At the end of this week’s Parsha there is a rather disturbing episode. Jacob’s daughter Dina gets kidnapped and raped by one of the local Canaanite prince’s. After the incident, the rapist’s father attempts to betroth Dina to his son. Initially Jacob’s family agrees to the marriage under the condition that the entire city converts to the Jewish religion and all the men get circumcised. After agreeing to the demands, Jacob’s sons, Shimon and Levi, sneak into the city and kill them all in retaliation for what had happened to their sister.
Even though Shimon and Levi believed that they were justified for what they did, Jacob scolds them harshly. He fears for the way in which his family will be perceived by the rest of their neighbors as a result of their vengeance. There is a Midrash which adds depth to the nature of Jacob’s disapproval of their terrible act. Rather than seeing Jacob’s objection based solely on self-preservation, this Midrash shifts the focus on how the immoral action of Shimon and Levi will undermine the mission of the Jewish people.
The Midrash (Bereishit Rabbah Vayechi 98:5) is based on the verse from at the end of the book of Genesis, where Jacob was speaking to all of his children on his deathbed. In the verse where he speaks to Shimon and Levi, the verse says, “…they hamstrung an ox.” The Midrash translates the Hebrew (עקרו שור – akru shor) differently. This Midrash explains it as meaning that they destroyed a wall, and it explains that they destroyed the wall of proselytes. Underlying this Midrash is an assumption that there are a number of walls which uphold the house of Israel. One of these walls is conversion.
Judaism is not a proselytizing religion, there is a mitzvah to convert someone who sincerely wants to cast his or her lot with the Jewish people, but the focus of this midrash seems to put a weight on conversion that we don’t traditionally find. So what does it mean? The mission of the Jewish people is to be light to the Nations of the world. This can be done by positively influencing others to be better people and make the world a better place. In order for the rest of the world to be willing to be influenced by the Jewish people, it is necessary that there is at least a minimal amount of respect for them. Throughout the midrashic commentaries on the stories of the patriarchs we see a description of our forefathers influencing, teaching, and converting the world to their moral perspective, belief in one God, and the ethics which are influenced by such a belief. Jacob feared that by deceiving the Canaanites by allowing them to convert, and subsequently killing them, Shimon and Levi had undermined the potential to fulfill their mission in the world
This reprimand was ultimately a statement that to his children that they have given the rest of the world a reason to mistrust the Jewish people and lose respect for them, thereby undermining their potential to influence them positively. Since Shimon and Levi have given them cause to think that they are dishonest and immoral people, the rest of the world will not consider learning anything from them. Jacob’s perspective is that their crime has far more negative implications than the act itself, heinous as it may have been; what they did was also a chillul hashem (a terrible sin where a person causes others to lose respect for God, Judaism, and the Jewish people).
Sometimes our zealousness for our own religious observance causes us to ignore the impact our actions are having on others. The entire purpose of Judaism is to influence goodness in the world. We can’t lose sight of the forest from the trees. The way in which we both embrace the Torah and treat other people can have a profound effect on how people will view and respect Judaism and the potential to influence an openness to learn from Jewish wisdom. If the way in which we observe Torah and mitzvoth will cause others to lose respect for Jews and Judaism than we have to consider the possibility that we aren’t observing the mitzvah correctly.
To be clear, I’m not arguing that it is acceptable not to observe the commandments; Rather, I’m pointing out that there is a lesson here regarding a bigger purpose in living an observant Jewish life than fulfilling a list of ordinances as if they are merely a points on a checklist, without any impact on who we are as a person. There is a way of applying the commandments to our life that can inspire us and the people around us, but it requires a mindfulness and sensitivity to the way in which we are interacting with our fellows. Living a Jewish life needs to be a Kiddush Hashem (the opposite of chillul Hashem, whereby a person’s causes a great respect for God, Judaism and Jews in the people they come in contact with). This lesson was not only relevant to Jacob’s sons; it is a lesson that should reverberate to every Jewish person throughout the ages.
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