The Curious Case of Shevet Levi (and Shimon)

כל בני לוי ALL THE SONS OF LEVI — All the sons — from this we may gather that all the tribe of Levi remained worthy (Yoma 66b).

(1) שמעון ולוי אחים SIMEON AND LEVI WERE BRETHREN in the plot against Shechem and against Joseph...

(5) כי באפם הרגו איש FOR IN THEIR WRATH THEY SLEW A MAN — This refers to Hamor and the people of Shechem, and they are spoken of as איש “one” man because they were all regarded as of no more account than one man when it was a matter of attacking them...

(6) וברצונם עקרו שור AND IN THEIR SELFWILL THEY LAMED AN OX — they desired to exterminate Joseph who is called שור, as it is said, (Deuteronomy 33:17) “His firstling bullock (שורו) (Joseph), majesty is his”. עקרו means in old French essarter. It has the same meaning as in (Joshua 11:6) “Thou shalt hamstring (תעקר) their horses”.

(1) שני בני יעקב TWO OF THE SONS OF JACOB — They were his sons (the sons of Jacob, a wise and clever man), but they acted as any man named Simeon and Levi would do — as other people would do who were not his sons — for they did not take counsel with him (Genesis Rabbah 80:10).

(1) בסדם אל תבא נפשי O MY SOUL, COME NOT THOU INTO THEIR SECRET DELIBERATION (סוד may have the sense of plot) — this has reference to the story of Zimri, (Numbers 25:6-15) when the tribe of Simeon assembled and brought the Midianitish woman before Moses, saying, “Is this woman forbidden or permitted to be taken as a wife? If you say she is forbidden, who made the daughter of Jethro permissible to you in marriage” (See Sanhedrin 82b) — let not my name be mentioned in connection with that event! Indeed, it is said (Numbers 25:14) “Zimri, the son of Zalu, a prince of a father’s house among the Simeonites” — but Scripture does not state “a son of Jacob”. (2) בקהלם UNTO THEIR ASSEMBLY — when Korah of the tribe of Levi will assemble the entire congregation against Moses and Aaron — (3) אל תחד כבודי MY GLORY BE NOT THOU UNITED — let my name not be associated there with them! (Genesis Rabbah 98:5) And so it was, for it is said (Numbers 16:1) “Korah, the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath. the son of Levi” — but it does not say “the son of Jacob”. In Chronicles, however, (1 Chronicles 6:22,23), where the genealogy of Korah is traced in connection with the “Duchan” (properly, the platform — the place on which the Levites were stationed for the service of song in the Temple) it is said, “the son of Korah, the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, the son of Israel (Genesis Rabbah 98:5).

(2) אחלקם ביעקב I WILL DIVIDE THEM IN JACOB — I shall separate them from each other inasmuch as Levi shall not be numbered among the tribes (cf. Numbers 26:62) and thus they (Simeon and Levi) will be divided (cf. Genesis Rabbah 98:5).

(2) I WILL DIVIDE THEM IN JACOB. For Levi was scattered among the twelve tribes, as is written in Joshua (ch. 21), the result being that Shim'on was left alone without Levi.

(3) I will disperse them. Both Shimon and Leivi received scattered cities rather than a contiguous portion.

(3) את שמען SIMEON — he had cast him into the pit and it was he who had said to Levi “Behold, this dreamer cometh” (Tanchuma Yashan 1:10:17). Another explanation is: It was Joseph’s intention to separate him from Levi lest the two of them might conspire to kill him.

Another explanation of שמע ה' קול יהודה HEAR, O LORD, THE VOICE OF JUDAH — Here in Judah’s blessings he alluded to Simeon (שמע) (i.e., Simeon’s blessing was included in that of Judah). And indeed, when they divided the land of Israel amongst the tribes, Simeon took his portion from amongst Judah’s lot, as it is said, (Joshua 19:9) “Out of the allotment of the children of Judah was the inheritance of the children of Simeon” (cf. Sifrei Devarim 348:5). {And why did he not assign to him (to Simeon) a separate blessing? Because he had something in his heart against him on account of what he had done at Shittim (Numbers 25:14). thus is it written in the Agada on the Psalms}.

(1) האמר לאביו ולאמו לא ראיתיו WHO SAID TO HIS FATHER AND TO HIS MOTHER, I HAVE NOT SEEN HIM — When they sinned in the matter of the golden calf and I said, “Who is on the Lord’s side, let him come to me” (Exodus 32:26), all the sons of Levi gathered themselves unto me, and I ordered them each to kill his mother’s father, he being an ordinary Israelite, or his brother on the mother’s side, or the son of his daughter whose husband was an ordinary Israelite, and thus did they do. — It is impossible to explain the term “his father” literally, and “his brothers” as being those on his father's side, and similarly to understand “his sons” literally, for really all these are Levites, and of the tribe of Levi no one sinned., as it is said, “[And there gathered unto me) all the tribe of Levi” (Sifrei Devarim 350:1, Yoma 66b).
(2) כי שמרו אמרתך BECAUSE THEY KEPT THY WORD, viz., Thou shalt have no other gods.

(1) (Devarim 33:8) "And of Levi he said": Why was this (blessing) said of him (and not of Shimon)? Shimon and Levi drank of one cup, viz. (Bereshith 49:7) "Cursed be their wrath, for it is fierce, and their anger, for it is sore. I shall divide them in Jacob, and I shall scatter them in Israel." This is analogous to (the situation of) two, who borrowed from the king. One paid him back, and borrowed from him again, and the other — not only did he not pay him back, but he borrowed again. Thus, Shimon and Levi: Both "borrowed" in Shechem, viz. (Bereshith 34:25) "And there took, two sons of Jacob, Shimon and Levi, each man his sword, and came upon the city (Shechem) secure, (in that the men were ailing from the circumcision), and they killed every male." Levi paid back what he borrowed in the desert, (in the incident of the golden calf) viz. (Shemoth 32:26) "And Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and he said 'Whoever is for the L-rd, (let him come) to me!' And there gathered unto him all the sons of Levi, etc." And he returned and "borrowed" from the L-rd in Shittim, viz. (Bamidbar 25:11) "Pinchas the son of Elazar the son of Aaron the Cohein turned My wrath away from the children of Israel when he raged My rage in their midst, and I did not consume the children of Israel in My wrath" — whereas Shimon, not only did he not repay the loan, but he went and "borrowed" again, viz. (Ibid. 14) "And the name of the man of Israel who was smitten, who was smitten together with the Midianite woman, was Zimri the son of Salu, chief of a father's house in the house of Shimon."

The Gemara raises an objection from another baraita: The verse states: “A land which the Lord your God cares for; the eyes of the Lord your God are always upon it” (Deuteronomy 11:12). God’s constant providence over Eretz Yisrael is sometimes for the good and sometimes for the bad. Sometimes for the good; how so? If the Jews were wholly wicked on Rosh HaShana, so that only a meager amount of rain was decreed for them for the year, but in the end they repented, what can be done? To add rain is impossible, as the decree was already issued. Rather, the Holy One, Blessed be He, causes those sparse rains to fall at the appropriate times on land that needs it, e.g., fields, vineyards, and gardens, all according to requirements of the land, and those rains are just as effective as a lot of rain. Sometimes for bad; how so? If the Jewish people were wholly righteous on Rosh HaShana, so that much rain was decreed for them for that year, but in the end they regressed and sinned, what can be done? To reduce the amount of rain is impossible, as the decree was already issued. Rather, the Holy One, Blessed be He, causes the rain to fall not at the appropriate time, and on land that does not need it, e.g., forests and deserts, and the ample rain is no more beneficial than meager rain.