Yedid: The One Who Unites

In Moshe’s berachot to the various shevatim, he refers to Binyamin as a yedid Hashem, a beloved one of Hashem (Devarim 33:12). This glowing appellation obviously requires further understanding. After all, all of the shevatim were beloved children of HaKadosh Baruch Hu. Why does Binyamin particularly receive this title?

Further perusal of Tanach reveals another tzaddik who also received the title of Yedid, a beloved one. When Dovid and Batsheva give birth to their son, they name him Shlomo. Yet, Natan HaNavi is sent by the Ribbono Shel Olam to give this newborn prince a different name: Yedidya.

The Ramban (Devarim 33:12) declares that this is no coincidence. There have been many tzaddikim throughout our illustrious mesorah. But it is particularly Binaymin and Shlomo who are associated with the hashra’at haShechinah – the revealed Presence of Hashem. The Beit HaMikdash rested in Binyamin’s ancestral portion and Shlomo merited building the Mikdash. What particular trait makes them so beloved to Hashem, enabling them to become the bearers of the Mikdash?

Chazal highlight their middah of Shalom, peace.

Binyamin never took part in the conflict between Yosef and his brothers, the corrosive conflict that led to tragic brotherly betrayal. Although he is favored by his father, his brothers never jealously view him as a threat. He occupied a unique position within the family without allowing that position to become a source of division.

Likewise, when Yerovam ben Nevat led away ten tribes from under the rule of Rechovam ben Shlomo, Binyamin remains loyal to Malchut Beit Dovid and Yerushalayim. Once again, when Yosef’s descendants broke away from Yehudah, Binyamin did not join the conflict.

At first glance, the tragic story of pilegesh b’Givah seems to contradict everything we have said to this point. In response to barbaric behavior in Givah, the other tribes gather together to wage war against Binyamin. The bloody battles that ensue almost wipe out the Shevet. One of the worst civil wars in the history of our people was instigated by the actions of Shevet Binyamin. That hardly sounds shalom-dik.

However, ironically, this story may actually provide further support for our analysis. The defining feature of this conflict is that Binyamin does not cause the other tribes to turn against one another. Instead, the other tribes unite against Binyamin. The pesukim (Shoftim 20) repeatedly describe the other shevatim as ish echad – acting as one man with a single purpose.

And there is no permanent enmity. Quite the opposite. As soon as Binyamin is defeated, the other tribes immediately regret the destruction and seek to restore Shevet Binyamin, evenoffering their own daughters in marriage to the surviving Binyamin-ites.

In fact, the Gemara Chagigah (26a)derives a remarkable halachic principle from this very episode. The verse describing the shevatim gathering for war against Binyamin states:

וַיֵּֽאָסֵ֞ף כָּל־אִ֤ישׁ יִשְׂרָאֵל֙ אֶל־הָעִ֔יר כְּאִ֥ישׁ אֶחָ֖ד חֲבֵרִֽים – and every member of Israel gathered to the city, like one man united as friends.

The Gemara derives from the word chaverim that when the Jewish people gather together for the Regalim in Yerushalayim, even those who are not ordinarily considered trustworthy with regard to matters of ritual purity are treated as chaveirim, as pure.

How ironic. The very gathering of the tribes to wage war against Binyamin becomes the source for the assumption of communal purity when those same Jews gather together in the Mikdash, located within Binyamin’s ancestral portion.

Shlomo also represented the middah of peace. His very name reflects this essential aspect of his character.

The Mikdash, is the place where the disparate parts of Klal Yisrael become one. And therefore, it can only be built upon the shoulders of those who embody Shalom, those who unite brothers rather than divide them.

Be’ezrat Hashem we will further discuss how this essential idea interconnects with Sukkot and Shemini Aseret next week.