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Why does the Torah (תורה) use the word "ish" (man) to describe Shimon and Levi at age thirteen when they defended Dinah? The shiur develops that bar mitzvah (מצוה) marks two transitions: becoming a "gadol" (responsible for oneself) and beginning the journey toward "ish" (communal responsibility). The path from self-centered child to community member runs through familial responsibility—teaching teenagers to broaden their horizons beyond themselves.
Rabbi Zweig analyzes the story of Dinah in Parshas Vayishlach, focusing on the actions of Shimon and Levi and what the Torah (תורה)'s language reveals about the transition to adulthood. After Dinah was violated by Shechem, the sons of Yaakov negotiated a deal: if Shechem and his city would undergo genuine conversion, they would be free from punishment under Noahide law. However, when the conversion proved insincere—Shechem sold the idea to his townspeople as a business opportunity to acquire Jewish wealth and daughters—the deal was void, and Shimon and Levi killed all the males of the city. The Torah describes this event using a seemingly extra word: "The two sons of Yaakov, Shimon and Levi, the brothers of Dinah, each man (ish) took his sword..." Rashi (רש"י) in Pirkei Avos (5:21) explains that the word "ish" (man) teaches us the age of bar mitzvah (מצוה). Through a careful calculation—Yaakov was in Lavan's house for twenty years, with Levi born around year nine, and this incident occurring about thirteen years after Levi's birth—we learn that Levi was thirteen when called an "ish." The Torah establishes that thirteen is the age when a person becomes an adult man with mitzvah obligations.
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