This week we read parshat Vayishlach, and in addition to the encounter of Yaakov and Esav, Yaakov’s struggle with the angel-man, and other headliner topics, the Torah records the tragedy of Dinah, abducted, and violated. Shimon and Levi violently wipe out the entire city of Shechem in vengence. It’s unclear what Yaakov’s response is. Yaakov is passive; the Torah explicitly says that וְהֶחֱרִשׁ יַעֲקֹב עַד־בֹּאָם (Beraishis 34:5) Jacob kept silent when he heard of Dinah’s violation, until the brothers came home.
I don’t know who is reading this email, or who will hear the parsha this week, who is herself or himself a Dinah, or has a loved one who is.
In a session I attended this week for clergy and community leaders, Dr. Guila Benchimol shared that her research shows: “survivors are often more upset by the communal response than the initial harm. The communal harm is more traumatic.” Sometimes that is not just lack of support for victims, but worse still, protection for the perpetrator.
Rabbanit Sarah Segal-Katz and Rabba Tamar Elad-Appelbaum founded Brit Emunim, and Dinah Partnership, and throughout Israel and now the world, parshat Vayishlach is a time when communities mark Shabbat Dinah, and speak openly about sexual abuse and rape.
Though I’m away this week for shabbat, at a family simcha, BH, I decided it was vital to share this communal message of healing, presence and acknowledgement. We are here for you, and we won’t turn our back on you. If the Torah records Dinah’s story, we can’t skip it or ignore it in our own world.
Rabbanit Segal-Katz shared redemptive Torah based on the medrash that Osnat was borne out of Dinah’s violation–her name itself contains the root אסון, ason means rape–, and she then became the adopted daughter of Potifar and ultimately the wife of Yosef, and thus the matriarch of Bnot Tzelphad, the daughters who had no brothers and thus claimed an inheritance in the land for their father’s line. May we not hide trauma in the shadows, but bring healing light and redemption.