Parshat Vayishlach; Genesis 32:1-36:43 by Rabbi Denise L. Eger

This week’s Torah portion contains a most horrific and painful episode in the life of Jacob. The rape of his daughter Dinah is recorded in this section of Torah. Dinah the only girl named among the 12 sons of Jacob. Dinah is the daughter of Leah and her full brothers are Simeon and Levi, Reuben and Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun. We can only imagine that this trauma stays with Dinah her whole life. Certainly the traditional commentators, Rabbi Ibn Ezra and Rashi both comment that Dinah was a widow her whole life and they imply she resided with her brother Simeon’s household for the rest of her life.

Dinah on a journey to the countryside near the city of Shechem were her family had come to dwell was taken by force by none other than the son of the chieftan. That son was also named Shechem. “Shechem, son of Hamor the Hivite, chief of the country, saw her and took her and lay with her by force.” (Gen 34:2).
This crime was certainly awful for Dinah in many ways. It was also a mark upon her family, an affront to all of them. Her brothers, once they heard the news, came home from the fields and they were very upset and outraged. Even though their father’s reaction was one of silence.

The chieftan, Hamor, Shechem’s father, tries to placate Jacob and his sons by proposing a marriage between his son Shechem and the victim, Dinah. Not an uncommon practice in the ancient near east. In fact in Deuteronomy 22:28-19 if a man has lain with a virgin, he has to marry her and is prohibited from ever divorcing her. Her father also is to receive compensation for her as well, commonly called the bride price. This is precisely what Hamor is proposing.

And yet, the brothers still outraged upon the sister’s behalf answer Hamor by saying they couldn’t possibly agree to have their sister intermarry with them. And the brother’s pitch what today we would call conversion—they argue that if Shechem really wants to marry Dinah that they will all have to be circumcised. This of course is the sign of the covenant with our God and in short hand tells the reader of the Torah that Hamor and Shechem and their townsmen will forsake their idolatry. Interestingly enough Hamor and Shechem agree and rush to do so, convincing all their fellow townsmen to do the same.

But the theme of deception that has haunted Jacob since he deceived his own father and brother, comes back to haunt him as now his own children are involved in a deception. While the townspeople and Shechem are supposedly recovering from their surgery, Simeon and Levi liberate their sister from the palace of Shechem and slay both Hamor the chieftain, his son Shechem the perpetrator and all of the men of the town. Their promise to give their sister as wife, following her violation by Shechem is no promise at all. Further the other brothers participated in the deception by plundering the town. The torah tells us, “They seized their flocks and herds and asses, all that was inside the town and outside; all their wealth, all their children, and their wives, all that was in the houses, they took as captives and booty.”(Gen. 34:28-29).

The brothers of Dinah not only declared war but also totally devastated the residents of the city of Shechem. They destroyed their civilization. The violence that Shechem did to their sister is now turned upon the entire city. They rape the city.

Interestingly, enough Jacob can only worry about how he will look. He worries that neighboring peoples will gather against him to retaliate on behalf of the Hivites. Jacob seems to not care about the initial wounding of his daughter Dinah in the same way the brothers are. They ask their father, “ Should our sister be treated like a whore?” (Gen. 24:31). The question of course is never answered.

And so Jacob’s flaws come to the surface yet again. Even though he is capable of hearing and recognizing God’s presence as he did last week, Jacob cannot seem to face the evil done to his own family in what happened to Dinah. He worries about the external appearance but not the familial connections internally. This is not unlike his deception of his father Isaac. Jacob and his mother Rebekkah ensured the external promises that God made that the older child will serve the younger. But they ignored the damage done by favoritism and the internal damage to the relationships in the family by stealing the blessing.

Thus this same pattern is now repeated with his own children.

There is a great lesson for all of us in this week’s parasha. It calls upon us to pay close attention to the pain of our loved ones. Not everyone has to go through the horror and violence of a rape or deception but imagine if Jacob had been more sensitive, more caring and yes, more present for his brother, father, and children. We are called upon to care for and pay close attention to the lives of our family members and to honor the nuances of their joys and yes, pain as well.

May we rise to the task.

Posted by Lee at December 12, 2005 08:56 AM