Bulletin Vayisdhlah

Welcome • ohtcv ohfurc
Shabbat Shalom • ouka ,ca
Shabbat Parshat Vayishlach
19 Kislev 5784 • December 2, 2023
jkahu
Rosh Chodesh Women’s Study Group
First HEROS Sunday FUND of the Hebrew Month – 10:00 a.m. ET
• Stuart & Carol Mest • June Sochen
Mitchell Eil • Marcia & David
Goldsteen/Cohodes • Stanley &
DECEMBER 10 - TEVET
Facilitators:
Hannah & Sharon Castro
For additional information please contact Linda Wertheim at
werthla@gmail.com

Yahrtzeiten
Dec 4
Dec 7
Stephen Meltz
Ralph Stein
vfrck oburfz
Dec 3 • 20 Kislev Sally Crane – Sister of Norma Rosen
Dec 5 • 22 Kislev Shoora Samuel – Mother of Lisa Rich
Guita Bearman – Mother of Elizabeth Fischman
Dec 6 • 23 Kislev Jack Lebowitz – Grandfather of Ron Lebowitz
Phyllis Levin – Sister of Rosalee Bogo
Dec 8 • 25 Kislev Eugene Cohen – Father of Sima Bennett
Birthdays
We share the sorrow on the passing of
Fred Hirschovits k ”z
We extend condolences to his daughter Danielle
May his Memory Be for a Blessing • lurc vrfz hvh
Donations may be made to Beth Tikvah Chesed Fund.
Shabbat Kiddush Sponsored by:
Rabbi & Aviva Chorny
In honor of all our friends and volunteers
who make it possible for us to visit our children
Mavens: Rosalee Bogo & Steve Chizzik
jna `skuv ouh
Assisted by: Beverly Blazar, Elaine Kamin, Fran Kaufman,
Paulette Margulies, Arlene Levin, Liuva Sando,
Shep Scheinberg and Arleen Sivakoff
5784 – 2023-2024
Sponsor a Kiddush
Contact Arleen Sivakoff: 239.455.8811 - dsivakoff@aol.com
“...rautn vhfnu`u vc ohehzjnk thv ohhj Jg”
“She is a tree of life to those who embrace her;
those who hold her tight are happy…” Prov. 3:18
Dedicate new leaves in commemoration of
Remember Lunch-N-Learn with
life’s joys & celebrations
Rabbi Chorny Tuesdays 12:15 P.M.
Please contact the Synagogue office or Harvey Rosenthal: HAROSENTHAL80@GMAIL.COM

Torah & Haftarah Readings:
Shabbat Parshat Vayishlach: Genesis 34:1-35:15 (Cycle 2) (Etz Hayim p. 206)
1. 34:1-4 2. 34:5-12 3. 34:13-17 4. 34:18-23
5. 34:24-31 6. 35:1-11 7. 35:12-15 M. 36:40-43 (p.220)
Torah Commentary
D’var Torah:
Haftarah: Obadiah 1:1-21 (p. 222)
Returning Home - Bex Stern-Rosenblatt
Dinah gets to leave the spotlight. She gets to go home and live her life. Midrash will imagine
some possibilities for her. According to Bereshit Rabbah 80:10, perhaps she lives with her
brother Shimon, as part of his family. According to Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer 38, Dinah will
give birth to Asenath, future wife of Joseph. We read in the Talmud, Bava Batra 15b, that
Dinah would go on to marry Job. In the Tanakh itself, we only hear of Dinah once more
after our parashah. She is mentioned specifically in the list of children of Jacob and Leah
who went to Egypt in Genesis 46:15. She has returned to her home, to her family. The
Tanakh pictures her as once again in the embrace of her father and her mother, surrounded
by all of her brothers and all of her nieces and nephews. She who had been alone, who had
been taken away, is now embedded deeply with those who love her best of all.
It’s a beautiful ending to a horrible story. It’s a hopeful conclusion. Often, we complain of
Dinah’s disappearance from the narrative. After she “goes out to see the daughters of the
land” in the very first verse of Genesis 34, Dinah loses all agency. She is acted upon, by
her rapist and captor, and by her brothers. We never hear Dinah speak, not once in the
whole story. We see her brothers wreak vengeance on those who have abused her, making
sure that never again will such a disgrace befall Israel. We hear her father worry over the
geopolitical considerations of the actions her brothers have taken. We hear her brothers
talk back to her father. But we never hear them talk to her. We don’t get to see the warm
family reunion.
Dinah has been through something terrible. She had been taken from her home, raped,
and held against her will. Her captor, her rapist, will go to her family and claim he wants to
marry her. All the while, Dinah is still being held with her rapist’s family. It is not until many
days later that Dinah is freed. We read that Dinah’s brothers “took Dinah from the house
of Shechem and they went out.” They kill her rapist and his father and his whole city and
take her home. The whole time, Dinah had been a captive. Dinah has seen too much, has
lived through too much. Her brothers have had to do whatever it takes to bring her home
and it has been horrible. They have become the sort of people who cannot offer words of
comfort to their sister.
So it is with gratitude that I read Dinah disappearing from the narrative. Dinah gets to go
home. She gets to recover. She gets to live with her beloved family. There is no more story
to tell of her because she gets to live a remarkably normal life.

The aftershocks of Genesis 34 will echo in the stories of the brothers Levi and Shimeon,
in the blessings they get from their father and, in tribe form, from Moses. In post-biblical
texts, the story of Judith will restore a voice to Dinah, telling the story of a woman taking
vengeance for the wrong done to Dinah. But Dinah herself gets the blessed anonymity
offered by falling out of the story, falling back into her family, into her home.
Lecture Series Kick-off
Beth Tikvah offers a myriad of cultural, intellectual, social, musical and
religious programming throughout the year but especially during Naples
busiest months. We launch our “All Things Jewish” program with the
first of our lecture series:
December 5 th – 7:30 p.m.
Jeff Margolis:
“America’s Iconic Amusement Parks”
This nostalgic program examines the role of amusement parks in America’s
culture from Coney Island to the Disney Theme parks.
Beth Tikvah of Naples
1459 Pine Ridge Road
Naples, FL 34109
239 434-1818
Visit us online at
bethtikvahnaples.org
or scan the QR code
to go there directly