The Rebbe's Rambam | Marking the completion of the entire set

Hilchos Melachim | Ch 10

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[90] Because of this, all the inhabitants of She chem were liable to death, since Shechem kid napped Dinah , and they saw and knew but did not judge him. A descendant of Noach can be executed upon the testimony of one witness and one judge, without prior warning, and based on the testimony of close relatives. But not based on the testimony of a woman, and a woman shall not judge them. Chapter Ten A descendant of Noach who inadvertently vio lates one of his seven commandments is exempt from any penalty . That is, except for an uninten tional murderer — if the blood redeemer killed him, he is not executed on his behalf. He has no city of refuge to protect himself ; however, their gentile courts do not kill him. èìù øåòéù íåéì íé÷øô 'â

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 90. “Because of this, all the inhabitants of Shechem were liable to death” The Radvaz asks: If the inhabitants of Shechem were deserving of capital punishment, why was Yaakov Avinu upset at Shimon and Levi for killing them? We cannot suggest that Yaakov was not upset about the act itself, but about the fact that they endangered the family, because he specifically rebuked them for acting violently before his passing: “Shimon and Levi are a pair; their weapons are tools of lawlessness…” 291 The explanation: Yaakov Avinu concurred with Shimon and Levi that the inhabitants of Shechem deserved capital punish ment. However, he was frustrated about the method which they chose to implement the sentence. What approach did he prefer? There are two possi ble answers:

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Pardes Hamelech

1. Yaakov was of the opinion that Shimon and Levi were not in a position to carry out the sentence, because it could only be accomplished through trick ery. That would constitute a Chilul Hashem, whichmust be avoided at all costs. This approach can be gleaned from the story in Yehoshua, where the Givonim de ceived the Israelites into making a treaty, thinking that they were from a far-off land. When they discovered that the Givonim were actually a neighboring people, they still respected the treaty. 292 2. Yaakov maintained that Shimon and Levi should have trusted in Hashem and carried out the sentence bravely, without trickery. This would explain why Yaakov proclaimed, “For when angry they slayed a man” 293 in the singular. As the Midrash explains, “they were all in the eyes of Hashem like one single man.” 294 Likkutei Sichos vol. 5 pg. 150

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