Parashat Vaishlaj - English

Rabbi Daniela Szuster

B´nei Israel Congregation

Costa Rica

Justice before Violence

            “And Dinah the daughter of Leah, whom she had borne unto Jacob, went out to see the daughters of the land. And Shechem the son of Hamor the Hivite, the prince of the land, saw her; and he took her, and lay with her, and humbled her”  (Gen. 34:1-2).

            This is just one more case where women and children suffer abuse of power, strength and dehumanization.  To tell the truth, the problem doesn’t lie only in Shechem’s actions, but in the society that backs him up.

            Many midrashim try to explain this event.  And as often happens in our society, the midrashim also try to find a culprit.  Some blame Dinah, arguing that she should not have wandered outside the limits of the territory where her family lived.  This would be the classical explanation:  “she asked for it”.  Others blame her mother, saying that the “apple doesn’t fall far from the tree”, that she learned such a flirting attitude from somewhere.  There are also some who blame Jacob, for not paying attention to his daughter.

            In general terms, we human beings try to find someone to blame, and do not settle on blaming the assailant.  Apart from making her suffer, Shechem also wanted to make Dinah his wife, and thus, his father Hamor approached Jacob to ask for his daughter’s hand in marriage.  Furthermore, he suggested an exchange of sons and daughters among their people.  Jacob, together with his sons, accepted the proposal under the condition that they get circumcised.  And sure enough, the entire people of Hamor were circumcised.

            A point to reflect upon:  Dinah was sullied… and her father and brothers accepted the possibility of including Hamor’s sons among the people of Israel!  Perhaps they thought they would not dare to be circumcised, but why didn’t they react?  Why didn’t they refuse the proposal?  Why didn’t they attempt to redeem the pain and suffering of their daughter and sister?

            It often happens in our society, that we do not face things head on; we avoid the issue, thinking that everything will be magically resolved.  We do not take into account that by doing so, the problem will gradually become more and more serious.

            Actually, two brothers of Dinah tried to redeem her.  According to the Torah, three days after the circumcision, Shimon and Levi took out their swords and, taking advantage of the weakness of Hamor’s people, killed them all and rescued Dinah.  They had the courage and nerve to do justice for their sister.  Their acts angered Jacob; probably because of the way they exerted justice through violence, which in fact, is not the most advisable.  Without a doubt, violence is not the path leading to real justice.

            What I want to emphasize is that neither Shimon nor Levi allowed such a cruel and humiliating act to go unnoticed and unpunished, which would have led to the repetition in similar cases.  When the Torah mentions Shimon and Levi, it says, “Shimon and Levi, Dinah's brethren” (34:25), and a midrash wonders and says:  “she was Shimon and Levi’s sister, but wasn’t she sister to all the tribes?”  And answers:  “only Shimon and Levi appear as her brothers, since as they risked their lives to avenge her, they have the privilege of being named, as do their sister” (Bereshit Rabbah 80:10). 

                        Maybe this midrash wishes to teach us that a true brother is not the one who has the same blood but he who is willing to help, fight and pursue justice when a brother, any human being, finds him/herself in a damaged, unprotected and suffering state.

            Dinah, our sister, daughter of our father Israel, did not utter a word in the Torah, nor shed a tear.  She was silenced and forgotten.

            May God help us to have the courage and nerve to help Dinah, so that she never again remains silent, so that she does not die from pain and suffering.

            May God help us to assure that there will be no more Dinahs suffering in secret, to manage to make society take responsibility for the acts of violence instead of looking the other way.

            Let us not tread along Shimon and Levi’s violent path, but still act on their feeling of justice for the harm caused to their sister.  May God help us to not blame victims and their surroundings, but the victimizers and their actions.

Shabbat Shalom!