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Why did Yaakov hide Dinah from Esav, yet get punished for not offering her to him? The shiur develops a fundamental yesod: there are two dimensions of Jewish identity—the twelve tribes (Yisrael) and the seventy descendants (Yaakov)—with different missions. Dinah belonged to the latter group, whose role is engaging the nations, making marriage to Esav or Shechem potentially legitimate and the brothers' offer of conversion real, not deceptive.
Rabbi Zweig addresses a fundamental contradiction in Parshas Vayishlach. Rashi (רש"י) states that Yaakov hid Dinah in a box so Esav wouldn't see her, and was punished for withholding her from his brother—perhaps she could have reformed Esav. Yet in the previous parsha, Leah cried her eyes out to avoid marrying Esav, and the Torah (תורה) praises her for this. How can Yaakov be criticized for the same decision Leah was praised for? Furthermore, after Dinah is violated by Shechem, the punishment seems disproportionate and the measure-for-measure unclear. The shiur presents a novel understanding based on a critical distinction between two names and two modes of Jewish identity: Yisrael and Yaakov. The twelve tribes constitute "Yisrael"—the authoritative, covenantal core of the Jewish people descended patrilineally. But there is also a group of seventy descendants counted when the family went down to Egypt, called "yotzei yerech Yaakov" (those who came from Yaakov's loins). Dinah is counted among the seventy but is not part of the twelve tribes. This seventy corresponds to the seventy nations of the world, as the pasuk states: "He set the borders of nations according to the number of Bnei Yisrael."
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Bereishis 34 (Parshas Vayishlach)
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