עקידת יצחק — מעשה שכם ודינה / ויענו בני יעקב במרמה

Q — Why does the Torah obscure the city's name ("עיר שכם")? Why do Shechem and Chamor sue for marriage without first apologizing? How could Yaakov's sons promise peace through circumcision and then kill? Why wait until the third day? And why do they appear to violate all four virtues the wise prize — concealing distress, hiding hatred, prudence about danger, and not chasing wealth?

A — For the nations, intellectual virtues are the root and good middos their fruit; for Israel it is reversed — emunah and Torah are the root, and middos are judged solely by whether Torah demanded that conduct here and now. The brothers saw chillul Hashem in their sister's defilement and deliberately acted against their natural middos so that all the land would know Israel is set apart and zimah cannot be done to them. The Torah marks each apparent deviation with its reason ("כי נבלה עשה בישראל"), showing the killing and the spoils served to publicize Israel's chosen distinctness, not appetite.