כִּי כֵן קָרְ בוּ אֵלַי בְּבָרְ חִי מִפְּנֵי אַבְשׁ ָלוֹם אָחִיך – for so they drew near came to me when I fled from Avshalom your brother; it doesn’t say they came but they drew near. They treated him as king – a person needs this form of encouragement in a time of downfall! David HaMelech said in Tehillim (107:41):
ֹאן מִשְׁפָּחוֹת ָשֶׂם כַּצֵב אֶבְיוֹן מֵעוֹנִי וַיְשַׂג – but the needy He secures from suffering and increases their families like flocks. What does this Pasuk mean?
What happens to a poor person who discovers a wealthy relative? He finds them and says, "Do you remember Uncle Moshe from Givat Olga?" The wealthy man’s response is most likely, "Who? Moshe from Givat Olga? I don't know that name!" Rabbotai, Moshe from Givat Olga is the man’s uncle and, surely, he knows his uncle, but had he acknowledged this out loud, the pauper would have started milking him through family trees and tales from simchas past. So instead, he plays anonymous and dumb. And what happens to a poor person who filled out a lottery ticket for ten shekel and won ten million?! He goes to the lottery office, puts on a lottery mask, and starts taking pictures. His third cousin calls him the next day and says, "Shlomo! I saw you in the newspaper with a lottery mask – I recognized the beard immediately! Mazel Tov!" Shlomo nervously responds, "What? Me with a lottery mask?!" The cousin insists, "Yes! I recognized it was you right away! Don't worry, I'm not going to publicize it– but you know, did you give out your ma’aser and all? Hint hint..."
David HaMelech says: וַיְשַׂ גֵב אֶבְ יוֹן מֵ עוֹנִי – He secures the needy from suffering. When the poor person gets out of the mud and wins ten million, everyone becomes his family! But when a person is deep in the mud, everyone suddenly suffers from memory loss. David was in a downfall, and when a person is in a downfall, people don’t like to be near them. But precisely then, in the time of downfall, וַיָּשֶׂם כַּצֹּאן מִשְׁפָּחוֹת, Barzillai placed him at the head – "I am with you until the end!"
David HaMelech now came to his son Shlomo and commanded him to show kindness to the sons of Barzillai and to let them be among those who eat at his own table.
In sefer Mishbetzot Zahav, the author writes that commentators have all explained why the command to show kindness is placed between the two commands to punish Yoav and Shimi ben Geira. This teaches that even the punishments that David commanded were due to Chesed – the attribute of kindness; to punish them in this world so that they would be saved from the punishments of Heaven in the World to Come. And this is the reason for the vav hachibur – the conjunctive vav at the start of וְלִבְנֵי בַרְזִלַּי הַגִּלְעָדִי תַּעֲשֶׂה־חֶסֶד – and to the sons of Barzillai the Giladi show kindness; adding to the first matter, since both are matters of goodness and kindness. This means, David said to Shlomo, "Just as inviting the sons of Barzillai the Giladi is kindness, so too killing Yoav ben Tzeruyah and Shimi ben Geira is kindness!"
Shimi ben Geira was the teacher of Shlomo HaMelech (Berachot 8a); he was the head of the Sanhedrin! Shlomo owed him his Olam Haba – why? Because the Gemara says (Bava Metzia 33a): Between the loss of one’s father and the loss of one’s teacher, the loss of the teacher takes precedence, for the father brought him into this world, and the teacher who taught him wisdom brings him to the life of the World to Come. David HaMelech said to him, "If you do not kill him, he will not be able to enter Olam Haba!" Killing him in this world was the greatest kindness Shlomo could do for him!
And what happened with Yoav ben Tzeruyah? Yoav killed two military commanders, one named Avner ben Ner, and the other named Amasa ben Yeter. Avner was the commander of Shaul's army, and Amasa led Avshalom's army – both defected and eventually came to David HaMelech.
