“And Yaakov said to Shimon and Levi, You have brought trouble on me to make me odious among the inhabitants of the land…” (Bereishis 34:30)

The commentators argue at length over the justifications Shimon and Levi gave for destroying the inhabitants of Shechem. It is clear from the verses that Yaakov strongly disagreed with their approach, even though in the end Yaakov let it rest. The question remains: What exactly were Shimon and Levi trying to accomplish, and what was Yaakov’s real objection?

I found a beautiful answer in the Oznaim LaTorah (Rav Zalman Sorotzkin 1881-1966), which is very relevant nowadays. Sometimes a person commits a crime and is punished as an individual. Other times, the very same act is considered an attack on the nation – treason – and the punishment is death! For example, when countries were ruled by kings, if a foreign agent attempted to assassinate the king, it was treated as a declaration of war. But if he tried to kill an ordinary citizen, the case went to the regular courts.

Similarly, when a member of the royal family commits a minor infraction, the punishment may be severe, whereas the same act by a regular citizen might be overlooked entirely.

When Shechem took Dina away from Yaakov, was he acting as a private citizen who committed a crime, or was he declaring war on Yaakov’s family – the future Jewish nation? Rabbi Sorotzkin asserts from the verses that Shechem actually wanted to marry into Yaakov’s family, and have a relationship with them. Shimon and Levi considered this an act of war against the entire family, and therefore they used the tactics of war to retaliate and even destroy the enemy. They considered their actions, including using disproportionate force, an appropriate military response.

Yaakov, on the other hand, saw Shechem as an individual criminal. As such, he deserved punishment, but certainly not the destruction of his entire city!

This exact debate has repeated itself throughout the generations, up to and including today.

When terrorists from Gaza attacked Israeli citizens, we all understand that this was not simply “Achmed trying to kill Moshe Ploni”, rather they were declaring war against the entire Jewish people. Therefore, Israel responded with a full-scale war against the source of the threat. While many around the world have been criticizing the response as disproportionate, history is full of similar examples. World War I, which claimed 15 to 22 million lives, broke out just because of the assassination of one man – Archduke Franz Ferdinand.

As Jews, we are obligated to understand that we are one nation. Therefore, an attack on any one of us can be an attack on all of us. The nations of the world are quick to blame every Jew when one Jew does something wrong, yet they never credit “ALL Jews” when a Jew does something virtuous. It is therefore our responsibility to guard the honor of the Jewish people by sanctifying G-d’s name – because at the end of the day, we are the ones who suffer when that honor is diminished.

As Chanukah approaches, we remember how a few Maccabees fought against the entire Greek army and brought salvation to all of klal Yisrael. Each Maccabee realized that even though he was only one person, his actions could help bring about the salvation of the entire nation.

The same is true today. When each of us strengthens our own service of Hashem, we can bring salvation for all of klal Yisrael, and merit to light the menorah in the rebuilt Beis Hamikdash in Jerusalem, speedily in our days.