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The Rambam (רמב"ם) rules that Shimon and Levi were legally justified in wiping out Shechem. So why does Yaakov curse them in Parshas Vayechi? Rashi (רש"י) reveals that Yaakov criticized not the act itself but their anger—they acted from personal motives, not pure justice. The shiur develops the yesod that Judaism demands perfection in both action and intention; even a correct deed done with flawed motivation reflects a character defect that must be corrected.
This shiur addresses a fundamental tension in Parshas Vayechi regarding Yaakov's rebuke of Shimon and Levi for their destruction of the city of Shechem. The Rambam (רמב"ם) in Hilchos Melachim rules that the brothers acted with full legal justification: Shechem himself deserved death for his crime, and the city's failure to judge him constituted a violation of the Noahide law of Dinim, itself a capital offense. According to the Rambam, Shimon and Levi had not only the right but possibly even an obligation to execute the entire city. Yet in this week's parshah, Yaakov explicitly curses them—"Ki b'apam hargu ish" (in their anger they killed a man)—seemingly condemning the very act the Rambam validates. How can Yaakov criticize something that was halachically correct, perhaps even mandatory? Rabbi Zweig brings Rashi (רש"י)'s critical insight on the pasuk "Shimon v'Levi achim klei chamas m'cheirosaim" to resolve the question. Rashi observes that even in the midst of rebuke—"afilu b'shaas tochachah"—Yaakov did not curse the brothers themselves or condemn the act of killing. Rather, he cursed only their "apam," their anger. The rebuke was not about what they did, but about how and why they did it. The brothers had every right, even an obligation, to carry out the death sentence on Shechem and its inhabitants. But they performed this act with personal anger and vengeance, not purely for the sake of justice.
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Parshas Vayechi, Bereishis 49:5-7
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