When Shaul and his sons died in battle, they made Ish Boshet king in Machanayim. At first, Avner ben Ner aligned with him, but later he suspected him and defected. During the war between Avner ben Ner and Yoav ben Tzeruyah, Yoav's brother, Asahel, chased after Avner. Avner warned him that if he did not stop chasing him, he would eventually strike him. Of course, he didn’t heed this warning, and in the end, Avner killed him. When Avner ben Ner came to David HaMelech, proving his loyalty and saying he wanted to make peace with him, David made a welcoming feast for him – and there, Yoav ben Tzeruyah went out to chase after Avner ben Ner and killed him, claiming he was avenging the blood of his brother.
Next was Amasa ben Yeter, who was the commander of Avshalom's army. When Avshalom's army disbanded, he came to David HaMelech, and David appointed him as his army commander in place of Yoav be Tzeruyah. Some time later, Sheva ben Bichri's rebellion broke out, and David ordered Amasa to deploy the army of Yehuda. Amasa delayed, so David ordered Avishai ben Tzeruyah to replace Amasa and immediately lead the army to suppress the rebellion. Amasa later joined Avishai's army in Givon, where Yoav ben Tzeruyah took the opportunity to murder Amasa.
David HaMelech commanded Shlomo to kill both Shimi ben Geira and Yoav ben Tzeruyah to bring them to the life of the World to Come.
With these learnings, we can now consider a tremendous idea. Shimi ben Geira, head of the Sanhedrin, was from the family of Shaul and the tribe of Binyamin. When Shaul was killed in battle, Shimi held that David was responsible for his death. Besides this, he also accused him of the sin with Bat Sheva and other sins too and therefore called him all sorts of derogatory names and cursed him:
As King David was approaching Bachurim, a member of Shaul’s clan—a man named Shimi son of Geira—came out from there, hurling insults as he came. He threw stones at David and all King David’s courtiers, while all the troops and all the warriors were at his right and his left. And these are the insults that Shimi hurled: “Get out, get out, you criminal, you villain! The Lord is paying you back for all your crimes against the family of Shaul, whose throne you seized. The Lord is handing over the throne to your son Avshalom; you are in trouble because you are a criminal!”
Avishai wanted to respond quickly and with lethal force, but David was not so quick to pull the trigger:
Avishai son of Zeruiah said to the king, “Why let that dead dog abuse my lord the king? Let me go over and cut off his head!” But the king said, “What has this to do with you, sons of Zeruiah? He is abusing me only because G-d told him to abuse David; and who is to say, ‘Why did You do that?’”
Is it possible that a man like him, who is the head of the Sanhedrin, would curse the king if it had not been instructed to do so by Hakadosh Baruch Hu? David looked the other way, ignoring the curses and attributing them to Hakadosh Baruch Hu’s will and directive.
David said further to Avishai and all the courtiers, “If my son, my own issue, seeks to kill me, how much more the Binyami! Let him go on hurling abuse, for G-d has told him to. Perhaps G-d will look upon my punishment and recompense me for the abuse Shimi has uttered today.”
David HaMelech said, “Hakadosh Baruch Hu will see how much suffering I have from all the insults that they throw at me, and then perhaps He will forgive me for the sin with Bat Sheva!”
David and his men continued on their way, while Shimi walked alongside on the slope of the hill, insulting him as he walked, and throwing stones at him and flinging dirt.
The Mishbetzot Zahav says, based on the Midrash (Shocher Tov 50), it is written that they walked on their way, because they walked in in humility, having accepted David Hamelech’s direction – namely, to accept the curses of Shimi with humility. And Shimi walked on the side of the mountain (צֵלַע הָהָר), reminding us of the matter of the rib – i.e., the woman created from Adam’s rib, as a reference to the matter of Bat Sheva which Shimi continued to hurl at David as he departed.
After six months, David returns to his kingship – why? Because Avshalom was killed. At that point, Shimi ben Geira went with a thousand men – 20 full buses! – to now ask forgiveness from David HaMelech. He said:
He said to the king, “Let not my lord hold me guilty, and do not remember the wrong your servant committed on the day my lord the king left Jerusalem; let Your Majesty give it no thought. For your servant knows that he has sinned; so here I have come down today, the first of all the House of Yosef, to meet my lord the king.”
