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Parashas VaYigash – 5778 –
Yehudah ben Yaakov was
unquestionably the hero of the
early Exodus. He led the
brothers of Yoseph in Teshuvah
and was judged by HaShem and his
father as being worthy of
Kingship and was the ancestor of
Moshiach ben David. But the aim
of this essay is to show that
all of Yehudah’s siblings had
royalty flowing in their veins,
and that their names are
keepsakes in the annals of their
people.
Shimon ben Yaakov: When Yaakov
returned from his sojourn in the
House of Lavan, he and his
family entered the City of
Shechem. Dina went out to meet
the local girls. Shechem caught
sight of her and fell in love,
with negative consequences. He
assaulted her sexually; when
Yaakov found out about it, she
had already been molested. When
the men found out about what had
happened, they were boiling with
rage. Before their father had
time to react, Shimon and Levy
told Shechem and the men of the
town that they would consider
unifying with them only if they
underwent circumcision. On the
third day after the procedure,
when it was most painful, Shimon
and Levy killed by the sword the
king and the prince and all the
men of the city. Then they
retrieved their kidnapped
sister. Yaakov told his sons
that they had ruined his name.
“And they retorted, ‘Shall they
make of our sister a harlot?’ ”
(Bereshis 34:31)
The righteousness of the actions
of Shimon and Levi is confirmed
by history. For it says, “They
set out, and there fell a G-dly
terror on the cities which were
around them and they did not
pursue Yaakov’s sons.” (Bereshis
35:5)
When Yoseph took Shimon into
custody and threatened to make
him a slave, it was only to fool
the brothers. As soon as they
had left, he released Shimon; he
may not have revealed his
identity, but he certainly knew
where Shimon was “coming from;”
he was a “Midas Hadin” person.
When Yaakov gave Shimon and Levi
a “Berachah,” he said, “I will
separate them within Yaakov and
I will disperse them in Israel.”
(Bereshis 49:7) The dispersal of
Shimon included the fact that …
most of the scribes and the
teachers of little children came
from that tribe.
Great “Tannaim” and “Amoraim”
also took the name “Shimon:”
Some examples, Shimon
“HaTzaddik,” Rabbi Shimon ben
Shetach, Rabbi Shimon ben
Gamliel, And Rabbi Shimon ben
Lakish (“Resh Lakish”).
Shimon “HaMaccabbi”: (The
following text is from Josephus’
“The Wars of the Jews”) –
“However, Shimon managed the
public affairs after a
courageous manner… and it was
not long before Antiochus sent
Cendebeus his general with an
army to lay waste Judea, and to
subdue Shimon. Yet he, though he
was now in years, conducted the
war as if he were a much younger
man. He also sent his sons with
a band of strong men, against
Antiochus, while he took part of
the army with him, and fell upon
him from another quarter…And
when he had been a conqueror
after so glorious a manner, he
was made High Priest, and also
freed the Jews from the dominion
of the Macedonians after a
hundred and seventy years of the
empire (of Seleucus).”
Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai: When
Shimon was a young boy, he
studied in the great academies
of Yavneh, founded by Rabbi
Yochanan ben Zakkai. Shimon’s
main teacher was Rabbi Akiva.
During the cruel prohibition of
public teaching of Torah upon
pain of death, Rabbi Akiva
continued teaching, until he was
arrested, and killed brutally. A
part of the persecution was the
forbidding of “Semikhah,” the
Ordination of Master Students.
Rabbi Yehudah ben Bava publicly
ordained five famous scholars,
defying Hadrian’s cruel decree;
Rabbi Shimon was one of those
scholars. The ordained scholars
escaped, but Rabbi Yehudah ben
Bava was apprehended and put to
death in a fairly horrible
manner.
After the death of Hadrian,
Rabbi Yehudah expressed a soft
approach to the Romans, Rabbi
Yossi said nothing, and Rabbi
Shimon bar Yochai was extremely
critical. Correspondingly, Rabbi
Yehudah was honored, Rabbi Yossi
was exiled and Rabbi Shimon was
condemned to death. Rabbi Shimon
fled for his life with his son,
Rabbi Elazar, and they hid in a
cave. Miraculously, they were
supported by HaShem with a carob
tree and a spring of
water. They studied intensely
the Revealed Torah and the
Hidden Torah, the Zohar. After a
dozen years, Eliyahu NaNavi
advised them of a reprieve. When
they came out, they said,
“Imagine people giving up Torah
study for worldly matters!” A
Bas Kol was heard saying, “Go
back to your cave.” After
another dozen months, they were
invited out again, but this time
they saw a man carrying bunches
of myrtle, so they asked him,
“Why do you need so much
myrtle?” He answered, “To Keep
the Day Holy.” Rabbi Shimon
said, “See how precious the
Mitzvos are to our brethren.”
L’Illuy Nishmas beni, Aharon
Baruch Mordechai, ben Pinchas
Menachem
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