Ezra-Habonim, the Niles Township Jewish Congregation

Rabbi Weill's Weekly Message

"The Rape of Dinah"

November 30, 2023

Dear Friends,

The rape of Dinah, Leah and Jacob’s daughter, occurs in this week’s Torah portion, Ya’Yishlach.
The story itself is painful. But adding to that pain is the treatment Dinah receives by our ancient sages and medieval commentators. Noting that Dinah left her own community to spend time with local young women, the sages choose to understand this to mean that Dinah also sought the company of local young men. They thus blame Dinah for putting herself in a compromising situation. They blame the victim.

The Torah itself makes no suggestion that Dinah acted wrongly. There is no hint she had any interest in Shechemite men. Finding fault with her demands interpretive contortions. It also reflects sexism within our tradition.

We Jews have had enough victim-blaming. Many throughout the world immediately blamed Israel for the terrorist mass murder of October 7. Most shockingly, despite copious and reliable reports of widespread rape of Israeli women, an astounding list of women’s rights groups in American and Europe have remained utterly silent. This is an absolute outrage.

Comes a time when we must distinguish between those who care and those who do not, between friend and foe. This is such a time. One lesson from this week’s Torah portion is that it is imperative that we express sympathy for and show solidarity with victims of hate and violence.

Peace and Strength.

Rabbi Jeffrey Weill