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The man who was described in the previous portion as running away for his safety, has, in this week's portion, become a man who sends messengers to Esau informing him that he, Jacob, is on his way. Jacob, after spending the night wrestling a mighty adversary, confronts Esau, from whom he has taken the birthright and blessings, and leaves having won his older brother's blessing and love. All is good for Jacob, so much so, that when "He set up an altar (Genesis 33:20)," God proclaimed Jacob as a Power (Megillah 18a). It doesn't last. His daughter, Dinah, is raped. What happened to Jacob's power?
The Midrash and commentaries describe Dinah's rape as a punishment for Jacob. Such explanations are painful: Are we to believe that God permitted a woman to be raped as a punishment of her father?
We are told that Dinah was liable because, "Dinah, the daughter of Leah, went out," in contradiction to the code of modesty befitting Jacob's daughter. Dinah, we are taught, copied her mother Leah, who, "When Jacob came from the field in the evening, Leah went out to meet him and said, 'It is to me that you must come' (30:16)." Did not Jacob also "go out," as in, "Jacob went out from Beer-Sheba"? Are we to believe that Jacob, the Power, is punished by his daughter being raped when she went out, which, parenthetically, is wrong when emulating Leah, but right when done as did Jacob? What happened to Jacob's power?
Jacob has been struggling to balance God, the Infinite Creator, and Elokim, the Power of Providence, since his wonderful dream of the ladder. Jacob insisted that God, Who appeared in his dream, demonstrate His involvement in Jacob's life by providing food and clothing. A dream is not enough. Jacob wants unequivocal Providence. Jacob, Rachel and Leah, all struggle throughout the previous portion to balance God with Elokim. When Jacob was able to confront Esau, he finally understood that God's Providence was intended to empower. God's providence, expressed as Elokim, was meant to empower Jacob to achieve his dream. When God, Elokim, blew a soul into Adam's nose, He was empowering humanity with free choice. That breath was empowerment. It is at that point that God describes Jacob as a Power. What happened to that power?
Jacob failed to derive the final lesson from the empowerment by Elokim, Divine Providence: The purpose of empowerment and power is to empower others. Dinah went out in weakness, as did her mother Leah. Dinah was raped and it was Jacob's fault, not punishment. He failed to empower his children. Jacob, in all his power, became powerless.
Jacob learned his lesson. He empowers his sons to deal with Shechem, the rapist and his supporters. Jacob pushes them to deal with the tragedy even against his will: "You have made me ugly!" "Shall we allow our sister to be treated as a harlot?" (34:30-31)
After Jacob empowers his sons, and prepares them for their greatness (35:2-5), Elokim, the Empowerer, appears and adds the name, Israel. Only after learning to use his power to empower others, can Jacob become Israel.
My most intense experience of empowerment is when studying Talmud, making a judgment in Jewish law, and discovering new layers in the Torah's words. Yet, when offering a different perspective to masters of Torah, people, powerful thinkers, who cannot bear to hear something that challenges traditional thinking, often block me. It is as if these powerful people have been disempowered, as if a certain mode of thought has been imposed on them, as Shechem imposed himself on Dinah!
We disempower our children when we teach them to withdraw in fear from the world, rather than share with them the ability of our tradition to empower us to deal with any challenge. We impose our traditions on them. We make them weak and vulnerable, as was Dinah when she went out in weakness.
We fail to empower each other when we share magical prayers, remedies and merits to ward off the Evil Eye against which we are powerless. "Hear O Israel, God is our Lord," is our constant declaration that God empowers us to achieve our dreams, and that, is the magic of the Shemah!
Jacob's power was powerless until it was used to empower his children. Talmud's great power to nurture complex thinking is powerless until it is used to empower us to think, question, and challenge anything and everything. The great power of the Mitzvot is powerless if not used to empower people to master themselves so they can reach for the top of Jacob's ladder.
We have such great power in our grasp, a power that can only be fully expressed when used to empower our children, others, and ourselves. It is only then that we become the Children of Israel, the empowered, and the ones who empower others.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Simcha L. Weinberg President If you are interested in sponsoring our  winning Newsletter, please email info@thefoundationstone.org Go to our Blog  Follow us on Twitter   Become a Fan  |
