what am i supposed to think about this??? DINAHS STORY?

Question

so basically we were in chumash class (chumash is the study of the 5 books of the torah if you didn't know) and we were learning about Dinah and Prince Schechem. so basically it went like this:
So we learned that in the city schechem dinah one day got bored because she had no one to play with so she went out of the tent to go find some girls to be friends with and play with and the prince saw her and raped her

so my teacher (a woman) said: "shechem raped dinah because dinah left her tent and went outside" (this is exactly what she said no lie)

i mean dinah just went out to find GIRL FRIENDS because she was BORED...its totally blaming the girl for what the man did

i don't get it...what am i supposed to think about chabad now?
can someone explain this to me?
(i asked the teacher about it after she said it but she brushed off my question--i know judaism encourages questions)

NO THE TEACHER SAID THAT WAS AN EXPLANATION THE RABBIS GIVE

not that it said that in the actual text

Answer 1

What you think is up to you.
entirely your decision - don't ask others what you must believe - take responsibility for your own life.

Answer 2

I'm not Jewish, so this is in no way official, but here's my thoughts.

Dinah or any other girl at that time, was expected to stay home. Women had no rights, just as they don't today in some eastern countries. There have been times in history and places yet today, where women are treated as property and chattel, and if they don't obey the rules men have set for them, they are the ones who are guilty of whatever awful thing might happen to them.

But go on to read the rest of the verses. I only read a few more, but I don't see anything there blaming Dinah. Her brothers went on to avenge her -- well, and their own male sense of honor too.

I don't know what chabad means, although I think it has some connection with Hasidim. I think the teacher probably would have a hard time giving an answer a girl today would find acceptable.

Answer 3

I'm afraid I have only a passing familiarity with this particular story, so I can't comment authoritatively.

But you are absolutely right--Judaism encourages questions and alternative views. It also encourages women and girls to 'go outside the tent', to explore, to learn on their own. Jewish people would NEVER believe that a girl deserved to be raped because she went out on her own. I agree that this is 'blaming the victim', which is totally wrong.

If your teacher really brushed off this question she is not a good teacher. She should have said, as I did, that she didn't know enough to answer it for sure, and then she should have referred you to someone who knew more about this story. In her defense, she might have been pressed for time, or have felt that the whole class needed her attention more than you did at the moment.

Actually it's not clear that Dinah was raped. The story said she was 'humbled', so he might just have grabbed her by the wrist and made her struggle, or made her kiss him or something.

Also, did you read the rest of the story? The man who raped Dinah (or whatever he did) fell in love with her and wanted to marry her, and as a result of this his entire city was destroyed.

Answer 4

The answer is NOT that Dinah got raped "because Dinah left her tent and went outside," the answer is Dinah left her tent and got raped because of the evil perversions of the prince, who didn't recognize or respect Dinah as a person, but only as an object to be debased and conquered.

It is never a victim's fault that she gets raped.

You are RIGHT to question your teacher on this!