Parshat Vayechi: A view of a flawed (member of the) tribe

By and large, the tribe of Shimon does not fare well in the Biblical story. The second of Yaakov’s sons is completely bypassed for any leadership role.

The Yalkut Shimoni notes (Shoftim 42) that the tribe of Shimon, “Never had a judge or a king, on account of the sin of Zimri.”

In our parsha, Shimon and Levi are grouped together in Yaakov’s blessing – though theirs is hardly a blessing – when he says, “Shimon and Levi are a pair… they have killed men with anger, maimed bulls with will. Cursed be their rage, for it is fierce, and their fury, for it is cruel. I will disperse them in Jacob, scatter them in Israel.”

Their having killed men with anger refers to their decimation of the city of Shechem. Otherwise the blessing is cryptic until the end, which predicts their portions in the Land of Israel: Levi gets none – only cities, while Shimon’s portion is within that of the tribe of Yehuda.

At the end of the Torah (Devarim 33), Shimon is the only tribe not blessed by Moshe, which Ibn Ezra blames on the Baal Pe’or incident (Bamidbar 25). Ramban rejects this, suggesting it is disgraceful to think Moshe did not bless a tribe. It is only because Moshe mentioned Yosef as Ephraim and Menashe, and achieved the number of 12 tribes. The smallest tribe (Shimon) was thus left out of the Torah’s account of the blessings – more for practical reasons than as punishment.

Looking at Shimon – the man and the tribe – in the Torah and Midrash, the picture is quite reproving, in fact.

His role in wiping out the city of Shechem (along with Levi) is criticized. He and Levi are credited with having the discussion to kill Yosef (37:19-20 – many midrashim and Targum Yonatan), while Shimon is identified as the one who threw Yosef in the pit (Bereshit Raba 84:16). We know Levi is exonerated, on account of the status Shevet Levi carries until today – having Moshe and Aharon and all those who did not participate in the Golden Calf as their forebears establish Levi’s status as the tribe of holiness forever.

Like Cham, son of Noach, who is eternally linked with his son Canaan (and cursed in this manner by his father) Shimon is also linked with Canaan in his lineage. Of all the descendants of Yaakov who descended to Egypt, only one has a depiction of his mother attached to his name: Shaul ben HaCanaanit, apparent son of Shimon.

Why was he singled out in this way?

Ramban learns from his name that the sons of Yaakov did not marry Canaanites.

The Midrash (Rabati) presents three options: Shimon was the only one of the brothers to marry a Canaanite (according to Ramban, they married Egyptians, Amonites, Moabites, Yishmaelites, and Bnei Keturah); ‘The Canaanite’ refers to Dinah, on account of her encounter with Shechem – Shimon had one child with her (as an accession to her concern that she’d never marry), and then ended their union; Shaul was later Zimri.

With reference to his being Zimri (or the ancestor of Zimri), the Talmud in Sanhedrin 82b explains the name Shaul (lend) meaning “because he lent himself [easily] to commit a sin,” and Ben HaCanaanit to mean, “because he engaged in a Canaanite act of licentiousness.” (How he lived for 250 years is a different question.)

According to those who suggest he was the son of Dinah, either Shimon was the father (see above), or Shechem was the father (Rav Samson Raphael Hirsch). [Some say Yosef’s wife was the product of Dinah and Shechem – Targum Yonatan 41:45] Rav Hirsch credits Shimon with raising Shaul, noting a precedent that a Jewish mother establishes her child’s acceptance into her family. That Shimon is listed as his father, must then follow the Talmudic ruling (Sanhedrin 19b) that one who raises a child in his home is as if he fathered him.

The Tzror Hamor (R. Abraham ben Jacob Saba) presents a fascinating insight to Shimon, from the moment he was born. Leah saw all that would transpire with Shimon in a prophetic vision – the Zimri/Kozbi story, the union with a Canaanite that would produce Shaul, and therefore the proclivity Shimon has for “zimah.” (licentiousness). This is why when she names him she says, “G-d heard I am hated,” as if to say, “G-d heard, and got angry.” He gave me “this,” meaning “If only he hadn’t given me ‘this’ because he is destined for sin…”

His name can be read “Sham Avon” - sin is on him. The natural proclivity for sin was punished when most of those who died at Baal Peor were of the tribe of Shimon. The Malbim explains (Bamidbar 26:12) that the entire family of Ohad (son of Shimon) was wiped out, and that Yemuel and Zochar changed their tribal family names to Nemuel and Zerach to avoid a similar fate – all results of the Baal Peor story.

This portrayal of the destiny of the tribe of Shimon is very depressing. When we consider that the sons of Yaakov are all considered holy, how do we reconcile Shimon’s unenviable status of being the worst of the lot?

We see that no one is perfect. Some people have devils in them from the moment they are born. For some people it comes out in spurts, for some it lays dormant, and for some it comes out in later generations – it seems to be embedded in the genetic code.

For those who are preprogrammed this way, their challenge is to overcome their proclivities as best as possible. It’s not easy – it never is – but with recognition of the problem, and properly seeking help and guidance, a person has a fighting chance of living a productive life.

For those on the outside, we need to be as helpful as we can, reserve judgment until judgment is fairly warranted, and give the benefit of the doubt as much as possible. Those who say Shimon did a kindness in taking Dinah, when she thought no one ever would, are clearly judging Shimon favorably.

Living amongst flawed people is a challenge. But we dare not play G-d with their destiny – some will do bad and will always be bad, some will challenge their nature and be amazing people, and some will recognize their errors and do teshuvah.

How we choose to view and accept or reject them is our challenge, to be fair and honest with all the information we can gather.