His daughter on the other hand, loses.
Her encounter with a stranger ends with rape, massacre, and silencing.
It is interesting to see these three encounters, and what they can teach us about trust.
הַצִּילֵ֥נִי נָ֛א מִיַּ֥ד אָחִ֖י מִיַּ֣ד עֵשָׂ֑ו כִּֽי־יָרֵ֤א אָנֹכִי֙ אֹת֔וֹ פֶּן־יָב֣וֹא וְהִכַּ֔נִי אֵ֖ם עַל־בָּנִֽים׃
Deliver me, I pray, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau; else, I fear, he may come and strike me down, mothers and children alike.
וַיִּוָּתֵ֥ר יַעֲקֹ֖ב לְבַדּ֑וֹ וַיֵּאָבֵ֥ק אִישׁ֙ עִמּ֔וֹ עַ֖ד עֲל֥וֹת הַשָּֽׁחַר׃
Jacob was left alone. And a figure wrestled with him until the break of dawn.
וַיָּ֨רׇץ עֵשָׂ֤ו לִקְרָאתוֹ֙ וַֽיְחַבְּקֵ֔הוּ וַיִּפֹּ֥ל עַל־צַוָּארָ֖ו וַׄיִּׄשָּׁׄקֵ֑ׄהׄוּׄ וַיִּבְכּֽוּ׃
Esau ran to greet him. He embraced him and, falling on his neck, he kissed him; and they wept.
וַתֵּצֵ֤א דִינָה֙ בַּת־לֵאָ֔ה אֲשֶׁ֥ר יָלְדָ֖ה לְיַעֲקֹ֑ב לִרְא֖וֹת בִּבְנ֥וֹת הָאָֽרֶץ׃
Now Dinah, the daughter whom Leah had borne to Jacob, went out to visit the daughters of the land.
וַיַּ֨רְא אֹתָ֜הּ שְׁכֶ֧ם בֶּן־חֲמ֛וֹר הַֽחִוִּ֖י נְשִׂ֣יא הָאָ֑רֶץ וַיִּקַּ֥ח אֹתָ֛הּ וַיִּשְׁכַּ֥ב אֹתָ֖הּ וַיְעַנֶּֽהָ׃
Shechem son of Hamor the Hivite, chief of the country, saw her, and took her and lay with her and disgraced her.
Haftrah for this week's Torah portion "Vayishlach".
You can find the text here: www.sefaria.org/sheets/528920
(מ) מִיָּמִ֣ים ׀ יָמִ֗ימָה תֵּלַ֙כְנָה֙ בְּנ֣וֹת יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל לְתַנּ֕וֹת לְבַת־יִפְתָּ֖ח הַגִּלְעָדִ֑י אַרְבַּ֥עַת יָמִ֖ים בַּשָּׁנָֽה׃ {פ}
(40) for the maidensemaidens Lit. “daughters.” of Israel to go every year, for four days in the year, and chant dirges for the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite.
(כו) מצאתי כתוב שיש ליזהר בכל תקופה מארבעתן שלא לשתות מים בשעת התקופה משום סכנה שלא ינזק ויתנפח. מפני שתקופת ניסן היא לפי שנהפכו ממי מצרים לדם לפי רגע. ותקופת תמוז לפי שבשעה שאמר הב"ה למשה ולאהרן ודברתם אל הסלע לעיניהם ונתן מימיו וגומ' והם לא עשו כן והכו אותו וזבו ממנו דם שנאמר הן הכה צור ויזובו מים ואין זיבה אלא דם שנאמר ואשה כי יזוב זוב דמה ובאותה שעה לקו כל המימות בדם. ותקופת תשרי לפי שבאותו פרק בא אברהם לשחוט את יצחק בנו וטפטפה הסכין דם ואותה טיפה נתפרשה במימות. ותקופת טבת היא לפי שבאותו הפרק נשחטה בת יפתח ונהפכו כל המימות לדם ואי איפשר לעולם בלא צחצוח דם באותם פרקים והוא מלקה.
Emunah is an awe inspiring force. If all emunah rotted in a person’s heart, that there was nothing left for that person to believe in – there is no existence for that person….
2. Similarly to all forces of our spirit (nefesh), the force of emunah arouses within us images/apprehensions of the heart. The Rambam wrote: “bear in mind that by “faith” we do not understand merely that which is uttered with the lips, but also that which is apprehended by the soul, the conviction that the object [of belief] is exactly as it is apprehended” (Guide to the perplexed, part 1:50). Inasmuch as we draw images for ourselves which verify Torah and attributes of God – our emunah strengthens...on the side of rah/evil we know the evil thoughts – i.e. evil images! Are worse than evil deeds, since the power of this apprehension brings us to many acts. So in the side of sanctity, when a thread of tchelet of tzizit awakens within us the image of the sea, and sea is like sky, and sky is like the throne of God….
