In attempting to fully understand an individual, especially a biblical individual who is more persona than person , one must first explore her background. Who were her parents? What were the circumstances of her birth? What conceptual implications did the spiritual element of those circumstances have on her personality? Therefore, in endeavoring to study and portray the character of Dinah bas Yaakov, the Lubavitcher Rebbe zt"l begins by examining the foundation of her personality that was established by her parents and the circumstances surrounding her birth. Our sages teach us that Yaakov Avinu and Leah knew, by means of ruach hakodesh, that there were to be twelve shevatim . When Leah saw that she had ceased bearing children after her third son, she gave her maidservant, Zilpah, to Yaakov for the purpose of increasing the amount of shevatim that would emerge from her portion [1] . After Zilpah gave birth to two more boys, bringing Leah’s count to five sons, Rachel granted Leah the privilege of being with Yaakov again in exchange for dudaim , mandrakes which were to be made into a fertility potion, that Reuven had found in the field and had intended to give to his mother, Leah. That evening, she went out (“ vateitzei ”) to the field to greet Yaakov and told him about her “purchase” [2] . Yaakov agreed to the deal and Leah became pregnant from that union, giving birth to a sixth son. Leah’s portion, including Zilpah’s two children, had now been brought up to eight, while Rach
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