{"id":38453,"date":"2018-08-22T22:51:28","date_gmt":"2018-08-22T19:51:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=38453"},"modified":"2022-03-16T13:47:13","modified_gmt":"2022-03-16T11:47:13","slug":"a-demographic-race-to-the-death","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/a-demographic-race-to-the-death\/","title":{"rendered":"A Demographic Race to the Death"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[281],"tags":[529,383,513],"acf":{"old_id":"38453","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":36303,"related_cahpter":"30","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"The continuation of parents' lives through the lives of their children is a fiction in which all generations live on","content":"

Chapters 29-30 clarify matters: God distributes progeny (specifically, male children) to reward women, or as a response to human realities. For instance, Leah is unloved and God provides her with sons: More than motherhood being compensation for lack of love from her husband, it is a rise in status as a wife; a tactic to make her loved or, at least, more important. Rachel <\/span>is<\/i><\/b> loved, so she does not need a bonus and remains barren. <\/span><\/p>\n

Unfortunately, she does not appreciate this: Once the race for sons as status is on, Rachel needs them too, and if not \u2026 “Give me children, or I shall die!” says Rachel to Jacob in 30:1.<\/span><\/p>\n

In different times, places and cultures there are and have been various reasons for women (and men, but they’re not the story here \u2026) to want children, aside for the wish for children to love. Here, we have two:<\/span><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. The competition between co-wives, assuming that being mother of the heirs grants a preferred status in the home. Obviously, Rachel is at a disadvantage compared to her childbearing sister. The names Leah gives her sons express expectation for status and love. The names Rachel gives Bilha’s sons shows that this competition is behind the race for sons. \u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n
  2. Rachel says that without sons “\u05de\u05ea\u05d4 \u05d0\u05e0\u05d5\u05db\u05d9”, <\/span>meta anochi<\/span><\/em>.<\/span><\/i> The word \u05de\u05ea\u05d4 <\/span>meta<\/span><\/em> is stressed on its second syllable, me<\/span>ta<\/span><\/em>. Had it been stressed on the first syllable so as to read <\/span>me<\/span><\/em>ta, that would have meant “I will die\/ am dying”. However, stressed on the second syllable me<\/span>ta<\/span> is an adjective meaning “like one who is dead”. Rachel is telling Jacob that without sons she is as good as dead. For what good is a childless woman?<\/span>
    \n<\/span>The continuation of parents’ lives through the lives of their children, is a legal\/ emotional fiction in which all generations live on. Not having children to carry on a family name\/line thus renders one dead. Permanently. <\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Here, Rachel is the only one of the three official spouses who is childless, and therefore is the one destined to die; as long as she remains childless, we can consider her dead. If Jacob could provide children and life for Leah, why not for her, whom he claims to love? <\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":38468,"id":38468,"title":"leah-rachel","filename":"leah-rachel.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/leah-rachel.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/a-demographic-race-to-the-death\/leah-rachel\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"leah-rachel","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":38453,"date":"2018-08-22 20:45:27","modified":"2022-03-16 11:47:11","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":802,"height":268,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/leah-rachel-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/leah-rachel-300x100.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":100,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/leah-rachel-768x257.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":257,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/leah-rachel.jpg","large-width":802,"large-height":268,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/leah-rachel.jpg","1536x1536-width":802,"1536x1536-height":268,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/leah-rachel.jpg","2048x2048-width":802,"2048x2048-height":268,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/leah-rachel.jpg","post_full_size-width":802,"post_full_size-height":268,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/leah-rachel.jpg","home_baner-width":802,"home_baner-height":268}},"embedded_video":"","video_duration":"","show_fb_comments":true,"credit_media":""},"tile":{"top_caption":"","main_caption":"A Demographic Race to the Death","main_caption_size":"1","sub_caption":"The continuation of parents' lives through the lives of their children is a fiction in which all generations live on","preview_embedded":"","preview_image":{"ID":38468,"id":38468,"title":"leah-rachel","filename":"leah-rachel.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/leah-rachel.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/a-demographic-race-to-the-death\/leah-rachel\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"leah-rachel","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":38453,"date":"2018-08-22 20:45:27","modified":"2022-03-16 11:47:11","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":802,"height":268,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/leah-rachel-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/leah-rachel-300x100.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":100,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/leah-rachel-768x257.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":257,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/leah-rachel.jpg","large-width":802,"large-height":268,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/leah-rachel.jpg","1536x1536-width":802,"1536x1536-height":268,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/leah-rachel.jpg","2048x2048-width":802,"2048x2048-height":268,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/leah-rachel.jpg","post_full_size-width":802,"post_full_size-height":268,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/leah-rachel.jpg","home_baner-width":802,"home_baner-height":268}},"preview_video":"","external_link":"","link_for_pay":false,"tile_gallery_items":false,"credits":""},"alternate_tile":{"top_caption":"","main_caption":"","main_caption_size":"1","sub_caption":"","hide_media":false},"tile_group":{"preview_image_url":false,"main_caption":"","sub_caption":"","":null,"popup_package_extra_content":"","read_time":""},"home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo":{"seo_title":"","seo_description":"","seo_default_title":"","seo_default_description":""},"old_create_date":"","links":false,"send_noty":false},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38453"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38453"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38453\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":103051,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38453\/revisions\/103051"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38453"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38453"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38453"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}