With three expressions of affection, Hakadosh Baruch Hu showed love for Bnei Yisrael: clinging (דְ בִ י קָ ה), desiring (ח ֲ שׁ ִ י ק ָ ה), and wanting (חֲ פִ יצָה). All three are sourced in Pesukim from Tanach, and all three are learned from this section of our Parsha describing the acts of this wicked man – Shechem ben Chamor.
דְ בִ י קָ ה is learned from the Pasuk: וַתִּ דְ בַּק נַפְ שׁ וֹ בְּ דִ ינָה בַּת יַעֲקֹב; the expression of ח ֲ שׁ ִ י ק ָ ה is learned from: שׁ ְ כ ֶ ם ב ּ ְ נ ִ י ח ָ שׁ ְ ק ָ ה נ ַ פ ְ שׁ ו ֹ ב ּ ְ ב ִ תּ ְ כ ֶ ם; and lastly, חֲ פִ יצָה is learned from: כִּי חָפֵץ בְּבַת יַעֲקֹב. Rabbi Abba bar Elisha adds, two more expressions of affection are learned from the story of Shechem: love – אַ הֲבָה, and speech – דִ בּ ו ּ ר. The first is learned from: ֶאֱ הַ ב אֶ ת הַ נַּעֲרָ ה; and the latter from: וַיְדַבֵּר עַל לֵב הַנַּעֲרָ ה.
So, in essence, where do we learn about Hakadosh Baruch Hu’s love for Klal Yisrael? From Shechem, the son of Chamor! How does such a statement and idea make any sense?! I will explain in summary, as these matters are quite deep, and to truly understand them you’ll need to take a two-day vacation and immerse yourselves in sefer Reishit Chochma, where the idea is found. You’ll need to leave your phone at home though, as it requires two full days without any interruption at all to even come close to an understanding.
As is known, the father of Torah Sheba'al Peh, the Oral Torah, is Rabbi Akiva. The Gemara (Sanhedrin 86a) says: An anonymous Mishnah is attributed to Rabbi Meir, an anonymous Tosefta to Rabbi Nechemiah, an anonymous Sifra to Rabbi Yehuda, an anonymous Sifrei to Rabbi Shimon, and all of them are according to Rabbi Akiva.
As detailed in the Gemara (Berachot 61b), the Roman rulers decreed that Am Yisrael should not engage in Torah study. Pappus ben Yehuda, after finding Rabbi Akiva gathering assemblies and engaging in Torah study, asked, “Akiva, are you not afraid of the government that punishes those who violate their decrees with cruelty?” Rabbi Akiva replied: “I will give you a parable to explain my actions. This is comparable to a fox walking along the riverbank who saw fish shifting from place to place in panic. The fox said to them: Why are you fleeing? The fish replied: Because of the nets that people cast to catch us. The fox asked: Do you want to come up onto dry land, and we’ll live together as my ancestors lived with your ancestors? They replied: You’re the one they call the cleverest of animals? You’re nothing but a fool! If we’re afraid in the place of our life, in the water, how much more so in the place of our death, on dry land!” Rabbi Akiva continued and explained: “So too with us. As we sit and engage in Torah, our lifeline, we’re in danger. But if we go and neglect it, how much more so will we be in danger!”
The Gemara continues, it was not long before they seized Rabbi Akiva and imprisoned him. When they took him out for execution, it was at the time for reciting Shema, and they combed his flesh with iron combs as he accepted upon himself the yoke of the kingdom of heaven (עֹל מַ לְ כוּת שׁ ָ מַ יִ ם) by reciting Shema at that dreadfully painful moment. His students said to him: “Rebbe, even to this extent?” Rabbi Akiva responded: “All my days I have been troubled by the verse ב ּ ְ כ ָ ל נ ַ פ ְ שׁ ְ ך – with all your soul, even if He takes your soul. I said to myself, ‘When will such an opportunity be available to me to fulfill?’ And now that it has arrived, should I not fulfill it?”
הָ יָה מַ אֲ רִ יך בְּ אֶ חָ ד עַ ד שׁ ֶ יָצְ תָ ה נִ שׁ ְ מָ תוֹ בְּ אֶ חָ ד – Rabbi Akiva then prolonged the word "אֶ חָ ד" until his soul departed with "אֶ חָ ד." A heavenly voice went forth and said: “Fortunate are you, Rabbi Akiva, that your soul departed with אֶ חָ ד.”
What is the meaning of prolonging the word אֶ חָ ד until his soul departed with אֶ חָ ד? How long can one prolong that word? Perhaps thirty seconds when in good shape, resting calmly after taking a deep breath, and not shouting it too loud? Or eight seconds when being tortured and saying it softly? I tried it myself and reached a full twenty-one seconds! Allow me to ask – if his soul had not departed with אֶ חָ ד, would he have repeated the Shema? Would it have been problematic, or without lessons to impart, had his soul instead departed with the words מְ אֹ דֶ ך וּבְ כָ ל?
The Gemara (Pesachim 49b) says, when Rabbi Akiva was an ignoramus, he would say: מִ י יִתֵּן לִי תַּלְמִיד חָכָם וַאֲנַשְּׁכֶנּוּ כַּחֲמוֹר – Who will give me a Torah scholar so that I will bite him like a donkey? His students suggested that he instead use a dog as his analogy, but he responded: “I specifically used that wording, as a donkey bites and breaks bones, whereas a dog bites but does not break bones.” Even with that answer, why did Rabbi Akiva insist on using the חֲ מוֹר as his example? Are there not animals that bite harder than a donkey?
