In Torah Studies this morning we spent the entire time on Genesis 34 a very short portion that dealt with the rape of Dinah and the rapists’ punishment by her brothers, sons and daughter of a Patriarch of the Hebrews, Jacob – later renamed Israel.

In short, that is the story.  However, there was a great deal more to it particularly how the discussion was apportioned among the class of 22 who sat around a large oval table in the library of Temple Sinai of North Dade.  I am going to spend this time on my own thoughts about Shechem, the son of the Chief of the Hivites who was smitten by Dinah but ravished her (we think it was without her consent) and thus the story unfolded. 

Schechem was the son of a Chief, perhaps king of the Hivites, a settled people among other Canaanite peoples.  He was a favorite son and if he wanted something he seemed to be used to just take it.  What he did was break an established rule that you ask a lady for her favors instead of forcing her to your will.  The brothers of Dinah immediately decided to wreak havoc on the Hivites despite the good will of Hamor the King who readily agreed to terms that doomed his people to pillage, murder and slavery.  The Hebrews demanded that the Hivite males be circumcised just like them although the mention of the Hebrew covenant with God – sealed with drops of blood – was not mentioned.

So, the tale was ended with the circumcision and the sneaky attack which killed all the debilitated males and the Hivite kingdom was done in with further murder, arson, thievery and slavery for the remaining Canaanites. Dinah serves as the reason d’etre for the entire tale but she plays no further part.  Did she love the man who took advantage of her? Did she unwittingly encourage attention by the way she comported herself among the women of the town?  These are questions unanswered in the text of Genesis.

I likened the story to one that is ages old and retold by Shakespeare in Romeo and Juliet.  There is nothing but pain and suffering because a father did not check on the comings and goings of an immature but womanly daughter.  The lover is doomed and so is she.  But the feud between Capulet and Montague is just another retelling of the feud between the settled peoples in a land flowing with milk and honey and interlopers who come in with their strange new ideas.  It is a short story and one to which we gave a lot of thought without coming to a conclusion.