Parshas Vayishlach 5776

Was Shechem a City?

The Torah writes (Genesis 33:18-19):

And Jacob came in peace to the city of Shechem, which is in the land of Canaan, when he came from Paddan-aram; and encamped before the city. And he bought the parcel of ground, where he had spread his tent, at the hand of the children of Hamor, Shechem’s father, for a hundred pieces of money.

The Torah writes earlier (Genesis 12:6):

And Abram passed through the land unto the place of Shechem, unto the terebinth of Moreh. And the Canaanite was then in the land

 The Ramban (ibid) writes:

This was the city of Shechem  and that was the name of that place. And Shechem the son of Hamor was named after the city.

Ibn Ezra (ibid) writes that at the time of Abraham, the city did not exist yet:

Moses called it by that name, for Shechem did not yet exist in the days of Abraham

The Rashbam (Genesis 33:18) says its name was not Shechem:

ויבא יעקב שלם, to the city named Shalem. The construction is similar to ותבאנה בית לחם, “they arrived at Bet Lechem.” (Ruth 1:19)

עיר שכם, the city of Shechem (who subsequently raped Dinah) The description parallels Numbers 21:26 where Cheshbon is described as the city of Sichon, King of the Emorites. Anyone who explains Shechem as being the name of the city errs. We do not find anywhere that a city is described in such terms, i.e. as עיר ציון, or as עיר ירושלים. Invariably such cities are described with the appropriate definitive article ה i.e. as the word העיר following the name of the city in question. Even assuming that the city under discussion was Shechem, the town may have been renamed in commemoration of the heroism displayed by the sons of Yaakov.

According to this opinion, this would be the city of Melchizedek (Genesis 14:18):

And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine; and he was priest of God the Most High.

(see also our earlier post discussing that Mt. Ebal and Mt. Gerizim surround Shechem; see also Josh Waxman's parshablog)

The Tree of Shechem

The Torah writes (Genesis 35:4):

And they gave unto Jacob all the foreign gods which were in their hand, and the rings which were in their ears; and Jacob hid them under the terebinth which was by Shechem.

Tosfos (Chullin 6a) says that this terebinth tree was on Mt. Gerizim:

"Rav Nachman bar Yitzhak said: They [i.e. the Samaritans] found an image of a dove on top of Mt. Gerizim and they worshipped it" - in the Midrash it says that these were the idols that Jacob hid under the oak on the mountain in Shechem

The Rashbam (Genesis 49:10) explains that this was a famous tree:

There was open space at Shechem around the famous oak located near Shechem. At that location a mass rally could be held easily. The people would pay homage to the Sanctuary in Shiloh from that vantage point, as it was in their line of vision.

Ibn Ezra (Genesis 12:6) writes similarly:

Alon - like an terebinth, and these are trees and some people say it means "field"

The Radak (Genesis 12:6) disagrees:

אלון is the name of a plain

(see also our previous post,see also Shadal ibid)

Benjamin, the Werewolf

The Torah writes (Genesis 35:17-18):

And it came to pass, when she was in hard labour, that the mid-wife said unto her: ‘Fear not; for this also is a son for thee.’ And it came to pass, as her soul was in departing—for she died—that she called his name Ben-oni; but his father called him Benjamin.

Rabbeinu Ephraim (Genesis 49:27) writes:

There is a certain wolf called a Loup Garou and this is a human being that can change into a wolf ... and thus Benjamin ate his mother for she died from him

and earlier (Genesis 44:29) (also cited in Tosfos haShalem al haTorah [44:22]:

For Benjamin was a wolf that preyed, and sometimes he attacked people. When it was time for him to change into a wolf, as long as he lived with his father, his father provided medicine for him and he did not change [into a wolf]. Therefore it says that "lest he will leave his father and will die" meaning that if he separates from his father he will turn into a wolf, and prey on people, and then anyone who finds him will kill him

There is also a Rashi (Job 5:23) that mentions werewolves (as cited by Dr. Marc Shapiro):

"And the beasts of the field" - this is garove in French

Sefer Lazei Rashi (4208) explains:

Garove - taken from German "werewolf" - from the stories of people who turn into wolves

(See further discussion by R' Natan Slifkin)

[Published at parshapeople.blogspot.com / Comments welcome to parsha-people@publishyoursefer.com]