In parshat Ki Tavo eleven curses were spoken on Mount Eval. What is the significance of this number?
Rashi on 27:24 says each curse corresponds to one of the shevatim, except for the shevet of Shimon. Since Moshe didn't intend to bless the tribe of Shimon before his death, he did not want to curse them either. Why else is the number 11 significant? Why didn't Moshe want to bless Shimon?
According to the Ibn Ezra, Moshe did not want to bless Shimon because of the sin of peor. Because of this Moshe didn't want to bless Shimon but he didn't want to curse them either. ( he didn't want a tribe to get wiped out) so he skipped them.
ReplyDeleteRamban says that whenever the tribes are mentioned, one 12 can be spoken about. Usually, Levi is not mentioned, and Ephraim and Menashe are replaced by Yosef's name. This time however, Levi, Menashe, and Ephraim's names are all mentioned- which means one needs to be removed. SInce Shimon was placed within Yehuda and the tribe was cursed by Yaakov, this tribe was the best option to drop and not mention.
ReplyDeleteIbn Ezra gives two answers to why Moshe did not bless Shimon. One answer is those who served baal peor were in shimon, so moshe did not bless or curse them. Another answer is that Moshe was following in the way of Yaakov who did not bless shimon and levi.
ReplyDeleteAccording to the Ikar Siftei Hachamim on 27:24 there is only 11 curses and not 12 because Reuven is not counted. Reuven is not counted because he sinned when he moved the beds around for his mother so Yaakov would sleep with Leah instead of Rachel.
ReplyDeleteMoshe didn't want to bless Shimon, because he knew that Yaakov didn't bless him when he blessed all 12 brothers before he died. But Moshe didn't want to curse Shimon either, because they are still a tribe of Israel. Shimon was always problematic, so he didn't get blessed. But he still belongs to Israel, so he didn't get cursed.
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