Image of the Week: Dinah & Her Lover
© D. Yael Bernhard
The story of Dinah, Jacob's only daughter, occurs in Chapter 33 of the Book of Genesis. On the surface, it's a tale of how not to behave, for two of Dinah's brothers, Simeon and Levi, act impulsively and murderously, to their father's great sorrow. There are more than a few such stories in the Hebrew Bible, including some in which even God's behavior is flawed. Our ancestors were definitely works in progress, as was their Creator.
But there's more to this story than a cautionary tale about hot-headed young men defending their sister's virginity. It's more than a shining example of a young woman denied freedom of choice in the patriarchal incubator of Western civilization. It's more than a tale of two clans that clash over the ill-fated match of their hapless children. Beneath the surface of this familial feud is the colliding of two belief systems as massive as continental plates shifting beneath the earth. For the young Romeo of this tale, Prince Shechem, and his Juliette, the lovely dark-haired Dinah, hail from two separate worlds that cannot coexist. He is born of town-dwellers who plant seeds, build temples, erect altars, worship idols, and ritually sacrifice children. She comes from a family of nomadic herders who revere the open sky and the harsh purity of the desert, who tend flocks, engage in trade, and conceive of divine spirit as formless and omnipresent. Shechem's clan represents the old polytheistic, Canaanite ways. Jacob's clan represents the Hebrew belief in one transcendent God, and the complete rejection of idol worship.
On a deeper level, the story of Dinah may be viewed as the slaying of one belief system by another. As humanity evolves, the old is pushed out by the new. The Hebrew way of intellectual, intangible connection with one Source of Life conquers the physical acts of ritual appeasement that characterize pagan worship. To drive the point home, the killing is exaggerated into a complete and brutal victory. This emphasis on stamping out the old is repeated throughout the Torah: We must not allow the old ways of idol worship and child sacrifice to creep into our rituals. Translate into modern terms: We must not allow our minds to be infected by crude and baseless practices that thrive on destruction. We must protect the innocent, and revere life.
As I illustrated the surface narrative, I thought about this collision of world views. Trapped in turbulence, the two lovers are dwarfed by the massive forces at play. Stormy, discordant colors engulf them in two arcs that stem from their fathers and cross above and between them. The result is cataclysmic: Shechem and every man in his tribe is slaughtered, Dinah is devastated, and Jacob bears the repercussions of his sons' violence for the rest of his days.
Of course, this is only one take on the story. Some translations have Dinah raped by Shechem. Anita Diamont's sumptuously-written historical fiction novel The Red Tent gives Dinah a voice, and spins a tale that is rich with human complexity. James Michener's epic novel The Source also sheds light on this period of time, about 3000 years ago near the modern city of Nablus.
What do you think of this story? When it comes to great spiritual literature, there's always room for another interpretation. The Torah is a very deep, very old well that may be drawn upon at different levels.
And certainly, Shakespeare dipped his cup thither, and drank.
Dinah & Her Lover is the image for December in my calendar, The Jewish Eye 5781/2021 Calendar of Art. The original oil painting is for sale, and measures 30"x15". Please inquire if you're interested.
The Jewish Eye is available in my webstore ($18 including shipping) or on Amazon ($18 prime).
A good week to all!
D Yael Bernhard