Seeing that he may be granted forgiveness, Avishai jumps up and shouts, his response taking us back to the words referenced at the very start of our shiur:
Subsequently, Avishai son of Zeruiah spoke up, “Shouldn’t Shimi be put to death for that – insulting G-d’s anointed?”
Avishai once again wanted to act with force, but David HaMelech once again held back:
But David said, “What has this to do with you, sons of Zeruiah, that you should cross me today? Should a single Israelite be put to death today? Don’t I know that today I am again king over Israel?”
King David asks them, "Is it conceivable that on the day of my kingship I will kill someone?!" Seemingly, yes! So that people will see and fear! Shimi ben Geira said to him: "Listen, the greatness of a king is not always in killing those who rebel against him. It could be that his greatness is precisely in knowing how to forgive and pardon! And if everyone sees that you forgive and pardon, all those who went with Avshalom will return to you! But if you cut off my head – and I deserve it – the result will be that everyone will leave you!”
Then the king said to Shimi, “You shall not die”; and the king gave him his oath.
The Mishbetzot Zahav says, the double language of הַיּוֹם (today) in David’s response perhaps indicates that he hinted that only today he forgives him, but the time will come when he’ll command Shlomo to kill Shimi.
In the sefer Divrei Emet, Chacham Yitzchak Bachar David explains and clarifies this Pasuk wonderfully. For all the days after the sin with Bat Sheva until Hakadosh Baruch Hu returned him to his kingship, David davened and asked Hakadosh Baruch Hu to forgive him for the sin, and he would say:
אֲ לַמְּ דָ ה פֹ שׁ ְ עִ ים דְּ רָ כֶ יך וְ חַ טּ ָ אִ ים אֵ לֶ יך יָשׁ וּ בוּ – I will teach transgressors Your ways, that sinners may return to You.
That by Hakadosh Baruch Hu forgiving David and restoring all the levels he had achieved, the people would see and learn the greatness of repentance, which was indeed the purpose of the sin – i.e., to teach repentance to an individual. And now Shimi ben Geira came to David with the same argument: "All of Israel sinned against you, and I more than all of them, and I have come to ask for forgiveness. If you accept me, all of Israel will be confident that you will accept them, and if not, they will be afraid to return to you." And with this, David said to Avishai: “What do I have to do with you, sons of Tzeruyah, that you should be as a Satan (obstacle) to me today. That if I do not accept Shimi at this time so that all of Israel will learn from him, then my plea for Hakadosh Baruch Hu to accept me in repentance so that all of Israel will learn from me is not accepted either, for all of Hakadosh Baruch Hu's attributes are measure for measure, and it turns out that you are a Satan to me, preventing Hakadosh Baruch Hu from forgiving me. On the contrary, when I accept Shimi even though he cursed me with a grievous curse, and all of Israel see and ask for forgiveness and I forgive them, Hakadosh Baruch Hu will surely forgive me, and just as I accepted Shimi and opened for him a door of repentance, so He will do for me.”
Notice something interesting in Shimi ben Geira’s request: וְהִנֵּה בָאתִי הַיּוֹם רִאשׁוֹן לְכָל בֵּית יוֹסֵף לָרֶדֶת לִקְרַאת אֲדֹנִי הַמֶּלֶך. How does the בֵּית יוֹסֵף – the house of Yosef, come into play here? Shimi ben Geira belonged to Shevet Binyamin and not Yosef! The Midrash says (Shocher Tov 3; Pesikta Rabbati 31), he intended to mention Yosef HaTzaddik whose brothers sold him into slavery and sinned greatly against him, yet he reconciled with them and even did them good. After it became clear to the brothers that they were wrong, and all of Yosef's dreams were actually prophecy, they came and asked him for forgiveness, and Yosef forgave them. This is what Shimi was saying to David: "Remember what Yosef did. Follow his example. He forgave his brothers, and you should too!" Another explanation is that he mentioned Yosef because Bnei Yisrael is called by Yosef's name in matters related to forgiveness: שְׁאֵרִית יוֹסֵף צְבָאוֹת אֱלֹקֵי אוּלַי יֶחֱנַן ה'. He wanted to hint that all of Bnei Yisrael is waiting to see if David will reconcile with Shimi and forgive him, and then they will all return to him.
