Jacob’s
sons answered Shechem and his father Hamor, speaking with guile because he had
defiled their sister Dinah, and said to them, “We cannot do this thing, to give
our sister to a man who is uncircumcised, for that is a disgrace among us. Only
on this condition will we agree with you; that you will become like us in that
every male among you is circumcised. Then we will give our daughters to you and
take your daughters to ourselves; and we will dwell among you and become as one
kindred. But if you will not listen to us and become circumcised, we will take
our daughter and go. (Genesis 34:13-17)
They speak b’mirmah
(with guile). We shouldn’t be as shocked as we are when we learn that the
purpose of the scheme — at least in the minds of Shimon and Levi — is not to
merge two peoples, but to weaken the Shechemites. But we are most certainly
appalled when we learn that while the Shechemites are healing and most
vulnerable, on the third day after their circumcisions, Shimon and Levi enter
the city with drawn swords. They slaughter all the males and more:
They
put Hamor and his son Shechem to the sword, took Dinah out of Shechem’s house,
and went away. The other sons of Jacob came upon the slain and plundered the
town, because their sister had been defiled. (Genesis 34:26-27)
Torah emphasizes that the purpose of the horrific butchery is
to free Dinah and avenge her rape. (And let’s not overlook that they then
plundered the town.) Could they not have recovered Dinah in any other way? How
could they possibly justify killing every
male to free their sister? How did they manage to execute this plan without
Jacob having a hint of it? And if Jacob knew, why did he not intervene?
Beneath these troubling questions is yet one more: What are
we to make of the use of a sacred Jewish rite — brit milah — as a means to weakening people so they can be
overpowered and killed?
There is no shortage of people who claim that religion does
this all the time, and they have no difficulty marshaling evidence:
Historically, the Church used its teachings about heaven,
sin, and salvation to control great numbers of people and threaten them with
eternity in the fires of hell, as well as to justify countless massacres, the
Inquisition, and witch hunts. Today “sacred Christian values” are evoked to
coerce public policies and laws that violate other people’s values and rights
(specifically contraception and reproductive rights).
Islamic teachings from the Qur’an have often been used to
relegate non-Muslims in Muslim countries to second-class citizenship (dhimmi). In our time, sacred religious
texts and promulgations of imans have provided both motivation and
justification for horrific terrorism.
In Judaism, threats of God withholding the fullness of olam haba (the world-to-come) have been
used to coerce people into observing Judaism in a manner a select few deem
correct and defaming other streams of Judaism, which keeps them in the seat of
power, at least in their communities. Sacred text has been used by “Settlers”
in Israel to justify murder and the destruction of mosques.
This is not to say that all Christians, Muslims, and Jews
engage in such behavior. In fact, it is a small minority. But it a shameful
thing to do.
Jacob’s response to the massacre his sons have wrought is
distressing and disheartening.
Jacob
said to Shimon and Levi, “You have brought trouble on me, making me odious
among the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites and the Perizzites; my men
are few in number, so that if they unite against me and attack me, I and my
house will be destroyed.” (Genesis 34:30)
Where is Jacob’s moral condemnation? Jacob’s only concern is
for himself, and he couches everything that way: “me,” “my men,” “attack me,” “I
and my house.” This is not the model we would hope for. Lacking that, we must be the models out in the world
who call our co-religionists to a higher level of accountability, and reject
their use of sacred texts, rites, and traditions as weapons to attack — within
the Jewish community and beyond it, as well.
© Rabbi Amy Scheinerman
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