Simeon
Artist: Maria Stolz

“And Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, you have brought trouble on me, making me odious among the inhabitants of the land, among the Canaanites and Perizites, and I being few in number, they shall gather themselves together against me and slay me and I shall be destroyed, I and my house.  But they said, should our sister be dealt as with a harlot?” Gen. 34:30-1.

This, of course, relates to the burning of Shechem over the rape and defilement of Simeon and Levi’s beloved sister Dinah.  Being shepherds of the land, their standard, forever and always depicts a building, which is a replica of the town of Shechem. 

I chose to show the town of Shechem being devoured in a malevolent conflagration of flames with a nocturnal background, and barren tree of life illustrating the zealous self-destructive act of the two brothers.  Here the power to fight injustice totally backfires into a dangerous weapon of destruction and threatens the House of Israel.  Jacob never forgave Simeon and Levi in particular, for their sin of cruelty and violence and as a consequence, the tribe was scattered in Israel and absorbed by the tribe of Judah.  Their name is not even mentioned in the farewell words of Moses.  No mention of their name appears in Deborah’s famous song of victory.

Some scholars argue that although they acted as a passionate defender, their behavior was that of an uninhibited child hence, this tribe was forever consigned to the role of finding a balance between defense against and mercy for our enemies.  One view holds that Simeon’s temperament ascribes the tribe to the role of elementary school teachers, that is they must deal with the unrefined emotions of the child.

Please note however, the power of the shekhinah and the dove of peace, which I have purposely included in this panel.  In it is depicted the yin/yang. According to Midrash Tehillim 90:12 it notes that the Torah was written with black “fire upon white fire, lying in the lap of God” –that is to say that a parable to Taoist reconciliation of positive and negative aspects is possible. 

And it indeed happened because we find later that Asnat, the wife and true soul-mate of Joseph and mother of Ephraim, was the offspring of the rape of Dinah by Shechem ben Hamor.  Such is the healing power of shekhinah and I further suggest, the coming of “full circle” in this cycle of redemption.

As it was written in Isaiah 1:18, “Even though your sins be like crimson, they can turn white, be they red as dyed wool, they can become like fleece.”

©Maria Stolz

Reuben | Simeon | Levi | Judah | Dan | Naphtali | Gad | Asher | Issachar | Zebulun | Joseph | Benjamin

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