Some of the Brachot that Yaakov bestows upon his sons don’t exactly sound like blessings.

Let’s take Shimon and Levi for example. Yaakov states in Breisheet 49:5-7: “Shimon and Levi are brothers. Instruments of violence are their wares. My soul will not enter their secret council. Let my honor not be identified with their assembly. For in their anger they killed a man, and through their willfulness they maimed an ox. Cursed be their anger for it is powerful, and their fury for it is cruel. I will disperse them throughout Yaakov and scatter them throughout the land of Israel.”

Rashi comments that Shimon and Levi were the two brothers (Breisheet 37:19-20) who said to each other “come now and let us kill Joseph.”

Rashi adds that when Yaakov says “My soul will not enter their secret council” he is referring to the fact that Zimri (a descendent of Shimon) would sin in the future with a Midianite woman but when it would be recorded in the Torah it would say (Bamidbar 25:14) “Zimri, son of Solu, a prince of a Shimonite household”. The Torah does not say, “Shimon the son of Yaakov”-Yaakov’s name would be left off.

Rashi continues: “Let my honor not be identified with their assembly” refers to Korach’s rebellion as it says (Bamidbar 16:1): “Korach, the son of Yitzhar, son of Kehat, son of Levi”. The Torah does not mention “the son of Yaakov”.

The words: “For in their anger they killed a man” refers to Chamor and the people of Shechem after Dena was raped.

Yaakov cursed their anger when he said “Cursed be their anger for it is powerful.” Rashi points out that Yaakov did not curse Shimon and Levi, he only cursed their anger.

The tribes of Shimon and Levi were dispersed so that they would no longer be able to gang up together.

What we see from here is that Yaakov had no tolerance for violence. He never forgot the desecration of God’s name that came about when Shimon and Levi killed the people of Shechem after Dena was raped. Yaakov understood that we don’t respond to violence with more violence.

Today, unfortunately we have Jews in Israel who are threatening other Jews (as Shimon and Levi did when they wanted to kill Joseph) as well as those who are threatening our non-Jewish neighbors as Shimon and Levi did in the city of Shechem. Neither type of behavior is acceptable and that is exactly why Yaakov did not want to be associated with them in his lifetime as well as in the future when their descendents desecrated God’s name and rebelled with Korach against Moshe.

We must follow Yaakov’s message and be very clear that we will not stand for violence and we must disassociate from people who are violent and who try to give us a bad name.