(Rabbi Shlomo Wolbe, Alei Shur book 1, section 2 ch. 17. translated by Gila Caine.)
Reporting on Gender Based Violence as a Weapon of War | New Israel Fund of Canada (nifcan.org)
***** Trigger warning****
A new report by NIF partner Physicians for Human Rights–Israel (PHRI) uses evidence gathered to confirm that sexual violence was used as a weapon of war by Hamas and calls to center the physical and emotional needs of the victims of the violence.
The report is based on survivor and eyewitness testimonies, accounts by emergency and security personnel, and other verified visual evidence online. PHRI writes that its main reason for publishing the report is because that’s its duty:
As a human rights organization morally driven to defend the right to health of all people living between the river and the sea, our professional obligation is to investigate, analyze, and acknowledge any violation of this right. This position paper highlights the sexual and gender-based violence committed during the October 7 Hamas attacks. Our primary concern in doing so is addressing the pain and the physical and emotional needs of the victims of the violence – and those who witnessed it – on their long road to healing.
The report makes recommendations for how legal and societal institutions should handle these cases—how they can best address the needs of survivors and eyewitnesses in a way that centers their humanity and their need for empathy and support. PHRI also makes the case that these acts should be prosecuted as crimes against humanity in the International Criminal Court.
PHRI writes, “As members of the health and human rights communities, it is our duty to stand with the victims. As a society, we must be willing to acknowledge the sexual violence perpetrated on October 7, 2023. We must break the cycles of silence and shame and foster the space and conditions to support the healing of survivors.”
If you would like to access the report, you can do so here. However, please be aware that it includes graphic and uncensored accounts of sexual violence, and reader discretion is advised.
To end, here's a rabbinic fantasy of what might have have been a happier ending to Dinah's story:
(א) כתיב, וּבָא הַבַּיִת וְסָמַךְ יָדוֹ עַל הַקִּיר וּנְשָׁכוֹ הַנָּחָשׁ (עמוס ה, יט). וכשבא יעקב לארץ אחוזתו שבארץ כנען נשכו הנחש, ואי זה הוא הנחש, זה שכם בן חמור שהיתה בתו של יעקב יושבת אוהלים ולא היתה יוצאה לחוץ מה עשה שכם בן חמור הביא נערות משחקות חוצה לו מתופפות ויצאה דינה לראות בבנות הארץ המשחקות ושללה ושכב עמה והרתה וילדה את אסנת ואמרו בני ישראל להורגה שאמרה עכשו יאמרו בכל הארץ שיש בית זנות באהלי יעקב.
(ב) מה עשה יעקב, הביא שרץ של זהב שם הקדש כתוב בו ותלה על צוארה, ושלחה והלכה, והכל צפוי לפני הב"ה. וירד מיכאל המלאך והורידה למצרים לבית פוטיפרע, שהיתה אסנת ראויה ליוסף לאשה, והיתה אשתו של פוטיפרע עקרה, וגדלה עמה כבת, וכשירד יוסף למצרים לקחה לו לאשה, שנ' ויתן לו את אסנת בת פוטיפרע.
(1)JOSEPH AND HIS BRETHREN "OR went into the house and leaned his hand on the wall, and the serpent bit him" (Amos 5:19). When Jacob went into his house in the land of Canaan the serpent bit him. || And who was the serpent? This was Shechem, the son of Chamor. Because the daughter of Jacob was abiding in the tents, and she did not go into the street; what did Shechem, the son of Chamor, do? He brought dancing girls who were (also) playing on pipes in the streets. Dinah went forth to see those girls who were making merry; and he seized her, and he slept with her, and she conceived and bare Asenath. The sons of Israel said that she should be killed, for they said that now people would say in all the land that there was an immoral daughter in the tents of Jacob.
(2) What did (Jacob) do? He wrote the Holy Name upon a golden plate, and suspended it about her neck and sent her away. She went her way. Everything is revealed before the Holy One, blessed be He, and Michael the angel descended and took her, and brought her down to Egypt to the house of Potiphera; because Asenath was destined to become the wife of Joseph. Now the wife of Potiphera was barren, and (Asenath) grew up with her as a daughter. When Joseph came down to Egypt he married her, as it is said, "And he gave him to wife Asenath the daughter of Potiphera priest of On" (Gen. 41:45).