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| Fri, 10 May 2024 13:04:45 -0500 — |
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D'var: Parashat Vayishlach 5783
Commentary by Michael Goldstein Friday, December 9, 2022 |
| Genesis 34:1-4 |
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1 Dinah, the daughter of Leah, whom she had borne to Jacob, went out to look about among the daughters of the land.
2 And Shechem the son of Hamor, the Hivvite, the prince of the land, saw her, and he took her, lay with her, and violated her. 3 And his soul cleaved to Dinah the daughter of Jacob; he loved the girl and spoke to the girl's heart. 4 And Shechem spoke to his father Hamor saying, "Take this girl for me as a wife." |
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For me, this chapter is more meaningful than everything else in the Parshah… the reconciliation of Jacob and Esau… Jacob wrestling with the angel… the angel changing Jacob’s name to Israel… a listing of Esau’s descendants… Rachel giving birth to Benjamin.
It tells of Dinah’s abduction and rape and Shechem’s asking to marry her. Two of Jacob’s sons, Simeon and Levi, tell Shechem and his father, Hamor, that they and all their men must be circumcised first. Shechem and Hamor agree to those terms. Continuing on in the chapter (Genesis 34:25-27): |
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25 Now it came to pass on the third day after their circumcisions, when they were all in pain, that Jacob's two sons, Simeon and Levi, Dinah's brothers, each took his sword, and they came upon the city with confidence, and they slew every male.
26 And Hamor and his son Shechem they slew with the edge of the sword, and they took Dinah out of Shechem's house and left. 27 Then Jacob’s other sons plundered the city, taking their flocks and their cattle and their donkeys, and all their wealth and all their infants and their wives they captured. |
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I am usually able to find lessons for our modern world in the stories we read in the Torah, but this week, that is not the case. The tale of Dinah far surpasses any and all the other stories in this Parshah for drama, tragedy, and poignancy.
The Chapter concludes (Genesis 34:30-31): |
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30 Thereupon, Jacob said to Simeon and to Levi, "You have troubled me, to discredit me among the inhabitants of the land, among the Canaanites and among the Perizzites, and I am few in number, and they will gather against me and attack me, and I and my household will be destroyed."
31 And they said, "Shall he make our sister like a harlot?" |
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To say that I am disappointed in Jacob would be a gross understatement. His cowardice shows through. He ran away from his family because he was afraid for his life after he and his mother, Rebecca, stole Esau’s birthright. He spent 20 years away and was still afraid that Esau would kill him.
In fact, toward the beginning of this Parshah, he says to God (Genesis 32:12): |
| 12 Now deliver me from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau, for I am afraid of him, lest he come and strike me, and strike a mother with children. |
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I have a problem reconciling his cowardice with his position as an honored patriarch of Judaism. I ask if he really deserves to have the name, Israel.
But there is another element here that disturbs me even more greatly. In the Torah, misogyny is pervasive in just about every area of life. Women were considered as chattel… moveable personal property like beds, couches, wagons to be used however men wished. Here is another example of misogyny in the Torah: When two angels disguised as men visit Lot in Sodom, the townspeople demand that he give them the two visitors so they can be intimate with them. Lot responds: Genesis 19:7-8 |
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7 My brethren, please do not do evil.
8 Behold now I have two daughters who were not intimate with a man. I will bring them out to you, and do to them as you see fit; only to these men do nothing, because they have come under the shadow of my roof." |
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Misogyny, of course, continues to run rampant in our world along with anti-Semitism and other forms of bigotry.
Perhaps that is the message we must heed. We have an obligation to Dinah… to all the Dinahs who ever existed… an obligation to make war against the misogyny and bigotry that limits our capability and stunts our potential. Michael Goldstein |
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