In a sefer called Likutei Shoshanim by R’ Shimshon of Ostropola – who was also martyred for the sanctification of Hakadosh Baruch Hu while wearing a tallit and tefillin – he reveals an immense insight about Shechem ben Chamor. But before we read his words, let's preface it with a brief, yet deep, statement from sefer Yalkut Reuveni: Impurity has no desire for holiness unless it has some connection to holiness and is worthy of purification, or that holiness has connections to impurity. We will clarify this very shortly.
R’ Shimshon of Ostropola says, the beginning of Rabbi Akiva's lineage as a convert started with Shechem, the son of Chamor. Shechem is the beginning of Rabbi Akiva's existence as a convert! Since his desire was to cling to Klal Yisrael, he did not cling to Avraham Avinu, who was the pillar of Chesed, nor to Yitzchak Avinu, who was the pillar of Avodah, but rather to Yaakov Avinu. Where? In Shechem!
The question arises from this idea – what is special about Shechem? We said earlier, three places were bought with money, and their ownership cannot be disputed by the nations of the world: Me’arat HaMachpelah, the place of the Beit Hamikdash, and Shechem. Me’arat HaMachpelah represents Chesed, the Beit Hamikdash represents Avodah, and in Shechem, the renewed acceptance of the Torah took place. And who lived in Shechem? The master of the city – Shechem ben Chamor – who was the most honored of his father's house! It was there that Rabbi Akiva grew as a gentile. He is Shechem, the son of Chamor, who clung to Dinah!
The Ari HaKadosh says, it is said about Yosef that he carries the same name as Rabbi Akiva. In the bracha given to him – מִידֵי אֲבִיר יַעֲקֹב מִשָּׁם רֹעֶה אֶבֶן יִשְׂרָ אֵל – we find אביר יעק"ב, meaning the Mighty One of Yaakov, which contains the same letters as רבי עקיב"א. Therefore, Rabbi Akiva is connected with Yaakov Avinu. Shechem ben Chamor did not cling to Avraham nor to Yitzchak, but to Yaakov, who is the pillar of Torah – why Torah? Because Yaakov Avinu is the father of the Oral Torah – that is Rabbi Akiva’s origin!
After establishing that Rabbi Akiva’s neshama is a spark from Shechem ben Chamor, we can now understand the Yalkut Reuveni’s idea very well. וַתִּדְ בַּק נַפְשׁ וֹ בְּדִ ינָה בַּת יַעֲקֹב – he embraced Dinah, the daughter of Yaakov, because there is a point of connection between holiness and impurity. That connection is none other than Rabbi Akiva, who is found within Shechem ben Chamor! Rabbi Akiva, as a gentile before joining Klal Yisrael, related to Dinah with the five expressions of affection: בַּחֲ שׁ ִ יקָ ה, בִּ דְ בִ יקָ ה, בַּחֲ פֵצָה, בְּ אַ הֲבָה וּבְ דִ בּ וּר – with clinging, desiring, wanting, love, and speech!
Earlier, we brought the words of Chazal in the Midrash, that with three expressions of affection, Hakadosh Baruch Hu showed love for Am Yisrael, and that list was then expanded to five expressions. It turns out that Hakadosh Baruch Hu’s love for us is learned from Shechem, the son of Chamor – who is Rabbi Akiva! In the end, Rabbi Akiva converted. He wanted to transfer all those names of affection to the Boreh Olam, Yishtabach Shemo. Until now, the terms of affection were employed for Shechem's love for Dinah, but now, Rabbi Akiva takes all these expressions and connects them to Hakadosh Baruch Hu!
As Rabbi Akiva’s life was about to end, how would he transfer those expressions of affection and love to Hakadosh Baruch Hu? He prolonged the word אֶ חָ ד in Shema. It didn't matter exactly how long he held the note or how long it took until his soul departed – his goal was to end with אֶ חָ ד, to take the five expressions and transfer them back to Hakadosh Baruch Hu!
How are these expressions returned? R’ Shimshon of Ostropola says, the Midrash suggests that we learn the expressions of love from Shechem, and this is the sod (secret) in the Gemara: בְּ אֶ חָ ד ָצְ אָ ה נִ שׁ ְ מָ תְ ךּ י – Your soul departed with One. The initials are יבור'ד / יצה 'דביקה 'דפיצה 'חהבה 'א. All the expressions are hinted to in the word אֶ חָ ד. It was through אֶ חָ ד that the five languages of love were transferred back.
Chazal say (Avot 1:1), Moshe Rabbeinu received the Torah from Sinai – this is the Oral Torah, and he transmitted it to Yehoshua on Har Gerizim and Har Eival, which are in Shechem. There, in Shechem, the Oral Torah returned to its place! With that, we can now understand, Shechem ben Chamor managed to convince twenty-four thousand men to circumcise themselves, and Rabbi Akiva established twenty-four thousand students – the only one in Israel with that number of talmidim! Why specifically twenty-four thousand? Since twenty-four thousand residents of Shechem were circumcised, they had the merit to return in a gilgul, a spiritual reincarnation, as the twenty-four thousand students of Rabbi Akiva, to re-establish the Torah anew!
