws of morality is in the category (at least potentially) of, "one who is about to murder an innocent must first be killed." This is especially true today, in our Global village with nuclear capability!

He then goes on to rule that the seventh of the Noahide rules is to establish law courts to punish transgressors of the other sex. "And it is for this reason that all residents of Shekhem were guilty of capital punishment. After all, Shekhem stole (and raped) Dinah; they saw it, and knew it and did not judge them" (Kings 9:14).

Maimonides is arguing that evil, totalitarian regimes do not rule in a vacuum; they are aided and abetted by the people who enable them to rule in such a manner - either by actively protecting them or passively acquiescing to their evil. Had the German people risen up as one on November 10, 1938 after Krystalnacht and screamed that such inhuman actions are unacceptable demanding the punishment of the Nazi perpetrators, some of them may well have been murdered in turn, but the holocaust would have been stopped in its tracks. The only way evil can be prevented is by the citizens of "evil empires" taking responsibility and not allowing such cruelty to continue. If they remain silent in the face of evil, they become partners in crime and must share both responsibility and guilt!

An ethical army such as the IDF must nevertheless attempt to target their strikes against the active perpetrators of terror, minimizing "collateral damage" to passive collaborators. But the lives of our soldiers and the extirpation of terror from wreaking havoc on innocent lives must take precedence over protecting the lives of those guilty individuals who are enabling terrorism to flourish by their silence.

Shabbat Shalom.

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