Kommentar zu Bereschit 30:23

She said "Elokim has gathered my shame" and she called his name Joseph saying "YHVH will add for me another son." First, we need to understand that she said G-d gathered etc... Then afterwards, she called him by a different name: that he is Joseph (will add). She should have called him Asaf (gathered). It is known that here it is different from the rest of the names where it was first written next to each one "she said he has judged me etc... and she called his name Dan (judged). Thus it is for all of the rest. In the specific case of this name, that she called him Joseph, it completely contradicts and is entirely the opposite of what was originally intended. That he would be Asaf, this is a language of gathering and bringing in, so that there would not be more, but Joseph, this name is a language of addition, that there may be more added. There is something to explain, according to the poverty of my mind, thus: Behold, she had a need to give thanks for what had happened, that HaShem Yisborach did not abandon her in His mercy and gave her a son. Also, she wanted to pray for the future, that YHVH would add for her another son. It is known that the letter Aleph is Yud Vav, that an Aleph is written with Yud, Vav, Yud like this, that it is the figure of Yud Vav. This is the value of this verse: "she said 'G-d has gathered my shame.'" She gave thanks for the past. "She called his name Joseph," the reason to say "YHVH will add for me another son" is that she needed also to speak and to pray for the future. Thus, she called his name Joseph that this name includes both of them. "YHVH will add" is a prayer, according to its simple understanding, and it is also an expression of gratitude for what has already occurred, because Yud Vav is Aleph, as has been explained above, and the letters of Joseph are also the letters of Asaf. Now, we teach about both of them. You should understand this.  

אסף [GOD] HATH TAKEN AWAY [MY DISGRACE] — He has laid it up somewhere where it cannot be seen. Similar examples are (Isaiah 4:1) “Take thou away (אסוף) our reproach”; (Exodus 9:19) “and shall not have been taken away (יאסף) into the house “; (Joel 4:13) “withdraw (אספו) their shining”; (Isaiah 60:20) “neither shall thy moon withdraw itself (יאסף) — meaning shall not hide itself.

G-D ‘OSAPH’ (HATH TAKEN AWAY) MY DISGRACE. I.e., “He has laid it up somewhere where it cannot be seen.” Similar examples are: And it shall not ‘yei’aseph’ (have been taken away) into the house;¹⁴⁴Exodus 9:19. And the stars ‘asphu’ (withdraw) their shining;¹⁴⁵Joel 2:10. Neither shall thy moon ‘yei’aseph’ (withdraw itself),¹⁴⁶Isaiah 60:20. meaning it shall not hide itself. This is the language of Rashi. But Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra said that asaph has the same meaning as “vanish,” as in, ‘Vene’esaph’ (And vanish) will joy and gladness.¹⁴⁷Ibid., 16:10.
The correct opinion is that of Onkelos, who made them all expressions of gathering and assembling, as is their plain sense, derived from the verses: ‘Vaya’asphu’ (And they gathered) the quails;¹⁴⁸Numbers 11:32. But ‘me’asphav’ (they who have garnered it) shall eat it.¹⁴⁹Isaiah 62:9. Death is called asiphah¹⁵⁰Above, 25:8. because the dying person is gathered to his dead ancestors. And it shall not ‘yei’aseph’ into the house¹⁴⁴Exodus 9:19. means to be gathered to his household. And the stars ‘asphu’ their shining¹⁴⁵Joel 2:10. means that they will gather the light within them and not give forth their light outside, or that they will be gathered into their tent, which is in the firmament of the heaven.¹⁵¹See Psalms 19:5, mentioned above, Note 127 The word asiphah is used in connection with disgrace, meaning that the disgraced person should be gathered and not spread among people, i.e., to be discussed further in the streets.

אסף אלוקים, the word is to be understood as similar to Deuteronomy 22,20 ואספת אל תוך ביתך, or Jerermiah 16,5 כי אספתי שלומי, the hiding and covering up (inside) of something. In this case, Rachel’s shame at being perceived as being barren could now be hidden.

את חרפתי, that G’d had consistently accepted my sister’s prayers while seemingly ignoring mine.

ותהר..אסף אלוקים את חרפתי, the word אסף is to be understood like the same word in Joel 4,15 אספו נגהם, ”they have withdrawn their brightness.” Rachel’s shame, embarrassment was removed. Alternatively, the word could mean the destruction, termination of something as in Judges 18,25 ואספת נפשך, “you would lose your lives.” Rachel now lost her shame. The root אסף in the transitive sense also occurs in Samuel I 15,6 as פן אוסיפך עמו, “lest I destroy you with them.” Accordingly, the meaning of אסף here would be that it had terminated, ceased to exist.

Elokim has removed my shame. The inability to fulfill one’s purpose is always a source of shame. This is especially true for a barren woman because it means that the reproductive act was one of pure appetite.

He has brought it into a place where it will not be seen... I.e., אסף does not mean that her shame was [previously scattered and now] gathered into one place, as that would be to her detriment — her shame would be seen more.

אסף אלוקים את חרפתי, “G-d has removed my shame.” Rachel referred to her becoming the victim of the same penalty as people guilty of karet, leaving behind no biological issue. The expression אסף occurs in a similar context in Isaiah 16,10: נאספה שמחה וגיל, “rejoicing and gladness are gone;”

חרפתי DISGRACE — because I had become an object of reproach as I was barren for people said about me that I would fall to the lot of Esau, the wicked. A Midrashic explanation is (Genesis Rabbah 73:5): So long as a woman has no child she has no-one to blame for her faults; when, however, she has a child, she puts it on him. “Who broke this vessel?” “Your son!” “Who ate those figs?” “Your son!”

As long as a woman has no child she has no one to blame for her faults... Accordingly, “my shame” means my fault and my sin for breaking my husband’s household utensils.