“And afterwards, she [Leah] bore a daughter, and
she named her Dina.” (Bereishit/Genesis 30:21)
Dina’s birth is recorded in the previous Torah portion.
After bearing six sons with Yaakov (Jacob), Leah conceives again. Her sister,
Rachel, who also is married to Yaakov, has not yet conceived, but two handmaids
have each borne two sons with Yaakov.
Rashi explains that Leah knows Yaakov will father twelve
sons and he already has ten. If Leah has a son, Leah reasons that Rachel will
only have the opportunity to bear one son, fewer than the handmaids. In order
to save Rachel from embarrassment, Leah prays that her unborn baby will be a
girl. As a result of her prayer, the baby boy in Leah’s womb is transformed
into a girl whom she names Dina.
In this week’s Torah portion, after twenty years growing his
family and his wealth in his father-in-law’s household, Yaakov sets out to return
to Canaan. He prepares to reunite with his estranged brother, Esav (Esau.) “And
he [Yaakov} arose during that night, and he took his two wives and his two
maidservants and his eleven sons, and he crossed the ford of [the] Jabbok.”(Bereishit
32:23)
The Midrash (Bereishit Rabbah-Vayishlach 76:9) notes
a glaring omission in this verse. Dina, Yaakov’s only daughter, must have been traveling
with the family, yet the text only mentions her brothers. Where is Dina?
“[Yaakov] placed her in a chest and locked her in. He said, ‘This evil man
[Esav] has a haughty eye – lest he see her and take her from me [as a wife].’”
After his encounter with Esav, Yaakov settles with his
family in Shechem, in Canaan. “Dina, the daughter of Leah, whom she had
borne to Yaakov, went out to look inside the daughters of the land.” (Bereishit
34:1)
Why is Dina described here as the “daughter of Leah?” Rashi explains
from the Midrash (Tanchuma Vayishlach 7): “Because of her going out, she
was called the daughter of Leah, since she [Leah] too was in the habit of going
out, as it is said [in Bereishit 30:16]: ‘And Leah came forth toward him
[Yaakov].’ And concerning her, they devise the proverb ‘like mother like
daughter.’” (Bereishit Rabbah 80:1)
Writes Rebbetzin Chana Bracha Siegelbaum in Women at the
Crossroads: “This comparison does not come to denigrate Dina, as Abarbanel
explains. At first when Yaakov agreed to marry Rachel, but instead was given
Leah, he did not recognize her until the next morning because of her modesty.
When she later went out towards Yaakov and said ‘you must come to me’ her
intention was for the sake of Heaven to bear his children and raise the tribes
of Israel. The proof is that she merited that same night to conceive Yisaschar,
who represents Torah.”
The Rebbetzin goes on to explain that Dina does not have
improper intentions when she leaves the tent. As the only daughter in a household
of boys, she longs to see the clothing and jewelry of other women and to get to
know “the way of young women.” When the prince Shechem sends music-playing girls
around Dina’s tent, Dina cannot resist going out. (Ohr HaChayim and Pirkei
d’Rabbi Eliezer 38)
The Lubavitcher Rebbe presents a different rationale for
Dina’s venturing out. Yanki Tauber adapts the Rebbe’s teachings on
meaningfullife.com (and reprinted on chabad.org): “Dina’s going out to make the
acquaintance of the daughters of the land was fully in keeping with her and her
mother’s unique gifts. Her exposure to an alien environment would not have
adversely affected her Jewish femininity. On the contrary, she was born to the
role of the outgoing Jewish woman who serves as a source of enlightenment to
her surroundings without compromising her modesty.”
Rebbetzin Siegelbaum comments on the grammar of the verse,
noting that it does not contain the Hebrew word et, a grammatical insert
to indicate that the following word is the object of the sentence. Instead, the
verse uses b’, which means “inside.” She therefore renders the
translation “Dina went out to look inside the daughters of the land.”
Writes the Rebbetzin, citing Be’er Mayim Chayim: “Dina
went out to see the inner depths of the hearts of the gentile girls in order to
learn who would be receptive to her influence…This teaches that there is a way
for a modest woman to ‘go out’ and benefit the world without being harmed.”
Yaakov, the Rebbe teaches, does not recognize Dina’s ability
to retain her values while going out to positively influence outsiders; as a
protective father, he seeks to shield her from negative outside influences, and
he goes so far as to hide Dina from Esav. Rashi raises the possibility that had
Yaakov allowed Dina to marry Esav, Dina might have been able to influence Esav
to repent.
Unfortunately, Yaakov’s efforts to closet Dina have drastic
consequences. “And Shechem the son of Chamor, the Chivite, the prince of the
land, saw her [Dina], and he took her, lay with her, and violated her.” (Bereishit
34:2) Dina’s brothers, Shimon and Levi, avenge the rape.
The Midrash (Yalkut Shimoni 134) tells that Dina
becomes pregnant from this union and has a baby girl called Osnat. The baby
ends up in Egypt and is raised by Potiphar and his wife. When Osnat comes of age,
she marries Yosef (Joseph), her uncle.
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