Chazal in their sefarim kedoshim have already written that through this act, where David HaMelech accepted the insults and curses of Shimi in such a marvelous manner, he merited to receive his level of being the fourth leg of the Merkava, and this is the good that Hakadosh Baruch Hu repaid him on that day. Here he merited to be the anointed of the G-d of Yaakov, living and existing as the fourth leg of the Merkava.
The commentators have already written that it was fulfilled in David HaMelech what is said: וְאֹהֲבָיו כְּצֵאת הַשֶּׁמֶשׁ בִּגְבֻרָתוֹ – May Your friends be as the sun rising in might! As Chazal expounded, those who are insulted and do not insult back, hear their disgrace yet do not respond – they have strength like the strength of the sun itself! And so, it is said in sefer Shevet Musar (20:27): At that time, the Heavenly Court decided that David would be one of the four in the Merkava.
The Chafetz Chaim says, quoted in Shevet Musar and in the Megaleh Amukot (200), the moment Shimi ben Geira came and cursed David HaMelech, David said: "Hashem instructed him to curse,“ and at that moment he became the fourth leg of the Merkava! At that time, he forgave him. But in the future, he would be punished by Shlomo his son. Rabbi Shimshon of Ostropola tells us, thanks to the forgiveness that David granted him at that time, he merited that the Merkava would be complete! Otherwise, the image of the ox would be missing from the Kiseh HaKavod and only אנ"א would remain. Yosef HaTzaddik said to his brothers: "הֲתַחַת אֱלֹהִים אָנִי – Am I in the place of G-d? Do you think I am going to lose the fourth leg of the Merkava?! Absolutely not!" And Yosef forgave them, and his image remained engraved in the Kiseh HaKavod.
It is based on these words that I thought to connect the Parsha to the Haftarah, and I ask for forgiveness if I am mistaken. When Yosef forgave his brothers, he merited and entered the Merkava in the image of the ox, and when Shimi ben Geira came cursed David HaMelech and David forgave him, he too became the fourth leg of the Merkava. Both entered the Merkava the moment they conceded and relented – the moment of הֲתַחַת. We can learn here that a person who concedes never loses! As Rav Shteinman ztz”l would say, "I have never seen a person who conceded and lost!"
If this is the case, let's conclude by connecting to Purim just as we began. Megillat Esther says (2:5):
אִישׁ יְהוּדִי הָיָה בְּשׁוּשַׁן הַבִּירָה וּשְׁמוֹ מׇרְדֳּכַי בֶּן יָאִיר בֶּן־שִׁמְעִי בֶּן־קִישׁ אִישׁ יְמִינִי׃
In the fortress Shushan lived a Jew by the name of Mordechai, son of Yair son of Shimi son of Kish, a Binyami. שִׁמְעִי – This is Shimi ben Geira. The Midrash says (Esther Rabbah, Parsha 6:1), David HaMelech had a request:
אָמַר דָּוִד לִפְנֵי הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא, רִבּוֹנוֹ שֶׁל עוֹלָם: זָכְרֵנִי ה' בִּרְצוֹן עַמֶּךָ, בְּשָׁעָה שֶׁתַּעֲשֶׂה תְּשׁוּעָה לְיִשְׂרָאֵל עַל יְדֵי מָרְדֳּכַי וְאֶסְתֵּר, בְּשָׁעָה שֶׁהֵשׁ הָמָן לְהַשְׁמִיד אֶת יִשְׂרָאֵל וְשָׁקַל עֲשֶׂרֶת אֲלָפִים כִּכַּר כֶּסֶף עַל יְדֵי עוֹשֵׂי מְלֶאכֶת אֲחַשְׁוֵרוֹשׁ , דִּכְתִיב: וַעֲשֶׂרֶת אֲלָפִים כִּכַּר כֶּסֶף וגו', מַה כְּתִיב שָׁם, אִישׁ יְהוּדִי וגו'.
