VBM The Incident in Shekhem By Harav Yaakov Medan

I. Introduction It is in the Shekhem episode that we first encounter Yaakov's sons acting independently, and not merely as "the sons of." Yaakov's sons are not prophets, and God does not reveal Himself to them. They do not meet angels, and with the exception of Yosef,[1] they do not even merit lofty dreams or manifest miracles. In a certain sense, our first encounter with them in our parasha is our first look at ourselves, as the people of Israel, in the mirror. The Shekhem episode raises a grave question about the morality that guides Yaakov's sons when two of them attack the city while its inhabitants are still recovering from the pain of circumcision, after having made a covenant with them. The rest of Yaakov's sons ratify their actions retroactively, when they come to plunder the city following Shimon and Levi's slaying of all the males.