Weekly D'var

PARASHAT VAYISHLACH
Paula Madansky

I want to talk about Dina. Throughout the story as told in the parasha, Dina is silent.

In VaYishlach, Chapter 34, the narrative tells us:

“Dina goes out to socialize with the local girls (Very specific about the purpose of her walk.) Shechem, the son of Hamor, the prince of the land, sees Dina and is enamored.”

Vayikach - he took her.
Vayishkav - he lay with her.
Vayaneh - he humbled her.

But then, the Torah says, Shechem’s soul clung to her. The word used is vatedabek. The same word used when Adam was told to cling to his wife in the Garden of Eden.

Shechem wants Dina to be his wife. As was the custom, he asks his father Hamor, to negotiate with Jacob, Dina’s father, offering whatever bride price he wants.

Simon and Levi, Dina’s brothers are outraged and respond “we consent to the marriage only if all the males among you become circumcised.” Shechem and Hamor convince the males to agree with the promise that they will then intermarry and absorb the wealth of Jacob’s family.

On the third day after the circumcision when the males were not yet recovered, Simon and Levi slew them all and took their flocks and their wealth.

Jacob reprimands Simon and Levi for shaming him and making him hated among his neighbors. They reply, “should anyone defile our sister and not be punished?”

This ends the story in the Torah.

We have no idea of Dina’s thoughts or feelings. She is silent.

Louis Ginsburg, a Talmudic scholar wrote in his book The Legends of the Jews, published in 1909, that Shechem had hired dancers and singers to entice Dina to his camp. He even says that had she stayed home like she should have, nothing would have happened. But she was a woman and like all women, liked to show herself in the street. Shechem seized her and violated her in a beastly fashion. Ginzburg places the blame for the rape and subsequent massacre on Dina.

Nechama Liebowits, a well-known Israeli bible scholar and recipient of the Israel Prize, wrote in her book, Studies in Bereshit, published in 1981 that indeed Shechem took Dina by force, but did not just discard her as a rapist would, but loved her, brought her home and comforted her. Was the massacre justified? Jacob thought it wasn’t, but he just wanted Dina home. He reprimands Simon and Levi, and on his own deathbed he curses them.

The Jewish Publication Commentary explains that the reason this story is in the Torah is to show the sexual depravity of the inhabitants of the land, in contrast to Jacob’s family. Middle Assyrian law does deal with the case of the rape of an unbetrothed virgin. The father must be compensated and only he can determine if a marriage can occur.

Jacob finally breaks his silence and berates Simon and Levi for endangering the safety of their family but says nothing about the punishment of innocent people.

Robert Alter, professor emeritus of Hebrew and Comparative Literature at Berkeley wrote in his Book the Five Books of Moses, that Dina merely went to “see” the daughters of the land, Shechem “saw” her. He did “take” her but he loved her and clung to her and this changed the moral balance in the story.

Another foray into Midrashic takes on Dina’s story is The Red Tent, a novel by Anita Diamant. Here Dina finally is given a voice. She is the narrator of her story beginning with the matriarchs. She recounts the tales told by the women in her family when they are sequestered after childbirth and during and after menstruation. She describes the great love she had for Shechem, her grief after the massacre, and her love for the son she bore him after his death. She remained in his house, became a midwife, ultimately remarried, and had a daughter who became the wife of Joseph.

So, what is my takeaway from Dina’s story? I am offended by the commentaries that suggest she was asking for trouble by going out on her own. I am disappointed in Jacob’s initial silence. I am disappointed that the brothers weren’t punished other than being cursed by their father on his deathbed.

Just yesterday morning, I watched commentary by Rabbanit Bracha Jaffee, one of the clergy at Hebrew Institute of Riverdale in Riverdale, New York. She spoke about an initiative that has begun in Israel called Shavuat Dina. Groups are studying Dina’s story during the week preceding Shabbat Vayishlach. They are not only telling Dina’s story, and defending her for leaving her tent to seek companionship with other girls, but are using this story to build support and compassion for victims of sexual assault in our own communities.

The name, Dina, means judgment. The fact that her name has been given to so many of our daughters throughout the generations vindicates her of any wrongdoing, Dina is no longer silent.

Shabbat Shalom!