Shabbat Table Topics – Parashat Vayishlach/0/en

Shabbat Table Topics – Parashat Vayishlach

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Shimon and Levi on Trial

How do you evaluate Shimon and Levi's slaughter of the city of Shekhem?  Should their actions be justified as an appropriate avenging of their sister's honor or be condemned as overly harsh and cruel?  Alternatively, was the deed perhaps undesirable, but nonetheless a necessary response to the rape? See Sin and Slaughter of Shekhem for details.

The story raises the question of the relative benefits of policies of restraint versus active deterrence, and the morality of collective punishment versus targeted killings. Debate these issues with your family both as they relate to the actions of the brothers and to contemporary politics.