Parshat Vayishlach: The Rape of Dina – An October 7th Moment
This week’s parsha has one of the more troubling events in Bereshit. Dina, the only daughter of Jacob, was abducted, raped and ultimately kidnapped by the prince in the region where Jacob and sons had resided with their families.
In their attempt to save their sister, the brothers concoct a ploy and pretend to respond favorably to the overtures of partnership offered by the king whose son had raped and abducted Dina. Rapist and Dad wish to use the event as a springboard for the families to live, work and grow together. Attempting to turn a rape case into a mutual-benefit-society of two clans is certainly a sign of the morals and culture of the people Jacob and sons were dealing with. It trivializes the act of violence and is a window into their souls.
The brothers pretend to agree, with the insistence that all the males must first circumcise themselves before any treaty can be made. King Chamor and son, Shechem convince their constituents to this demand. On the third day, when the men were in pain from the procedure, Shimon and Levi go into their city, slaughter the bunch, retrieve their sister and take her home.
Jacob is very displeased with this extremely violent reaction and makes his feelings known in no uncertain terms. He points out to his sons that they have acted foolishly and have further jeopardized their security. “You have sullied me and have made me odious among the people of this land… I am few in number and should they gather against me and attack me, I will be annihilated – I and my household.” But the brothers defend their actions. They respond, “And should they be allowed to treat our sister like a whore?!”
This is how the narration of this event in the Torah ends. With no clear resolution whose side might be correct in this painful disagreement. What is the proper response in such a situation? The Torah leaves us hanging as to what exactly, if anything, was resolved and we are left unsure of which view is preferable. Jacob or his sons?
Perhaps the fact that the Torah leaves us with this ambiguity is precisely the point. When it comes to suffering painful injustices from the gentile world, which path do we choose: The way of Jacob, the man who could finesse himself from any difficult and threatening scenario as he did with Laban and Esau, or that of the brothers who take the Dirty Harry perspective and basically tell the world, “To hell with you – abuse one of us and you’ll all be dead men.”?
It is an ongoing conflict within our people that has played out throughout history and still does. Do we play nice, negotiate and sign peace treaties – even though the terms often seem so absurd and clearly stacked against us – but nevertheless may be necessary as a means to avoid conflict and bloodshed? Or do we finally say, “Enough is enough, we are tired of being the world’s door mats. We have a right to exist and to live – a simple right that every other nation enjoys and that should be equally given to us. And like anyone else, if you threaten us, we will do everything and anything to protect ourselves, whether you deem it a ‘proportional’ reaction or not. And frankly, we could care less what you think of us because what has that ever gotten us?!”
Which is the correct answer? I would suggest that given the fact that the Torah doesn’t clearly spell out which direction to take, it is thereby implying both. It really depends on the time and place and circumstance. There are times when we need to act like Jacob and bend over backwards to appease our oppressors. As Yochanan Ben Zakai did when he cut a deal with the Romans after the destruction of the Temple, upon his realization that Jerusalem was lost and any further fighting would only create greater losses. He understood, much to the disagreement of many around him, that the Jewish people didn’t have the upper hand and had to accept a situation that was not optimal nor just, but necessary in the long run. And so he thereby built in Yavneh – a place which clearly didn’t have the same religious or historical meaning as Jerusalem – an alternative center for Jewish life. In essence he exchanged or sold Jerusalem for the sake of a continued Jewish presence in Israel. And not only is he not faulted, but he is credited with keeping Judaism alive with this bold decision.
On the other hand, how much garbage do we need to take? Clearly October 7th was a breaking point. Israel had had enough. And even though everyone from President Biden on down kept telling Israel to restrain itself and work towards ceasefire, in retrospect, we see how horrible that would have been. As the British journalist and broadcaster, Andrew Neil and others have pointed out:
Israel stands vindicated in its uncompromising stance post-October 7… It is worth noting – before fashionable opinion sweeps it under the rug – that Iran is now reeling because Israel ignored the foreign policy pressure of its Western allies and their liberal media echo chambers to hold back. Washington, London and Paris all urged Israel to show restraint against Hamas and not to open a second front against Hezbollah. The New York Times, the BBC and Le Monde piled on the pressure for Israel to back off by constantly highlighting the humanitarian cost of the conflict, usually with suspect Hamas statistics. But Israel took only cursory notice, pursued its own interests and did us all a favour.
Everyone told Israel not to behave like Jacob’s sons. But, thank God, because Israel told them all to take a hike, Hamas, Hezbollah and now Syria – which was the conduit for all the bad actors in the region to send arms against Israel – are no longer a threat. As for Iran, they know they are now sitting ducks for whatever Israel decides it needs to do to eliminate any threat from them.
We have a tradition that tells us that the only difference between the time of Mashiach and present day is that there will no longer be שעבוד מלכיות – that the Jewish people will no longer be subjected to the whims and capriciousness of the non-Jewish nations. No longer will we have to worry which President, leader, Czar, King or UN vote will come along to influence our fate. The world will finally come to an understanding that their good and welfare is tied to ours and they will do everything to help rather than hinder our success. Syria’s freedom from the tyranny and evil of the al-Assad regime is just the latest example of the blessings that can arrive if the Jewish people are allowed to lead.
But until Mashiach arrives we will be faced with this dilemma of trying to figure out which path to take when dealing with the world’s injustices against us. The path of Jacob or the path of his sons. Both are always an option but recently Israel has been leaning towards the actions of Shimon and Levi. Since October 7th that tact seems to work better. As a result, Israel’s neighbours have quickly learned that you cannot treat our sister like a whore.
We’re not gonna take it
No, we ain’t gonna take it
We’re not gonna take it anymore
We’ve got the right to choose, and
There ain’t no way we’ll lose it
This is our life, this is our song
We’ll fight the powers that be, just
Don’t pick on our destiny, ’cause
You don’t know us
We’re not gonna take it anymore
-Twisted Sister
