For what reason did Yaakov’s failure to give Dina to Esav as a wife receive a consequence so harsh as the event that transpired between Dina and Shechem?
We must therefore say that
- Dina’s temperament was such, that there was a great likelihood that she would influence Esav to change his ways.
- Transforming an evil person into a good one has such importance, that it would have been worth it for Dina to marry him, even if there would be no way of assuring that she could change him.
It is for this reason that Yaakov was punished. For, had Dina married Esav, her captivating personality would have transformed him into a good person.
Now that it is understood that Dina possessed such a charismatic personality, one which could enable her to transform even the likes of the wicked Esav, it is understood that this was also the reason that Dina went out—to transform the girls of the land for the better. She did not go out with the girls of the land merely for recreation, but to teach them the Torah values that she had imbued in her father’s home.
This is why Rashi relates that this nature came from Leah’s personality. This was not a degradation of Leah, but it was to her praise. For, just as Leah’s nature of going out was a positive trait, so too it was with her daughter Dina. The positive extroverted nature that Dina possessed was inherited from her mother Leah.
The Comparison
Seemingly, however, there can be no comparison Leah’s excursion and that of her daughter Dina.
The reason that Leah went out was to greet Yaakov and bring him into her tent. Leah wanted to bear more children in order to increase the number of the existing tribes, and her exploit was therefore towards that end.
Dina, on the other hand, went out with the objective of transforming the Chivvite women into individuals who were to be connected to G-d.
