Dinah, Dena, Dina, Deena—all are variations of a name that is featured in this week’s parshah. She is a model of Jewish female leadership.

Her name is the first clue. Dinah means “judgment.” Leah, her mother, “passed judgment by herself.” Prophetically knowing that there would be 12 tribes (of whom 10 had already been born), Leah (then pregnant with her seventh child) prayed for a daughter instead of a son so that her sister, Rachel, could be blessed with two sons. G‑d answered her prayers.

Leah trusted her own judgment and named her daughter Dinah to honor that. Trust yourself.

When Dinah’s father, Jacob, meets his brother, Esau, he introduces all of his wives and children to his brother. Dinah is missing from the narrative.

The foremost commentator on the Torah, Rashi asks, “why?” She is missing from the narrative because she was hidden. Her father had locked her inside of a box.

Jacob was rightfully worried for his daughter. He was afraid that Esau would lay his eyes on Dinah and want her.

But Jacob was wrong.

Dinah had a sparkle. She had an appeal. She was an influencer. She had a way with people.

Rashi says she should have been able to use her gifts to influence Esau back to the proper path.

Indeed, G‑d punishes Jacob for hiding her. One’s gifts are vital.

Dinah is later raped. It is her father's self-fulfilling prophecy, his punishment. Not hers.

The Torah is very specific in what it shares with us. Right before it tells us of her rape, it tells us, “Dinah went out.” Rashi explains that she was outgoing, like her mother Leah.

Ooph! Victim-blaming? No, just the opposite!

The Torah is floodlighting the visceral reaction to abuse: What did they do to deserve it? It is not Dinah’s fault. It’s never the victim’s fault. Blaming the victim is a trap, and if you read the verses at face value, you are lured into that thinking as well.

“Like mother, like daughter.” Mother Leah was virtuous; she was outgoing and had a positive effect on the people she came in contact with. Daughter Dinah, too. Both were virtuous in their outgoing natures. In fact, both are highly praised for their way of being.

Who Dinah was and how she acted had nothing to do with what happened. She is called the daughter of Leah to let us know that like her mother, she was the prototype of a Jewish female leader. Something terrible happened to her; that is unfortunate. But it was not her fault.

From Dinah, the daughter of Leah, we learn: Discard the narratives that are embedded in society and are pulling you down. You have the ability to influence your surroundings for the good. Don’t diminish yourself with false humility by hiding. Trust yourself, step into your power, show up and be seen. You are not a victim.