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Why does Yaakov curse Reuven for merely moving beds and call Shimon and Levi murderers when they killed those who deserved to die? The shiur develops the Vilna Gaon's principle that the 613 mitzvos are the minimum standard, but every component of a forbidden act—even in permissible contexts—is also prohibited. Reuven violated eshes aviv by controlling his father's household; Shimon and Levi committed murder by acting with anger, not pure justice.
This shiur analyzes Yaakov's harsh rebuke of his sons in Parshas Vayechi and develops a fundamental principle about the nature of mitzvos and aveiros. Yaakov curses Reuven for moving Yaakov's bed from Bilhah's tent, taking away his kehunah and malchus—a seemingly disproportionate punishment. He then calls Shimon and Levi murderers for Shechem, yet both Rambam (רמב"ם) and Ramban (רמב"ן) argue the killing was halachically justified. The Gemara (גמרא) in Megillah records that when translating the Torah (תורה) for Talmai HaMelech, the sages changed "they killed a man" to "they killed an ox" to avoid the appearance that our forefathers were murderers. Rabbi Zweig explains through the Vilna Gaon's yesod in Even Shleima that the 613 mitzvos represent only the minimum, literal level of Torah observance—not the maximum. Every mitzvah (מצוה) and aveirah has deeper dimensions. The prohibition of eshes aviv on its basic level forbids physical relations, but on a deeper level it includes any inappropriate relationship or control over one's father's wife. Reuven's moving the beds to determine which wife would be primary violated the spirit of eshes aviv, even without physical contact. This is why Yaakov treats it as a serious aveirah worthy of losing kehunah and malchus.
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Bereishis 49:3-7 (Parshas Vayechi)
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