If I were to ask you how many children Jacob had, most would probably say 12. But why do we forget about Dinah? Why do we forget about Jacob’s only daughter? Perhaps we forget about Dinah because she only appears a handful of times by name? Perhaps it is because her story is so wrought with violence? Perhaps, by denying Dinah her voice we are not living up to Dinah’s name.
The text and the tradition suggest that Dinah went out to visit the Daughters of the Land. There she was spotted by the son of a Hivite chief who took her, lay with her, and ultimately disgraced her. From there, her brothers avenged her honor by mercilessly murdering the men of Shechem, but at no point does anyone seem concerned with Dinah’s experience.
With the benefit of hindsight, we have a major opportunity to learn from the absence of agency and to give Dinah her voice. Since Dinah’s name means justice, may we learn from the injustice she suffered either at the hands of Shechem or more immediately at the hands of her family, who had no interest in what she thought or how she felt. May we learn from their imperfections, may we seek and pursue Dinah, and may we do better today.