Dinah was the sole girl among Jacob’s troop of 13 children. She is often overshadowed by her 12 brothers, including the most famous one, Joseph. Her mother was Leah, one of Jacob’s wives. The book of Genesis is the only book that mentions her, and we know little of her story. The primary references to her come in Genesis 34. The incident recorded there tells of a man named Shechem who “defiled” Dinah, and recounts the gruesome revenge that two of Dinah’s brothers wreaked on them. “The Red Tent,” a novel by Anita Diamant, is a New York Times bestseller that tells the story of her life in Dinah’s voice.
