Halakhah su Genesi 30:44

The Aramaic Targum (translation of the Torah) attributed to Yonatan Ben Uzziel (Bereishit 30:21) cites a tradition that Rachel conceived and carried Dinah, while Leah conceived and carried Yosef. Leah prayed on Rachel’s behalf that she should give birth to a boy and thus be the mother of one of the tribes. God accepted Leah’s pleas on behalf of her sister and exchanged the two fetuses, so Leah’s womb carried Dinah and Rachel’s womb carried Yosef. Since the Torah records Leah as Dinah’s mother and Rachel as Yosef’s mother, one might conclude that according to this Targum, giving birth confers the status of motherhood.

An argument based upon an aggadic source establishing the opposite conclusion was first advanced by R. Menasheh Grossberg, Sha'arei Torah, Sha'ar Menasheh, XV (5684), no. 3. The Gemara, Berakhot 60a, declares that Dinah was born a female as a result of Leah's prayers during her pregnancy. Knowing that Jacob would become the father of a total of twelve sons and not wishing her sister Rachel to bear their husband fewer sons than the maidservants, Bilhah and Zilpah, Leah prayed that her already conceived fetus be born a female. It is clear from the parallel narrative recorded in the Palestinian Talmud, Berakhot 9:3, that the phenomenon described by the Sages involved an in utero sex change. However, Targum Yonatan, Genesis 30:21, states that what transpired was not a sex change in Leah's fetus but a physical exchange of the fetus from the womb of Leah to the womb of Rachel and vice versa, i.e., Dinah was conceived by Rachel but transferred to the womb of Leah while Joseph was conceived by Leah and transferred to the womb of Rachel.¹See also R. Chaim Yosef David Azulai, Devash le-Pi, ma‘arekhet ayin, s.v. ayin ha-ra. This view, attributed to a midrashic source, is also cited by Ba‘alei ha-Tosafot, Moshav Zekenim (London, 5719), Genesis 46:10 and in Peirush ha-Tur he-Arukh, Genesis 30:21. See also Meshekh Ḥokhmah, Parshat Va-Yeḥi, s.v. bnei Raḥel. Maharsha, Niddah 31a, asserts that this is also the correct interpretation of the narrative recorded in Berakhot 60a. The liturgical poem "Even Hug," attributed to R. Eleazar ha-Kalir, which is included in the repetition of the amidah of Shaḥarit on the first day of Rosh ha-Shanah contains a passage predicated upon the identical premise: "Zakhar lah yosher araḥot, ubar le-hamir be-veten aḥot; ḥushavah ke-ha-yom zikhrah le-he'aḥot, siluf Dinah bi-Yehosef le-hanḥot—God remembered her righteous ways and exchanged the fetus in the womb of her sister; on this day was considered her remembrance in reward for her sisterly affection²Or perhaps, “on this day was considered her remembrance to make her equal to her sister.” and the exchange of Dinah for Joseph was effected." Kotnot Or cites Targum Yonatan in resolving a question posed by R. Elijah Mizrahi in the latter's commentary on Genesis 46:10 with regard to the tradition which teaches that Simeon took Dinah as a wife. R. Elijah Mizrahi is troubled by the fact that even a Noachide is forbidden to marry his sister. Kotnot Or points out that only a maternal sister is forbidden to a Noachide; a half-sister who is a paternal sibling is permitted to a Noachide. Kotnot Or observes that, according to Targum Yonatan, Dinah was really the daughter of Rachel and hence not a maternal sister of Simeon. The implication of Kotnot Or's thesis is that the maternal relationship is established by conception rather than birth.³See also R. Yonatan ha-Levi Eibeschutz, Ha-Be’er, VIII (5693), no. 3. A position identical to that of Kotnot Or is espoused by Moshav Zekenim, Genesis 46:10 and tentatively advanced by Peirush ha-Tur he-Arukh, Genesis 46:10.

Despite the accepted reading of this name as Yissokhor throughout Scripture, there remains some controversy with regard to the first appearance of this word in Holy Writ in Genesis 30:18. Writing in the Tevet 5727 issue of Ha-Ma'ayan, Dr. Shlomoh Adler discusses the proper vocalization of this first occurrence of the name in the biblical narrative telling of the birth of Jacob's fifth son. Dr. Adler cites the authoritative Minḥat Shai, which indicates that the correct reading is Yissokhor in all occurrences of the name. Noting, however, that in this particular instance the reading of Yissoskhor also has its adherents, Dr. Adler seeks to find justification for this divergent practice as well. He quotes Rabbi Moses Sofer, who, in his commentary on Genesis, Torat Mosheh, states that in this case the double consonant is to be pronounced. Dr. Adler also reports that he remembers hearing this latter reading of the text in Genesis as a child in his native Germany.