"Bigdei Kahuna" Parsha page by Rabbi Yehuda Katz

Vayishlach

"and he (Yaakov) arose in the night and took his two wives......and his elevan children........(32:23)

Rashi comments based on Medrash Bereishis Rabbah(80:3) that why does the verse say elevan children instead of twelve.......where was Dinah? Dinah was hidden from Esau because Yaakov feared that perhapes Esau would wish to marry her........,and thus Dinah was molested by Shechem(verse 34:1) as a punishment to Yaakov for withholding a kindness from Esau his brother (refer to Rashi(32:23) and the medrash rabbah (80: 3) A question can be asked,why did the Torah teach us the reason for Yakovs punishment in such a round about manner, wouldnt it be better to tell us outright the reason for Dinahs tragedy? We can Bezer Hash. learn a very valuable lesson in that just as the Torah is hiding the reason for Dinahs tragedy, a persons motivations are also hidden from the public domain.

However, only G_D knows a persons real intent.For every action there are 2 basic components (1) the action itself, and(2) the motivation behind the action......For a deed to be considered complete and pure , both these components must be pure. To mere mortals an act might appear proper, but only G-d knows a persons true intent.......Hiding Dinah at first glance seems to be justified,namely protecting her from an evil man, but how do we know if yakovs intent was pure? Was Yakov concerned about Dinah or did he wish to withhold a kindness from Esaw? Only the Torah can reveal the truth , because only G-d knows a persons real motivations............The lesson to us is that we must analyze our motivations....A person should be ever cognizant of the fact that G-d is aware of our intentions ..........However, when dealing with our inner selves we must always be kind and gentle....Never should a person ,chas vesholom,feel a sense of frustration from his or her lack of good intent.......Our goal is to grow and improve at a resonable pace which is suitable for our unique persona........Even if we discover our intentions to be dainted, we should still do good deeds.......and if we try to improve ,surely Hash. is aware of our efforts to better ourselves .......................Have a good Shabbos......