Welcome to the Nishma Insight Discussion Forum blog.
The NISHMA INSIGHT is our popular dvar Torah, distributed almost every week by e-mail, that touches upon an important concept in the Parsha, theme in a holiday or event in contemporary society.
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In referring to Dinah as one girl amongst 12 brothers, I mention that this statement is made based upon the text itself ignoring the many midrashic references that point to twin sisters being born with the brothers. One may wonder, given my Insight of last week, how I could entertain such an opinion. The fact is that there are many disagreements found within the midrashic literature and often one opinion amongst the many presented is a straightforward reading of the text. My point last week was not that I would not consider any simple reading of the text, period. An opinion based upon the simple reading but offered in the context of the greater whole -- with an understanding that there is a greater corpus beyond the text -- is something I would consider. My reluctance to be part of this discussion mentioned in last week's Insight was that within the discussion the basic premise would be only the text.
ReplyDeleteRabbi Ben Hecht