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Why did Yaakov call Shimon and Levi "murderers" when they were halachically justified in killing Shechem's city? The shiur develops a fundamental yesod: for a Jew, wrong motive taints the action itself. Unlike Bnei Noach who are judged only by deeds, Jews are held to a standard where improper machshavah renders even a technically correct action deficient—a transformative insight into the nature of avodas Hashem (ה׳).
This shiur addresses one of the most difficult pesukim in Bereishis: Yaakov Avinu's condemnation of Shimon and Levi as murderers—"ki b'apam hargu ish." The Gemara (גמרא) in Megillah relates that when the Torah (תורה) was translated into Greek for King Talmai, this pasuk was altered from "ish" (man) to "shor" (ox) to avoid the impression that the forefathers of the Jewish people were murderers. Rabbi Zweig asks a fundamental question: what was gained by this alteration? The entire story of Dinah and the slaughter of Shechem is recorded in the Torah anyway. Furthermore, we who know the truth must still grapple with the fact that Yaakov appears to be calling his own sons murderers—and the Rambam (רמב"ם) states that murder is the worst of all aveiros. How do we understand this? The shiur introduces a crucial Gemara from Megillah (Perek 2) that discusses why only the Jewish people receive "crowns" for their good deeds, while non-Jews performing similar acts do not. The very formulation of this question assumes that both Jews and non-Jews are performing the same meritorious actions. Yet midas hadin (divine justice) asks why the reward differs. The Gemara's answer is cryptic: "shein oskin b'Torah"—because non-Jews do not engage in Torah study. Rabbi Zweig explains that this cannot merely mean Jews have an additional mitzvah (מצוה) of Torah study, because the question specifically concerned the reward for the particular good deeds both were performing. The answer must address something fundamental about the nature of those very actions.
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Bereishis 49:5-7 (Parshas Vayechi)
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