As for the solution to the twenty-sixth question,¹ fol. 16b. The question dealt with in this chapter is evidently one that relates to the morality of the actions of Jacob’s sons in the incident of the rape of Dinah in Gen. 34. it was clarified by Him who gave the Torah, when at the conclusion of His words He stated with reference to all of them,² “because they had defiled their sister,”³ having said of Shechem alone at the outset that “he had defiled Dinah their sister.”⁴

footnotes: ¹ 1. The broad outlines of the arguments mentioned in this chapter are also found, in the abbreviated form, in the MS of the Retuḳot Kesef, ² 2. “Them” here evidently refers to the male inhabitants of the town of Shechem. ³ 3. Gen. 34:27. ⁴ 4. Gen. 34:13. He means that the Torah itself implicates the Shechemites and implies their guilt by using the plural form in describing the defilement of Dinah.

Ezekiel clarified this when he said, “I have appointed thee a watchman unto the house of Israel,”⁵ and said, “thou givest him not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life; the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but his 156 blood will I require at thy hand.”⁶ | Maimonides explained this (by saying) that one who omits to save another could be said to have killed him.⁷ III:40, “man is held responsible for every act causing damage deriving from his possessions or deriving from an act of his if only it was possible for him to be cautious and take care not to avoid damage.” The sages, may their memory be blessed, said also, “Whoever had it within his power to oppose (an act), but did not do so, could be said to have committed it.”⁸ 54b, BT ’Avodah Zarah 18a. It is a general rule, whether in Hebrew or any (other) language, that an act is attributed to and associated with anyone who omitted to prevent that act, or who did not bring about its opposite.

footnotes: ⁵ 5. Ezek. 3:17. ⁶ 6. Ezek. 3:18. He understands the verse to be saying that the prophet himself would be an accomplice to their sins were he not to attempt to rebuke them. ⁷ 7. Guide ⁸ 8. BT Shabbat

For this reason it is said, “every daughter you shall give life,”⁹ and “Joshua gave life,”¹⁰ as well as “Elisha gave life.”¹¹ There are many similar instances.¹²

footnotes: ⁹ 9. Exod. 1:22, where the JPS translation has: “you shall save alive.” The literal implication of the Hebrew is that by not killing the daughters, the midwives were giving them life. ¹⁰ 10. Josh. 6:25, where the JPS translation has: “did Joshua save alive.” ¹¹ 11. II Kings 8:5, where the JPS translation has: “restored to life.” ¹² 12. These particular examples indicate that Kaspi believed that these prophets did not revive the dead, but rather prevented them from death in the first place. For a discussion of this point, see above Chapter 4.

Consequently, there is no doubt that had all the inhabitants of the city (of Shechem) not remained silent, Shechem would not have been able to do this.¹³ (Their guilt) is all the more evident in that it would appear, from the Torah’s hint in the words “because they had defiled their sister.”¹⁴ that they were amused in that (affair). (Other instances of such terminology are) what is written, “ye have slain his sons three-score and ten,”¹⁵ and “so Joab and Abishai his brother slew Abner.”¹⁶

footnotes: ¹³ 13. The reference here is not to the initial abduction of Dinah, but rather to the continued imprisonment of the girl, as is clear from v. 26, which says, “and they took Dinah out of Shechem’s house,” where she had been held all along. ¹⁴ 14. Cf. above n. 4. ¹⁵ 15. Judg. 9:18, where it was not the people addressed who had killed those seventy souls, but rather Abimelech the son of Jerubaal (cf. v. 5 there). ¹⁶ 16. II Sam. 3:30, where in reality it was Joab alone who had killed Abner (cf. v. 27 there).

Now even though the writer of the Torah did not allude to this here, in my opinion there is (further) justification for the children of Jacob, from something that occurred earlier to Abraham, as well as to Isaac and Jacob. This is the fact that the land of Canaan belonged to them, as Jeremiah explained when he said, “I have made the earth … and I give it unto whom it seemeth right unto me.”¹⁷ And because the Lord had decreed and desired that the descendants of Abraham would destroy the Canaanites, what (Jacob’s) children did in the present instance to Shechem was part of the divine will and decree. What was done was done. If only they had done the same with all the Canaanites, then our forefathers would not have had to wander in the desert for forty years.¹⁸

footnotes: ¹⁷ 17. Jer. 27:5. ¹⁸ 18. Kaspi appears to feel that had the sons of Jacob killed all the Canaanites at that time, then the twelve spies in the Book of Numbers would not have had the terrifying news that caused the Israelites to rebel and God to decree the additional thirty-eight years in the desert.

Now even though this is all true,¹⁹ the writer of the Torah demonstrated to us the wisdom of old, experienced men, as Aristotle said in the Ethics, that to listen to the old is no less than to listen to demonstrative proof.²⁰ VI, 11, 1143b: “Therefore we ought to attend to the undemonstrated sayings and opinions of … older people … not less than to demonstrations, for because of experience … they see right.” For this reason, while Jacob the old man saw that justice required that his sons do what they did, he became angry and said that one should not endanger oneself on account of what may or may not be.²¹ One should certainly not (endanger oneself) in order to hasten the appointed time that had been told to Abraham.²²

footnotes: ¹⁹ 19. Kaspi now deals with the problem that if, according to his argument, there was nothing reprehensible in the act of Jacob’s children in killing the Shechemites, then why did Jacob rebuke them in Gen. 34:30? ²⁰ 20. Aristotle, Ethics, ²¹ 21. The reference of these enigmatic words is not clear. Perhaps Kaspi means that Dinah might well have been freed by the Shechemites without the attack; or else that the risk of failure was not offset by the continued imprisonment of Dinah. ²² 22. The reference is to Gen. 15:13 with its decree of a four-hundred-year exile.

Thus, at Jacob’s death, he said to them, “Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce.”²³ 1973, pp. 195 ff. This was all written by the writer of the Torah to reprove us, and to teach us knowledge. And if by our sins we transgressed and erred (in the past), we continue to do so today.

footnotes: ²³ 23. Gen. 49:7. For a differing interpretation, one that is more critical of Jacob’s role, see M. Sternberg, “’Izun ‘Adin Be-Sippur ‘Ones Dinah,” Ha-Sifrut,