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Dina is mentioned only several times in the Torah - her birth, her rape and the massacre, and her counted with the 70 souls coming down to Egypt. The midrash tells us how Jacob mistreat her with Esau and that subsequently, Simeon married her.

What is the necessity to include her in the Biblical narrative?

A midrash, for example, alludes to a daughter of Abraham too, but she's not mentioned in the text. On the other hand, as a sister of the 12 tribes, she has no special merits, there's no interaction between her and her brothers or parents, she's totally objectified and leaves no distinctive progeny.

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  • Also see sefaria.org/… אמר ר' שמעון בן לקיש בשלשה לשונות של חיבה חיבב הקב"ה את ישראל בדביקה בחשיקה ובחפיצה. בדביקה שנאמר ואתם הדבקים בה' אלקיכם. בחשיקה שנאמר חשק ה' בכם. בחפיצה כי תהיו אתם ארץ חפץ. ואנו למדים מפרשתו של אותו רשע. בדביקה ותדבק נפשו בדינה בת יעקב. בחשיקה שכם בני חשקה נפשו בבתכם. בחפיצה כי חפץ בבת יעקב. Very astonishing
    – The GRAPKE
    Dec 29, 2020 at 22:33
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    @TheGRAPKE Seriously, you learn God's love for Israel from a rape?
    – Al Berko
    Dec 29, 2020 at 22:36
  • So you see it wasn't a rape
    – The GRAPKE
    Dec 29, 2020 at 22:43
  • Just as an aside, many sources say that she married Iyov.
    – Dov
    Dec 29, 2020 at 23:17
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    Isn't the story of Dina at least interesting for the purpose of understanding shimon and levi? Why include any story?
    – Double AA ♦
    Dec 29, 2020 at 23:21

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According to the Likutei Arizal (Vayishlach 34:1)Dina played a big role in fixing the chait of Chava. Dina has same letters as Nida since she had the nitzos of Chava. He says Shcem was the shoresh hanachash and he removed the zuhama/impurity that the Nachash gave Chava. Therfore Dina played a big Role. Some add that's why Yosef didn't marry her since she needed a tikun. Therefore he married her daughter instead.

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    It only has the same letters when נידה is spelled agrammatically plene. (I know that's never stopped a good vort, but it is worth noting it since נידה is actually a different word from נדה as pointed out by rashi Eicha 1:8)
    – Double AA ♦
    Dec 30, 2020 at 0:59

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