Along comes this Chamor dude who just happened to be a king. He made a proposition to Yaacov and his sons that they could all intermarry with Chivites and share the land. Yaacov’s children cunningly answered Chamor that they could only make such a deal if the gentiles who were subservient to Shechem underwent circumcision. Shechem and his constituency agreed. Three days after circumcising themselves infection had weakened them all. In this defenseless state Shimon and Levy slaughtered them all.

Yaacov Avinu was very disturbed by this whole affair. He told his sons Shimon and Levy that they disturbed him. He feared that all of the gentiles would now gang up on them to kill them. They answered their father whether it was correct for their sister be made into a harlot.

Was it right for Shimon and Levy to commit genocide over the mishandling of their sister? Did they have any other choice?

Ramban – Nachmonidies discusses  this dilemma. He says that it seems Yaacov knew his sons were deceiving Shechem. Additionally it seems that all of the sons were party to the deceit. It is impossible to say that Yaacov agreed to his daughter’s marriage to a gentile who defiled her. Why did he curse Shimon and Levy on his death bed?

Ramban answers that it seems Yaacov and the other sons had planned a different form of deceit which did not involve the killing of innocent people. They figured that Shechem would never accept the Jewish religion and certainly would not circumcise the entire male population. If they did accept such a condition the “deceit” was that on the third day while the Chivites were  ill Yaacov’s sons would walk into the castle and remove Dinah.

However, Shimon and Levy wanted serious revenge. Yaacov was angry at his sons because they murdered innocent people. They should have murdered only Shechem and Chamor.

The question is asked: How is it possible that Yaacov’s sons, who were very righteous, murdered innocent people?