Arguably, the most disturbing news story in recent weeks has been the case of a 17-year-old boy escaping from the California home in which he had been held captive and abused for the last year. The dirty, emaciated, young man appeared in the lobby of a fitness center and asked to be hidden before his tormentors found him. The saddest part of this story is that after being removed from an abusive home, he was place in the care of his aunt who, in turn, orchestrated his imprisonment and torture in the home of a Girl Scout troop leader. We can only hope that he will now find a safe place in which to recover from these horrible experiences.
In this week’s Torah portion, we read of young person who was the object of abuse. Dinah – the one daughter of Jacob – went out to visit with the “daughters of the land” (see Gen. 34:1). It is no surprise that a young woman who lived with twelve brothers might have wanted some female company. However, instead of enjoying a little time with other young women, she was raped by Shechem – the son of the local chieftain.
Given what we know of “honor” in the modern Middle East, we might have expected that the males of Dinah’s family would punish HER for venturing too far from home. Yet, they do nothing of the sort. Instead, they avenge her rape by punishing the perpetrator and the other male members of his town. One could certainly argue that Dinah’s brothers went too far in their pursuit of justice. However, one thing is clear – they recognized that it is the role of family to protect their own. It is the role of family to provide a safe, nurturing environment for children.
Sadly, we know that this is not always the case – as we saw in the California case mentioned above. Further, we know that sexual assault and domestic violence are difficult topics to discuss openly. Shame and denial are incredibly powerful forces. We’d like to think that these sorts of things don’t happen in our Jewish community, and if they do, we just wish that they would go away.
But, they don’t just go away. It is up to us to address abuse when we see it. It is up to protect the most vulnerable members of our community.
That is why the Jewish community in MetroWest has created the Rachel Coalition. We have an obligation not only to keep our own family safe, but to make sure that victims of abuse in our community have someplace to go and someone to help them.
RAF.
