{"id":38742,"date":"2018-08-26T22:22:05","date_gmt":"2018-08-26T19:22:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=38742"},"modified":"2022-03-20T23:51:38","modified_gmt":"2022-03-20T21:51:38","slug":"where-was-dinah","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/where-was-dinah\/","title":{"rendered":"Where was Dinah?"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[281],"tags":[532,490,363],"acf":{"old_id":"38742","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":34002,"related_cahpter":"32","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"Did Jacob try to put off the inevitable?","content":"

Jacob approaches Esau, carrying “his eleven children” (32:23). But the Midrash notes someone is missing: “And Dina where is she?” The Midrash answers: Jacob locked her in a chest, to conceal her from Esau.<\/span><\/p>\n

Next, the Midrash connects to the wider context, pointing out that Dina was eventually forced into an intimate relationship by Shechem, a total stranger and ‘<\/em><\/span>arel<\/span><\/em> [uncircumcised] (Bereishit Rabbah 76).<\/span><\/p>\n

One theme of this Midrash is often missed: the futility of attempting to evade destiny. Maybe Dina is destined to marry a non-righteous man, perhaps to spread Jacob’s family’s influence in darker realms. But Jacob won’t play along, and attempts to manipulate the situation. This doesn’t work. If Dina won’t marry Esau, she will end up in a violent intimate relationship with Shechem.<\/span><\/p>\n

In a similar vein, a brief narrative in the Babylonian Talmud (Berakhot 10a) tells the story of King Hezekiah’s illness. Isaiah, the prophet, informed him that he will not recover, since on foreseeing that great evil will come from his future son, Menashe, Hezekiah refrained from reproduction altogether. Hezekiah, according to the story, makes one more attempt to trick destiny by marrying his daughter to Isaiah, building on their cumulative merits to produce a righteous offspring. But that won’t work either, says Isaiah. One cannot evade destiny with manipulative actions. <\/span><\/p>\n

The story, however, doesn’t end there. Even when all appears to be lost, Hezekiah claims, one should not refrain from prayer. This works, partially, but the story doesn’t make that claim. The actual statement is that one should not prevent oneself from ‘mercy’. Indeed, prayer doesn’t always change reality. Hezekiah’s son will be evil. But the change in one’s internal reality, which an open heart and a sincere dialogue with God can achieve, is also a gift of God’s mercy. In attempting to manipulate the situation, on the other hand, one gives up on the dialogue with God and his decisions.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Midrash on Jacob may have an additional part of the broader context in mind as well. For in the beginning of the chapter Jacob does not attempt to avoid confronting Esau, but rather turns (<\/span>inter alia<\/span><\/em>) to prayer (32:12) \u2013\u00a0 ‘Deliver me, I pray, from the hand of my brother\u2026”. Had he chosen to confront God with prayer over Dina’s destiny as well instead of attempting to manipulate it, the Midrash implies, they may have been spared the tragic affair of Shechem.<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":103219,"id":103219,"title":"-6237a1d6ec4c8--6237a1d6ec4c9gen32-treasure chest box.png","filename":"6237a1d6ec4c8-6237a1d6ec4c9gen32-treasure-chest-box.png.png","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/08\/6237a1d6ec4c8-6237a1d6ec4c9gen32-treasure-chest-box.png.png","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/where-was-dinah\/6237a1d6ec4c8-6237a1d6ec4c9gen32-treasure-chest-box-png\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"6237a1d6ec4c8-6237a1d6ec4c9gen32-treasure-chest-box-png","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":38742,"date":"2022-03-20 21:51:18","modified":"2023-04-30 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