Shabbat Parashat Mishpatim 5786

Parashat Hashavua: Rachel, Leah, and King David – What Happened? – part IV

The unity of the people of Israel, as we have been discussing, takes on a special significance when the descendants of Rachel and Leah lead the nation in partnership.

This week’s look at the possibility of unity relates to Shimi ben Gera, another relative of Shaul ben Kish, from the descendants of Rachel.

A pasuk tells that as David was fleeing from his rebelling son Avshalom, Shimi ben Gera came out toward him (Shmuel II, 16:5). Yet, the latter’s descendant Mordechai is referred to as “ben Yair ben Shimi ben Kish” (Esther 2:5). Who was Shimi’s father?

The simple explanation is that genealogical lists do not enumerate every generation. In Shmuel, emphasis is placed on Shimi as a descendant of Gera, Binyamin’s son (see Bereishit 46:21). Megillat Esther connects Mordechai to Kish, Shaul’s father (see Megilla 12b, 13a).

Chazal had good things to say about Shimi – e.g., his name means that Hashem “listened to his prayer” (ibid.). Also, Rashi (Shmuel II, 16:10) claims that Shimi was the head of the Sanhedrin. This is along the lines of Gittin (59a) that assumes that Shimi surpassed Shlomo in Torah scholarship. In fact, he was apparently Shlomo’s teacher (Berachot 8a). Chazal also speak very highly of Shimi’s wife, claiming that Mordechai and Esther emerged from Shimi because she was a righteous woman who saved two righteous people from execution (Midrash Shmuel, 32:4).

The navi also grants Shimi a unique title: “The first of all the House of Yosef” (Shmuel II, 19:21). This accords Shimi a great standing and defines his political status. It indicates that he was the leader of the tribes of Ephraim, Menashe, and Binyamin. This title also resembles that of he who would be the king of what could be called, “The Kingdom of Yosef” – Yerovam ben N’vat, from the Tribe of Ephrayim (see Melachim I, 11:28).

Had we merited that David and Shimi would have joined forces, Shimi had the potential to do what was hoped from Yonatan, Avner, and Michal – open a gateway to a wondrous unity that brings Liberation closer. Tragically, Shimi took the opportunity of the outbreak of Avshalom’s rebellion to grievously offend David, throwing stones at him, calling him “man of bloodshed,” and celebrating the upper hand that Avshalom appeared to have over David (see Shmuel II, 16:5-8).

David did not forgive Shimi and instructed Shlomo to kill him (Melachim I, 2:9). The gemara says that this was a mistake, and it opened up Shlomo to the sin of marrying Paroh’s daughter, when his teacher was no longer around (Berachot 8a). The result was severe. “At the time that Shlomo married Paroh’s daughter, Gavriel descended and planted a reed in the sea, and a sandbank formed upon it, and upon it was built the great city of Rome” (Shabbat 56b).

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