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24-430: A vigilance committee is a group of private citizens who take it upon themselves to administer law and order or exercise power in places where they consider the governmental structures or actions inadequate. Prominent historical examples of vigilance committees engaged in forms of vigilantism include abolitionist committees who, beginning in the 1830s, worked to free enslaved people and aid fugitive slaves, in violation of

48-658: A daughter (Jochebed), and the Septuagint implies further daughters. The names of Levi's sons, and possible daughter, are interpreted in classical rabbinical literature as being reflections on their future destiny. In some apocryphal texts such as the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs , and the Book of Jubilees , Levi's wife, his children's mother, is named as Milkah , a daughter of Aram , but according to

72-445: A distinct tribe itself. Nevertheless, Isaac, Levi's grandfather, gives a special blessing about the lineage of priests of God. In the Book of Genesis , Levi is described as having fathered three sons— Gershon , Kohath , and Merari . A similar genealogy is given in the Book of Exodus , where it is added that among Kohath's sons was one— Amram —who married a woman named Jochebed , who was closely related to his father, and they were

96-402: Is "the extralegal prevention, investigation, or punishment of offenses." The definition has three components: Other scholars have defined "collective vigilantism" as "group violence to punish perceived offenses to a community." Les Johnston argues that vigilantism has six necessary components: Vigilantism and the vigilante ethos existed long before the word vigilante was introduced into

120-495: The Book of Jasher , the name of Levi's wife was Adinah. In accordance with his role as founder of the Levites, Levi is referred to as being particularly pious . The Blessing of Moses , which some textual scholars attribute to a period just before the deuteronomist , speaks about Levi via an allegorical comparison to Moses himself, which haggadah take to support the characterization of Levi (and his progeny) as being by far

144-608: The rape of Dinah , seizing the wealth of the city and killing the men. The brothers had earlier misled the inhabitants by consenting to Dinah's rapist marrying her in exchange for the men of the city to be circumcised, and when Jacob hears about their destruction of Shechem, he castigates them for it. In the Blessing of Jacob , Jacob is described as imposing a curse on the Levites, by which they would be scattered, in punishment for Levi's actions in Shechem. Some textual scholars date

168-415: The 1856 trial of Charles Cora ( Belle Cora 's husband) and James Casey. Vigilantism A vigilante is a person who practices or partakes in vigilantism, or undertakes public safety and retributive justice without commission. The term is borrowed from Italian vigilante , which means 'sentinel' or 'watcher', from Latin vigilāns . According to political scientist Regina Bateson, vigilantism

192-519: The Blessing of Jacob to a period between one and two centuries before the Babylonian captivity , and some Biblical scholars regard the curse, and Dinah herself, as an aetiological postdiction to explain the fates of the tribe of Simeon and the Levites, with one possible explanation of the Levites' scattered nature being that the priesthood was originally open to any tribe but gradually became seen as

216-567: The English language. There are conceptual parallels between the medieval aristocratic custom of private war or vendetta and the modern vigilante philosophy. Elements of the concept of vigilantism can be found in the biblical account in Genesis 34 of the abduction and rape (or, by some interpretations, seduction) of Dinah , the daughter of Jacob , in the Canaanite city of Shechem by

240-426: The Levites to be priests because Levi, as God's minister, embodied true religious principles, possessed reverence for Yahweh, held the divine name in awe, upheld peace , provided a model of good morality , and turned many people away from sin. The Testament of Levi is believed to have been written between 153 BC and 107 BC, and closer to the latter date. On his deathbed, Levi gathered all his children to narrate

264-517: The Levites. The Torah suggests that the name Levi refers to Leah's hope for Jacob to join with her, implying a derivation from Hebrew yillaweh , meaning he will join , but scholars suspect that it may simply mean "priest", either as a loanword or by referring to those people who were joined to the Ark of the Covenant . Another possibility is that the Levites were a tribe of Judah not from

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288-897: The North to assist the escaped enslaved people. For example, Gerrit Smith called the Fugitive Slave Convention of 1850 "on behalf of the New York State Vigilance Committee." Many such committees were integral parts of the Underground Railroad . In the Western United States , before and after the Civil War , various vigilance committees formed with the stated purpose of maintaining law and order and administer summary justice where governmental law enforcement

312-650: The biological parents of Moses , Aaron , and Miriam ; though some Greek and Latin manuscripts of the Torah state that Jochebed was Amram's father's cousin, the Masoretic Text states that she was his father's sister, and the Septuagint mentions that she was one of his father's sisters . The Masoretic Text's version of Levi's genealogy thus implies (and in Numbers 26:59, explicitly states) that Levi also had

