[Ed. Note] Out of the respect and recognition of the impact made by longtime BJL friend and contributor, Reb Shaya Gross, z’l, we will maintain a living memoriam to Shaya through the sweet words and thoughtful insights of  his Divrei Torah. BJL readers will remember his weekly column on the Parsha and on various Torah ideas and concepts. These meaningful words will help us remember this special young man who will be sorely missed and for those who did not merit to know him, this will be the most appropriate way for them to become familiar with who he was


This week's Parsha contains the story of Dinah being taken by Shechem. It's interesting that at the beginning of the story, the Torah says that Dinah had gone out to see the DAUGHTERS of the land. It seems that Dinah was just going out for an outing with friends, or in today's terms, to meet up with some fellow 'seminary girls,' but look what can happen when you aren't careful enough...

Perhaps this is a lesson for us that sometimes we can mean well, yet still end up in a terrible situation. The prime example that I am referring to is unfiltered internet. One can mean well and intend to go online to look up Divrei Torah, listen and watch shiurim, use it for business needs, etc. But in a split second, one can be exposed to the most inappropriate pictures, videos, and material for a Yid to see.

Let us all take this lesson from the story of Dinah to always do our best to set up boundaries and take precautions to protect our spiritual [and emotional & physical] well-being, because even when one means well, one can end up caught in the web of the Yetzer Hara.