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  1. Why were Shimon and Levi the ones to hear about Dinah's rape and not Yaakov?
  2. Where does it mention Yaakov's actual emotive state?
  3. And finally, what would the Torah have mandated to have done in such a case as the person committing the crime being a gentile?

I know all of this was before Matan Torah but since so many instances in Yaakov's life were in symmetry with Torah, this seems completely out of the ball-park and into a sphere of evil.

2 Answers 2

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  1. Yakkov was the first to get the word, not Dina's brothers.

בראשית לד ה-ז

וְיַעֲקֹ֣ב שָׁמַ֗ע כִּ֤י טִמֵּא֙ אֶת־דִּינָ֣ה בִתּ֔וֹ וּבָנָ֛יו הָי֥וּ אֶת־מִקְנֵ֖הוּ בַּשָּׂדֶ֑ה וְהֶחֱרִ֥שׁ יַעֲקֹ֖ב עַד־בֹּאָֽם׃
וַיֵּצֵ֛א חֲמ֥וֹר אֲבִֽי־שְׁכֶ֖ם אֶֽל־יַעֲקֹ֑ב לְדַבֵּ֖ר אִתּֽוֹ׃
וּבְנֵ֨י יַעֲקֹ֜ב בָּ֤אוּ מִן־הַשָּׂדֶה֙ כְּשָׁמְעָ֔ם וַיִּֽתְעַצְּבוּ֙ הָֽאֲנָשִׁ֔ים וַיִּ֥חַר לָהֶ֖ם מְאֹ֑ד כִּֽי־נְבָלָ֞ה עָשָׂ֣ה בְיִשְׂרָאֵ֗ל לִשְׁכַּב֙ אֶת־בַּֽת־יַעֲקֹ֔ב וְכֵ֖ן לֹ֥א יֵעָשֶֽׂה׃

Genesis 34:5-7

Jacob heard that he had defiled his daughter Dinah; but since his sons were in the field with his cattle, Jacob kept silent until they came home.
Then Shechem’s father Hamor came out to Jacob to speak to him.
Meanwhile Jacob’s sons, having heard the news, came in from the field.
The men were distressed and very angry, because he had committed an outrage in Israel by lying with Jacob’s daughter—a thing not to be done.

  1. Obliviously, Yakkov was not happy about it. I believe that the Torah does not write Yakkov's reaction, as contrast to Shimon and Levi aggressive reaction.

  2. Yakkov had an argument with Shimon and Levi at the aftermath, and they get to say the last words. Does it mean that they are right? Does it mean that Yakkov approach is wrong? Those two questions are open for discussion.

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  1. As Alaychem pointed out, the premise is incorrect: Yaakov heard about it before his sons did.

  2. The Midrash (Bereishis Rabbah 80:6) quotes in this connection the verse (Proverbs 11:12) ואיש תבונות יחריש, "a man of discernment is quiet." Etz Yosef there (quoting Yefeh Toar, a much more comprehensive commentary) explains that the Midrash wants us to know that Yaakov's silence wasn't out of fear or because he didn't care, but because he didn't want the non-Jews to know (yet) that he knew what had happened, so that they wouldn't attack him before he had a chance to consult with his sons and figure out how to save Dinah. So what his internal emotions were, we don't know, but we do know that he was able to control them as needed.

  3. The Rambam (Hil. Melachim 9:14) states that the inhabitants of Shechem deserved the death penalty, because Shechem had kidnapped Dinah (a violation of one of the Seven Noachide Laws) and the people hadn't brought him to judgment for that (a violation of another of those laws). So according to him, at least, Shimon and Levi did the right thing; Yaakov's criticism of them, then, would have been that they did it rashly and without considering the consequences. (He might also have felt that they should have at least consulted with him and the rest of the family as to whether this law would be applicable to the Shechemites.)

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