{"id":38961,"date":"2018-08-29T14:56:33","date_gmt":"2018-08-29T11:56:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=38961"},"modified":"2022-03-23T17:38:22","modified_gmt":"2022-03-23T15:38:22","slug":"rachels-reward","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/rachels-reward\/","title":{"rendered":"Rachel\u2019s Reward"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Rachel starkly demands of her Jacob, \u201cGive me sons or I shall die\u201d (Genesis 30:1). In a painfully ironic twist, Rachel now dies in the very process of having one. <\/span><\/p>\n

With her last breath, Rachel names her son Ben-Oni, \u201cson of my misfortune\u201d (35:16-18).<\/span><\/p>\n

Since Rachel\u2019s last words are filled with such sorrow, she becomes associated in the Jewish imagination with weeping and lament. <\/span><\/p>\n

Jeremiah invokes Rachel to express the grief felt by all mothers for their lost and exiled children. \u201cThus said the Lord: \u2018A cry is heard in Ramah\u2014wailing, bitter weeping\u2014Rachel weeping for her children. She refuses to be comforted for her children, who are gone\u2019\u201d (Jeremiah 31:15). <\/span><\/p>\n

God is moved by Rachel\u2019s tears that God promises to bring all the tears to an end: \u201cThus said the Lord: \u2018Restrain your voice from weeping, your eyes from shedding tears; for there is a reward for your labor\u2019\u2014declares the Lord\u2014\u2018they shall return from the enemy\u2019s land. <\/span><\/p>\n

What does God mean when God tells Rachel that there is reward for her \u201clabor\u201d?<\/span><\/p>\n

A midrash imagines Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Moses pleading with God concerning the sin of King Manasseh, who placed an idol in the Temple. Rachel steps forward and asks, \u201cMaster of the World, whose mercy is greater, Your mercy or the mercy of flesh and blood? You must admit that Your mercy is greater. Now, did I not bring my rival [i.e., her sister Leah\u2014S.H.] into my home?\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

Rachel reminds God that she did not protest; she aided Leah, sharing with her the sign she had given Jacob to enable him to distinguish between the two of them. Now, she entreats God: \u201cYou, too, if Your children brought Your rival into Your house [i.e., brought an idol into the Temple\u2014S.H.] keep Your silence for them.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

God is stirred by Rachel\u2019s words and tells her \u2018There is reward for your labor\u2019\u2014that is, for your righteousness, that you gave your sign to your sister\u2019\u201d (Rashi to Jeremiah 31:14) <\/span><\/p>\n

Imagine how powerful this is: Rachel is finally about to be with the man she has yearned for\u2014and yet, in order to prevent Leah\u2019s being disgraced, she lets her sister\u2019s needs trump her own. This is the kind of compassion that changes the divinely- guided course of Jewish history. <\/span><\/p>\n

Rachel\u2019s relations with Leah are not smooth, but Rachel nevertheless sees Leah\u2019s distress and responds accordingly. So great is compassion, Jewish theology tells us, that it has the power to break God\u2019s heart open.<\/span><\/p>\n

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