Illustration credit: Rivka Tsinman
Before Yaakov dies, he gives each of his sons a poetic blessing. Here’s the one for Dan:
דָּ֖ן יָדִ֣ין עַמּ֑וֹ כְּאַחַ֖ד שִׁבְטֵ֥י יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃
יְהִי־דָן֙ נָחָ֣שׁ עֲלֵי־דֶ֔רֶךְ שְׁפִיפֹ֖ן עֲלֵי־אֹ֑רַח הַנֹּשֵׁךְ֙ עִקְּבֵי־ס֔וּס וַיִּפֹּ֥ל רֹכְב֖וֹ אָחֽוֹר׃
לִישׁוּעָֽתְךָ֖ קִוִּ֥יתִי יהוה׃
Dan shall judge his people,
As one of the tribes of Israel.
Dan shall be a serpent by the road,
A viper by the path,
That bites the horse’s heels
So that its rider is thrown backward.
I hope for Your salvation, God!
- What do you notice? What makes you curious?
- What could it mean that Dan will judge “as one of the tribes”? Could this be a message about leaders seeing themselves as part of the people they are leading? What message is that telling us?
- Imagine the scene with a serpent, horse, and rider. What strengths and weaknesses does each one have? What is each one afraid of? Which one would you like to be? Why?
- Why might it be a blessing to be like the serpent? What’s the kind of situation when it might be important to have this blessing?
- Do you notice anything strange about the final line that makes it very different from what's before? (Try to think of it yourself before you read ahead!) Besides being very short, Yaakov isn’t really talking about Dan anymore. Instead, he seems to be asking God for help in a very direct way. Why do you think he might be doing that right now? Do you think this is still part of Dan’s blessing, or is it something else? Could something about the snake and horse have made Yaakov think about something from his own life? (Hint: Look at Bereishit 25:26.)
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