To act or not to act

Vayishlach

Gen. 32:4 - 36:43

Précis: As he nears his return to his homeland, Jacob sent (vayishlach) messengers to Esau to ascertain Esau’s state of mind after their 20-year separation. While he awaits a reply, Jacob encounters an “adversary” (most assume an angel) with whom Jacob wrestles through the night. As dawn breaks, the adversary announces that Jacob’s name is to be changed to Israel: “He who wrestles with God.” On the following day, Esau approaches, and despite Jacob’s fears, there is a happy reunion. 

            We then read the story of how a local prince rapes Dinah, Jacob’s daughter, and then asks to marry her. Jacob agrees on condition that all of the men of the city are circumcised. While the men are recovering, Jacob’s sons Simon and Levi attack the city and kill all of the inhabitants in revenge for the insult to their sister.

           Jacob soon travels to Beth-el (the site of his ladder dream), and on the way, Rachel gives birth to Benjamin and dies in childbirth. Thereafter, Isaac’s death is noted, as is his burial by Esau and Jacob. The parasha ends with a genealogy of Esau and his descendants.

Gen. 34:33 “And it happened on the third day, while they were recovering, that Jacob’s two sons, Shimon and Levi, Dinah’s brother, took each his sword, and came upon the city unopposed, and they killed every male.”

Dinah, Leah’s daughter and sister of Shimon and Levi, is abducted and raped by the local prince of Shechem (also named Shechem). When he hears about the news, Jacob, the father of the abducted girl, remains silent. Her brothers, however, seek revenge. Shechem had fallen in love with Dinah, and desired to marry her. He comes to Jacob to plead his case. The brothers respond for Jacob “cunningly, with deceit” (Gen. 34:13). They say on behalf of  Jacob that the marriage may go ahead if every male of the town is circumcised. Three days later, when the men of Shechem are at their weakest, Levi and Shimon enter the city and slay all of them.  

            Jacob’s response is unsettling: “You have discomposed me, making me hated by the people here” (Genesis 34:30). He seems to be more upset with the PR than with the rape of his daughter or the murder by his sons.

            Sometimes, a situation arises when our blood boils and we take rash action. This was the way Levi and Shimon acted. Jacob, on the other hand, remains silent in the face of the evil that has been done to his daughter. Was Jacob’s more measured response appropriate?

            We may tend to side with the brothers. On the other hand, we have increasingly become habituated to the instant response by social media. When faced with outrage, perhaps the correct course lies somewhere between the responses of Jacob and his sons.  We need to act, but we also need to take time to contemplate the impact of our acts before we post, text, or email.