David said before Hakadosh Baruch Hu: Master of the universe: “Remember me, Lord, when You favor Your people.” When You bring salvation for Israel by means of Mordechai and Esther, when Haman sought to destroy Israel and weighed out ten thousand silver talents by means of the king’s craftsmen, as it is written: “And ten thousand talents of silver...”. What is written there? “There was a Judean man in the Shushan citadel, and his name was Mordechai...”
Seemingly, why was David HaMelech so anxious that Hakadosh Baruch Hu remember him specifically during the time of Mordechai and Esther – why not during the time of the Yevanim and Chanukah? The answer is that David HaMelech is responsible for the salvation of the Jewish people! How? Because if he had killed Shimi ben Geira on the spot, Mordechai would not have been born!
The Musar HaNevi'im says, David saw with Ruach Hakodesh that a great man would come from Shimi and would bring about a great salvation. The Megillah refers to him – Mordechai – as אִישׁ יְהוּדִי, despite him not being from the tribe of Yehuda, because Hakadosh Baruch Hu said to David: "You saved Shimi so that he would give birth to the righteous one, and I will write him in your name.” Mordechai was from the tribe of Binyamin, and it was David who was from Yehuda; remembered in the Megillah within Mordechai’s introduction.
The sefer Hilaila D'Mordechai asks, from where did David HaMelech learn that it’s possible to delay such a punishment? It is known that David descended from Ruth HaMoavia. The Gemara says (Bava Kamma 38a), Hakadosh Baruch Hu commanded Moshe to not harass Moav, nor engage in battle with them. Did Moshe consider waging war against Moav without permission, that he needed to be prevented from doing so? Rather, Moshe made a logical inference on his own. He said: “If with regards to Midian, who only came to assist Moav, the Torah says to smite them, then regarding Moav themselves, who initiated and instigated actions against Bnei Yisrael, all the more so we should wage war against them!” Hakadosh Baruch Hu said to him: “Do as I think, not as you think. I do not desire the destruction of Moav, nor of Ammon. Because I have two good doves to bring forth from them: Ruth the Moabite and Naama the Ammonite. These two righteous women will come from these nations in the future, therefore do not wage war against them today." Similarly, David made a logical inference. If Hakadosh Baruch Hu commanded to spare Moav because Ruth would come from them, he would wait with Shimi because Mordechai will come from him!
Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer (50:2) interprets this Pasuk from Megillat Esther, saying he was called מָרְדֳּכַי because his prayer entered before Hakadosh Baruch Hu כְּרֵיחַ מֹר דְּרוֹר – like the scent of pure myrrh; בֶּן יָאִיר who illuminated the faces of Yisrael with his halachic rulings; בֶּן שִׁמְעִי who went forth to curse David; and בֶּן קִישׁ who knocked on the doors of mercy and they were opened for him. All sound like great praises except for one. While one illuminated faces, the other was no less than al hapanim! His claim to fame was that he cursed David HaMelech!
The commentary Velo Od Ela writes, it is difficult that in praising Mordechai, it mentions his disgrace, by saying "son of Shimi, who went out to curse David." It seems to imply that this is also part of his praise. Do not wonder how Mordechai rose to such a great position to be second to the king who ruled from one end of the world to the other, and almost became king of the Jews; because the Gemara tells us who gets appointed to lead a community (Yoma 22b):
One appoints a leader over the community only if he has a box full of creeping animals hanging behind him. Only one who has something inappropriate in his ancestry is appointed. And why is that? So that if he exhibits a haughty attitude toward the community, one can say to him: “Turn and look behind you and be reminded of your humble roots.”
