Vayechi 5771 Israel - Justice and Love Rabbi Hillel Athias-Robles 18 December 2010

[On the occasion of Max Seymour's Barmitzvah - not delivered due to inclement weather]

We have just heard very deep reflections from Max in his sermon. I was lucky enough to have had a “preview” of his talk during rehearsals, and I must say that his comments spiralled me into thought – forgiveness, revenge, justice, their constant interplay, their sometimes blurred boundaries.

These concepts collide earlier in this week’s Torah portion – a section which we did not read today. There, we encounter Jacob in his final moments, and as a true patriarch, he calls his sons together to bless them for one last time. It was his farewell. But perhaps we cannot truly call it a blessing, at least not regarding some of the children. These were Jacob’s final remarks to his sons Shimon and Levy:

“Shimon and Levy are brothers— their swords are weapons of violence. Let me not enter their council, let me not join their assembly, for they have killed men in their anger and hamstrung oxen as they pleased. Cursed be their anger, so fierce, and their fury, so cruel! I will scatter them in Jacob and disperse them in Israel”.

Ouch! What Jacob is referring to is a bloody episode found earlier in the Biblical narrative. When going out to visit the girls of the land, Jacob’s daughter Dinah was kidnapped by Shechem, the son of Hamor, a prince of the city of the same name – Shechem, today’s Nablus in the West Bank. Shechem, the prince, not the city, fell obsessively in love with Dinah. Some say that such a love was mutual – Dinah loved Shechem too and had actually eloped to be with him. In any case, Shechem’s father, Hamor, went to visit Jacob with an interesting proposal: let’s be mechutanim! Let’s make a shidduchs, match-making galore – not only would Shechem make a great son-in-law to you, a great boychik he is, but hey- your gene pool is running quite low, and so is ours, endogamy is not proving too healthy now a days, so let’s marry into each other and become one big happy family. Jacob’s sons were eavesdropping throughout, and they intervened: sounds like a great plan, they said, but we have one condition, nothing major: you folks simply all need the chop. We couldn’t fathom our sisters marrying someone who isn’t circumcised – no way! So Hamor went back to the town of Shechem and had a chat with the elders: Hey, these Jews, they’re a great people, they’re peaceful, we’ll be able to trade with them, do business, but we only need to have a very minor surgery before hand. Hey, they’re Jewish – they must be good doctors! So all the males in the town went under the knife, and guess what: it wasn’t as painless as they thought. The town men were all moaning with pain in their beds trying to recuperate.

On the third day of their circumcision, when the pain was supposedly the worse, Shimon and Levy paid the Shechemites a visit. But no, they didn’t come to check out the girls. With sword in hand, they ruthlessly slaughtered all the males in town during their time of weakness, spoiled, pillaged, and some say they even killed all of the cattle, which I doubt were circumcised. When news reached Jacob, he was furious and panicked – how could he now find peace with his neighbours after such an act, with his reputation blemished. The whole region would be destabilised.

Years later, on his deathbed, Jacob cannot bring himself to bless his sons Shimon and Levy. He hasn’t forgotten what they did to the Shechemites decades before, and curses his children because of their bloodlust. But what happened to the forgiving nature of Joseph? Was his father immune to such a trait? Was he poisoned by bitterness – did he take out vengeance on his children using words and disillusion as weapon of choice? As he approached death, was this the legacy that he wanted to leave his children – spite! Perhaps it was Jacob’s sense of justice, the notion that incorrect actions must have commensurate retribution.

As I thought further I came to realise that Jacob was moved by a whole different feeling altogether, not revenge, not forgiveness, not just retribution, but love. His words were not in fact a curse, but rather a blessing. Shimon and Levy were Jacob’s children, and he loved them dearly. But because he loved them, he was worried by the path they were taking, their violence, their warfare, their contempt for the local population, for the non-Jews in their midst. Out of love Jacob did not have a choice but to be critical, harsh, to pierce them in a way that they would realise the severity of their actions. To remain complacent, or to give unconditional support in face of immoral behaviour, that is to harm.  It implies lack of care about where the other is going….

You might have noticed that many of the sermons Rabbi Aaron and I deliver have to do with the situation in Israel. Perhaps some might see them as political – beyond the remit of our task as a rabbi. Sometimes, it may seem that we mention to Israel too much. A few weeks ago I posted on my facebook profile a link to an article about the enforced loyalty oath the Israeli government recently introduced for non-Jews seeking Israeli citizen, who are asked to pledge their allegiance to Israel as a Jewish state – an oath aimed mostly at Palestinians who marry Arab Israelis. Many people replied to the article I posted– some people who are usually very liberal wrote things like: It’s so easy to criticise Israel from abroad – if you want to change the country move there and vote, followed by a whole rant against Arab countries and Arab intolerance to Jews. On a similar note, when Mick Davis, head of the Jewish Leadership Council and a Zionist leader, decided to break the silence and speak out about the moral issues of the peace process, including the rights of minorities, settlements, etc. a wave of attacks ensued – he was using the language of our enemies, he was delegitimizing Israel, he had no right as a Diaspora Jew to speak out against the choices of the Israeli government. As Jews, we are expected to stay quiet – the raising of concerns equals a hateful attack against Israel.

From Jacob at his deathbed we learn the exact opposite – If we really love someone or something, this love demands of us to seek their well-being. Seeking their well-being implies not letting them descend to the pit, but rather ensuring that they are fortified and established with the strongest of foundations – ethics, morality, justice. Sometimes harsh step have to be taken to bring this about, but it is harshness out of love and concern. Shimon and Levy needed to know that their actions were unjustifiable and to be shocked into action, even if that implied being left with a bitter image of his father in his last moments. Jacob knew that if he gave them a blank cheque and free reign – that would make him indifferent. For this reason, we must feel comfortable raising our concerns and talking frankly about the situation in the Middle East, when we believe that Israel is not living up to its ideal standards and to the principles of its Declaration of Independence, when we see the far-right influencing the country towards racist, discriminatory, and unjustifiable stances. It is because we care and love for Israel and because we are committed to its existence that we speak – we can’t let her go in a path to her destruction. Perhaps we won’t become popular in the outside Jewish world for doing so, but hey, we’re doing it for Israel. Sometimes we will indeed talk way too much about Israel – but the situation demands it. Speaking out can perhaps be painful, but silence can be even more harmful…. Let’s join our voices for the sake of peace, for the sake of justice.