336-481: The clan of Moses or Aaron and that the name "Levites" indicates their joining - either with the Israelites in general or with the earlier Israelite priesthood in particular. The Book of Jubilees states that Levi was born "in the new moon of the first month", which means that he was born on 1 Nisan . In the Book of Genesis , Levi and his brother, Simeon , exterminate the city of Shechem in revenge for

360-561: The enjoyment of their lives and liberties." The abolitionist New York Committee of Vigilance and Vigilant Committee of Philadelphia were also established in the 1830s and assisted fugitive slaves and the Underground Railroad . Between 1850 and 1860, following the passage of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 , professional bounty hunters began swarming through Northern states searching for missing enslaved people . In response, vigilance committees were set up in several places in

384-665: The eponymous son of the ruler, and the violent reaction of her brothers Simeon and Levi , who slew all of the males of the city in revenge, rescued their sister and plundered Shechem. When Jacob protested that their actions might bring trouble upon him and his family, the brothers replied "Should he [i.e., Shechem] treat our sister as a harlot?" In the Western literary and cultural tradition, characteristics of vigilantism have often been vested in folkloric heroes and outlaws (e.g., Robin Hood ). During medieval times, punishment of felons

408-557: The future of his descendants, again predicting priesthood, prophets, and political power, and additionally describes Jacob as entrusting Levi with the secrets of the ancients , so that they would be known only to the Levites; however, like the Testament of Levi, the Book of Jubilees is regarded as a Maccabean-era document. A Samaritan tradition recorded in the late 19th century considered Neby Lawin, just north of Silat ad-Dhahr to be

432-405: The greatest of his brothers in respect to piety. The apocryphal Prayer of Asenath , which textual scholars believe dates from some time after the first century AD, describes Levi as a prophet and saint who is able to forecast the future and understand heavenly writings, and as someone who admonishes the people to forgive and to be in awe of God . The Book of Malachi argues that Yahweh chose

456-466: The laws at the time. However, many other vigilance committees were explicitly grounded in racial prejudice and xenophobia, administering extrajudicial punishment to abolitionists or members of minority groups. Abolitionists met at Faneuil Hall in the 1830s and formed the Committee of Vigilance and Safety to "take all measures that they shall deem expedient to protect the colored people of this city in

480-584: The story of his life to them, and prophesied unto them what they would do, and what would happen to them until judgment day. He also told them that God had chosen him and his seed as priest of Lord unto eternity. In this testament, Levi is described as having had two visions. The first vision covered eschatological issues, portraying the seven heavens, the Jewish Messiah , and Judgement Day . The second vision portrays seven angels bringing Levi seven insignia signifying priesthood, prophecy, and judgement; in

504-518: The vision, after the angels anoint Levi, and initiate him as a priest, they tell him of the future of his descendants, mentioning Moses , the Aaronid priesthood, and a time when there would be priest-kings; this latter point was of particular interest to the Maccabean period of John Hyrcanus , who was both a high priest, and warrior-king. The Book of Jubilees similarly has Isaac telling Levi of

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528-672: Was assassinated in 2023. Levi Levi ( / ˈ l iː v aɪ / LEE -vy ; Hebrew : לֵוִי , Modern :   Levī , Tiberian :   Lēwī ) was, according to the Book of Genesis , the third of the six sons of Jacob and Leah (Jacob's third son), and the founder of the Israelite Tribe of Levi (the Levites , including the Kohanim ) and the great-grandfather of Aaron , Moses and Miriam . Certain religious and political functions were reserved for

552-707: Was inadequate. In reality, those high in the social hierarchy often used them to attack maligned groups, including recent immigrants and racial or ethnic groups. In newly settled areas, vigilance committees promised security and mediated land disputes. In ranching areas, they ruled on ranch boundaries, registered brands, and protected cattle and horses. In the mining districts, they defended claims, settled claim disputes, and attempted to protect miners and other residents. In California , some residents formed vigilance committees to take control of officials whom they considered to be corrupt. This occurred in San Francisco during

576-837: Was sometimes exercised by such secret societies as the courts of the Vehm ( cf. the medieval Sardinian Gamurra later become Barracelli , the Sicilian Vendicatori and the Beati Paoli ), a type of early vigilante organization, which became extremely powerful in Westphalian Germany during the 15th century. In some regions of Mexico, mainly in the state of Michoacan , people affected by criminal groups like Los Zetas and La Familia Michoacana , created vigilante groups called Grupos de autodefensa comunitaria in 2013. Their most notorious leader Hipólito Mora ,

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