Commento su Genesi 30:14

בימי קציר חטים IN THE DAYS OF WHEAT HARVEST — This is stated in praise of the tribes (שבטים a common term for Jacob’s twelve sons, the ancestors of the Tribes of Israel): it was harvest-time, yet he (Reuben) did not put forth his hand upon private property (literally, that which is stolen) by bringing home wheat or barley, but he brought home only ownerless things (such as were free for all to take) about which no one is particular (Genesis Rabbah 72:2).

‘DUDA’IM.’ These are ‘sigli’ (violets). In Arabic it is called jasmin. So I found in Rashi’s commentary. But this is not so for the Arabic jasmin bears the same name in the words of our Rabbis, as they say in the chapter Bameh Tomnin:¹¹²“With What May They Cover Up” hot food, the fourth chapter in Tractate Shabbath. 50b. “Poppy pomace flavored with jasmin may be used [as a lotion on the Sabbath],” while they say sigli is an odorous herb concerning which they have said¹¹³Berachoth 43b. that on smelling it, one recites the blessing: “Blessed art Thou… who createst odorous plants.” However, their season is not in the days of the wheat, but perhaps Reuben found them there by chance. It is best to accept Onkelos’ opinion concerning the translation of duda’im, which he rendered as yavruchin (mandrakes). In Bereshith Rabbah¹¹⁴72:2. it is also explained similarly: “Rabbi Chiya the son of Rabbi Abba said, ‘Yavruchin,’” and these are yavruach in Arabic.
Now Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra wrote: “Onkelos translated duda’im as ‘mandrakes,’ and so they are called in Arabic. They have a good odor. And it is so written: The mandrakes give forth fragrance.¹¹⁵Song of Songs 7:14. They resemble the human form as they have the shape of the human head and hands. Now some say that they are an aid to pregnancy, but I do not know it since their effect is to produce the cold fluid in the body.” These are Ibn Ezra’s words.
The correct interpretation is that Rachel wanted the duda’im for delight and pleasure, for Rachel was visited with children through prayer, not by medicinal methods. And Reuben brought the branches of duda’im or the fruit, which resemble apples and have a good odor. The stem, however, which is shaped in the form of the human head and hands, he did not bring, and it is the stem which people say is an aid to pregnancy. And if the matter be true, it is by some peculiar effect, not by its natural quality. But I have not seen it thus in any of the medicinal books discussing mandrakes.

דודאים, flowers of the fig tree; (compare Jeremiah 24,1) In Song of Songs 7,14 these flowers are described as rich in fragrance.

וילך ראובן, when he saw that his mother was unhappy that she was no longer having children,

וילך ראובן, Reuven was about 6 or 7 years old at the time. He went out into the wheat fields, found these dudaim and brought them to his mother Leah. Dudaim are a kind of herb whose roots have a natural reddish appearance. Perhaps Reuven had heard some place that this herb is supposed to help women get pregnant, and that seeing his mother had not had any babies lately, he meant to help her in this regard. The popular belief in the efficacy of the dudaim in this respect is not based on fact. If it had been true, why did Rachel not get pregnant after eating them? Also Leah did not get pregnant as a result of eating dudaim, for the Torah says: וישמע אלוקים אל לאה, that G’d listened to Leah’s prayer. (verse 17)

דודאים, “jasmines.” According to Ibn Ezra jasmines exude a pleasant fragrance and also possess the shape of a human being with head and hands like extrusions. Other commentators claim that these flowers are conducive to its owner conceiving. Ibn Ezra himself doubts this as in his estimation theses flowers are “cold,” i.e. do not stimulate sexual arousal. Nachmanides writes these jasmines were not intended to make her pregnant, but she wanted to enjoy their fragrance, being aware that Rachel had become pregnant as a result of her prayers and not as a result of inhaling the fragrance of jasmines. Reuven brought his mother the branches of the jasmine plants, not the roots which resemble human features. This may be why people say that these roots may somehow help a woman to get pregnant, although Nachmanides did not find reference to this in any medical text at his disposal.

וימצא דודאים בשדה, “he found dudaim in the field.” According to Nachmanides the shape of the root of this plant resembles the shape of a human head and hands and is therefore especially likely to evoke feelings of desire to become pregnant in the person who looks at or eats this plant. [a common translation for dudaim is either “jasmine” or “mandrakes.”] The fruit of the plant supposedly looks like an apple and gives off a very pleasant fragrance The effect of such a plant as a fertility inducing agent is questioned by early commentators seeing it induces cold and dryness, the very opposite of the process of fertilisation. If, so, the plant was used in order to invoke G’d’s powers as opposed to the powers of nature. If Rachel used the dudaim being aware of this she would have demonstrated that she would attribute any pregancy to the effectiveness of her prayer rather than to natural causes. According to Nachmanides’ sources Reuven had brought his mother only the fruit, not the root of the plant. He (a young child of maybe 5 or 6 years of age) had meant for his mother to amuse herself with the fragrance of the plant. Leah herself had intended to provide her and Yaakov’s nuptial bed with the sweet fragrance of that flower. This practice has been described in Proverbs 7,17. Nachmanides adds that he has not found anything about the effectiveness of this plant in medical texts he has seen.

Reuvein went. Although the fields were filled with delicacies, he took nothing but jasmine flowers for his mother and only from the ownerless “field.” Moreover, he gave them to her to help her conceive, even while knowing that additional siblings would diminish his position.

Man hat hier wiederum ein ernstes Geschäft erblickt, und es ist doch ganz undenkbar, dass Lea, deren ganzes Leben in dem Streben aufging, sich die Liebe ihres Gatten zu gewinnen, die Worte: Du hast meinen Mann, nun willst du auch noch meine Feldblumen haben! in einem ernsten Sinne gesprochen haben könne. Als ob zu dem Besitz des Mannes ein paar Blumen irgend wie auch nur im geringsten etwas hinzufügen, nur irgendwie dagegen in Betracht kommen könnten! Vielmehr erscheint das Ganze als das Zeichen eines ganz vertraulichen Zusammenlebens beider Schwestern. Während Jakob auf dem Felde ist, sitzen die beiden Frauen zusammen. Die Abende verlebt er abwechselnd im Kreise der einen und der andern. Reuben, ja noch ein kleiner Knabe, bringt Blumen mit nach Hause. Gib mir welche davon! bittet Rahel. Welche Anmaßung, sagt Lea scherzend usw. gibt ihr aber von den Blumen, das ist aus dem folgenden לכן der Rahel ersichtlich. Nun, sagt Rahel, weil du so freundlich warst, darum soll er auch heute Abend bei dir einkehren. Das: קחתך את אישי kann sich auch vielleicht nur auf den Tag beziehen. Heute hast du meinen Mann usw.

וימצא דודאים, “he found figs.” (Rash’bam).

דודאים are violets: it is a plant. In Arabic it is called Jasmin.

וימצא דודאים, a pleasant smelling herb, the fragrance stimulating the human organs related to conceiving and giving birth. Our sages (Baba Kamma 82) said garlic has a similar effect on people and that this is the reason why one eats garlic on Friday nights when the husbands cohabit with their wives. The Dudaim appear to have been known as producing a similar effect. It is possible that the Dudaim had an even better effect in stimulating the feelings of love between a man and his wife. This idea is based on Song of Songs 7,13-14 שם אתן את דודי לך, הדודאים נתנו ריח, “there I will give my love to you, the mandrakes yield their fragrance.” Our verse would testify both to Reuven’s righteousness and his intelligence. especially considering that at that time he could hardly have been older than 4 or five years old.

ותאמר רחל, she was under the impression that the popularly held belief about dudaim was correct.