Parashat Pinchas: Actions and Signs

Numbers 25:14:

The name of the slain Israelite man, the one who was killed with the Midianite woman, was Zimri son of Salu, leader of the ancestral House of Shimon and the name of the Midiantish slain woman was Cozbi, the daughter of Zur (who was one of the five kings of Midian).

The final portion of last week's Parasha described the catastrophic events initiated by the evil prophet Bilaam, when he saw that he was unable to curse the people as per Balak's requests.  If you recall, he sent harlots into the camp of the Bnei Yisrael who caused the men to commit idol worship (and all the immorality that this entailed).  Pinchas, the grandson of Aharon, saw an Israelite and a Midianite having relations and killed them, which stopped the plague that had taken the lives of 24,000 people.  This week's Parasha provides more details as to whom this licentious couple were.

We have come across Zimri previously in Sefer Bamidbar.  The Gemara in Sanhedrin (82b) identifies him as Shlumiel ben Tzurishaddai, the Prince of Shimon who also presented his tribe's gifts to the Mishkan as described in Parashat Naso.  It seems that, as per his name, he was also more than just a 'shlemiel', granted that he disgraced both his position and the family from which he emanated.  By extension, his behaviour also cast a long dark shadow over his fellow Simeonites.

He wasn't the first to tarnish the tribe's reputation.  To understand this fully, we need to cast our minds back to Sefer Bereshit.

In Parashat Vayishlach, Yaakov had survived the encounter with his twin brother Eisav and settled with his family in central Israel, in the region of Shechem (not far from the modern city of Nablus).  His young daughter, Dinah had wanted to explore the area and meet some of the local inhabitants.  She encountered Prince Shechem (the son of Chamor the Hivitte) who took her and then raped her (you can read the story in Bereishit Chapter 34).  Having behaved so despicably, the Torah tells us that his 'soul cleaved to her' and he wanted them to get married.

There followed a series of protracted negotiations between Yaakov and his sons, and Shechem and his father, Chamor.  The sons agreed to the marriage (and future unions between both peoples) on the condition that the men of the town circumcised themselves as per the Hebraic faith.  The townsfolk agreed to the pact and 'every male was circumcised.' On the third day, which is the time at which they would be at the apex of their pain and extremely vulnerable, Dinah's brothers, Shimon and Levi, massacred the entire adult male population.  They also took their wives and children as captives in addition to the ‘herds, flocks and asses and that which was in the field'.

Yaakov was incensed but he waited until he was lying on his deathbed in Egypt, decades later, to pronounce his verdict on his sons' barbaric behaviour.

On his last day, surrounded by his family, Yaakov did not refrain from giving a prophecy of the future that would impact upon Shimon and Levi’s descendants.

Genesis 49:

Shimon and Levi are brothers; Weapons of violence their wares.  Let me never join their council, nor my honour be of their assembly.  For in their anger they killed men; at their will, they hamstrung oxen.  Cursed be their anger, for it is most fierce, and their fury for it is most cruel.  I will divide them up in Yaakov and scatter them in Israel."

 

With regard to Levi, we know that the tribe was not assigned a portion of the land of Israel, due to its umbilical ties with the Temples, through the Avodah (Holy Service) of the Cohanim, ably assisted by the Leviim.  They were truly scattered amongst the people and had to settle in the 48 Levitical enclaves, of which 6 were designated Arei Miklat (cities of refuge for the people who had committed manslaughter - we will read about these in Parashat Maasei next week).

Levi's descendant, Korach, was responsible for the uprising which brought the Tribe's name into disrepute.  When describing his lineage, the Torah stops with Levi in order to honour Yaakov's dying wish that he not be mentioned and thereby dishonoured in connection with Korach’s rebellion.  Not forgetting that Korach's behaviour resulted (directly and indirectly) with the death of nearly 15,000 people.  His older brother, Shimon's actions, were similarly punished, not only as a result of Shlumiel's behaviour but also in another devastating way.

As Moshe prepares to meet Gd on his last day, he blesses all of the tribes in the beautiful prose that we read on Simchat Torah.  There is however one of the shevatim that is noticeably absent from the roster.  That of Shimon.

Chazal, our Sages, discuss his omission and as per the Artscroll Stone Chumash, there is a difference of opinion between the Ibn Ezra (who says that this was because of Yaakov's castigation) and the Ramban's assertion that the land could only be partitioned into twelve portions, one for each tribe.  Since the tribe of Shimon was very small in number, it was not given its own area but instead shared its allotment within Judah's territory.  It was indeed 'divided in Yaakov and scattered in Israel'.

And, like Korach, Shlumiel's highly irresponsible behaviour led to the deaths of thousands of Israelites- 24,000 to be exact.  Chazal note that in both the brothers' cases, their descendants caused others to sin and, as a result, thousands were punished with death through plagues in the desert.  Please note that the brothers and their descendants were in fact very righteous men.  This did not, however, stop them from committing the most grievous crimes.

The word 'Torah' literally means 'instruction' (coming from the shoresh of Yarah  ירה, which is also used in the word for a teacher - 'moreh').  This is a very appropriate name as it demonstrates that the Torah is not 'just' a history book but so much more than this.  Our ancestors were human beings.  Not gods and certainly not angels, and they were just as susceptible as their descendants would prove to be.  As great as Shimon and Levi were, their individual actions led to events that would have an impact for generations to come.

There is a dictum in the Torah of Maaseh Le'avot, Siman Lebanim, or the actions of the fathers are a sign for the children.  Avraham Avinu, as great a person as he was, (and he was the first Jew) went to Egypt and must have suffered immensely when his beloved wife Sarah was abducted by Pharaoh.  Similarly, his descendants would end up in Egypt as a result of also fleeing a famine and we know what that led to.

Many years ago, my parents befriended a German Jewish refugee who used to come to lunch at our house every Shabbat.  One saying she always repeated was that 'nothing happens in isolation'.  It has stuck with me through my life and made me think on how my actions can have reverberations on other people.

In these Three Weeks which lead up to the fast of Tisha B'Av, we are told to look inwardly and ask why we, as a nation, have suffered so much and continue to experience woes beyond our comprehension.  We should consider the ramifications of our actions and try to improve ourselves and the way we relate to others.  If we do so and remember how even great individuals like Shimon and Levi can err and behave in a way that caused such destruction in their time and later on, we can have a significantly positive impact on others in our own generation and beyond.  Perhaps then, in the very near future, we will be celebrating the return to Jerusalem and the Gulah Shelaimah, the final redemption.  May it happen speedily in our days, Amen.

Shavuah Tov.