Nationalist Terror – In those days, at this time//Anat Gopstein

Anat Gopstein’s latest column in Gilui Da’at:
Nationalist Terror – In those days, at this time
He worked on renovations next to her home. He was always nice to her, too nice. She tried to distance herself from him, but she wasn’t able to. One day she left home and went towards the stairwell, and he wouldn’t let her pass. He grabbed her and attacked her. She was so scared of him that she couldn’t fight him off.
“Every time I call you, you come. If not – I’ll tell your family”, he told her. A hostage, that’s what she was. An adult woman with a family, caught in an impossible situation. She didn’t know what to do. She was confused, helpless. She tried to hide the attack, but her life wasn’t life anymore.
She didn’t know how to get out of the trap, and every time he called, she was forced to come to him. “You’re mine”, he would tell her. Everyone understood that something was happening to her, but they didn’t understand how serious it was. But her neighbor, who also understood that something was going on, did not leave her. She didn’t give up on her or into her. She said to her: “I’m here for you, help me to help you. Tell me what’s bothering you”. She answered that she’s managing. Until one day, the neighbor followed her and found out. “I know you have a connection with a non-Jew and that it’s against your will”, she told her a few days later. “You’re being forced.”
She broke down, sat on the floor and started to cry. The neighbor didn’t wait. She called me, and since then we’ve been in touch, trying to help her. She receives mental and legal aid.
Her mental state is precarious. It will take her time to recover and to go back to a normative life path.
When she was at the police station, the cops laughed at her and didn’t believe her. This is unfortunately nothing new: The conduct of the authorities regarding nationalist terror is scandalous. And there is no one who will wipe out the Chilul Hashem and shout out “like a harlot our sister will be treated”?!
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In this week’s Torah portion, Vayishlach, Dina goes out to see the girls of the land. Dina was the only daughter among sons; full of curiosity and innocence, looking for attractions outside.
Dina bat Leah – Leah was a woman of the streets, and like her, Dina. Dina tries to escape from herself, from her difficulties. Shechem ben Chamor takes her, tortures her, rapes her and wants to marry her. Ya’akov, Dina’s father, is tired of wars, passive, doesn’t do anything. The one who rises up to do are Shimon and Levi, to take out their vengeance on the people of Shechem and bring their sister back home, as is written: “And they took Dina”.
Dina, who tasted the taste of sin, did not want to go. They took her by force. Our sages were adamant on this and said explicitly: “For the one possessed by a gentile, it is difficult to break away.” To our sorrow, it’s easy to fall into this trap, but very hard to get out of it.
These days we are getting many calls concerning nationalist terrorism. To our sorrow, in those days at this time, the harm inflicted on Jewish girls continues, and there is no one to shout out for the honor of Jewish girls. Today, we’re not living in the exile, we’re living in the Jewish state, which is supposed to stand proud and straight. As such, the State of Israel, or more accurately, the Israeli police, must form a special unit for the handling of nationalist terrorism. Until then, we’ll go on, as much as we can, rescuing more and more girls.