Chasidut sobre Gênesis 35:22
וַיְהִ֗י בִּשְׁכֹּ֤ן יִשְׂרָאֵל֙ בָּאָ֣רֶץ הַהִ֔וא וַיֵּ֣לֶךְ רְאוּבֵ֔ן וַיִּשְׁכַּ֕ב֙ אֶת־בִּלְהָ֖ה֙ פִּילֶ֣גֶשׁ אָבִ֑֔יו וַיִּשְׁמַ֖ע יִשְׂרָאֵֽ֑ל (פ) וַיִּֽהְי֥וּ בְנֵֽי־יַעֲקֹ֖ב שְׁנֵ֥ים עָשָֽׂר׃
Quando Israel habitava naquela terra, <span class="x" onmousemove="Show('perush','Há neste relato discussão entre os Sábios. Uns dizem que deitou-se realmente com Bil’há, outros dizem que simplesmente retirou do lugar o leito. Uns afirmam que fez isto por preocupação pela herança, posto que como primogênito deveria receber quantia dupla a mais que os demais irmãos, e outros dizem que assim fez por honra de sua mãe, pois já que esta foi dada a seu pai por Raquel, já não tinha direito [aos olhos de Rúbem, que era filho de Leá] de deixar sua mãe para estar com ela. A meu ver, realmente o que fez foi mover o leito do lugar, mas devido à audácia, o escrito traz como se houvesse feito mais que isto, pois nas bênçãos de Jacob aos filhos, assim subentende-se em hebraico.');" onmouseout="Hide('perush');">foi Rúben e deitou-se com Bila</span>, concubina de seu pai; e Israel o soube. Eram doze os filhos de Jacó:
Kedushat Levi
It is somewhat puzzling why Leah called this son of hers Issachar, if she saw it as a reward not for having slept with Yaakov as a reward for allowing Reuven to give Rachel the mandrakes, but for having given her maid-servant to Yaakov (previously).
When we look at Rashi’s comment on this verse, (17) he attributes G’d’s listening to Leah’s prayer as reward for her having demonstrated by giving her maid-servant to Yaakov that she wanted him to father more founding fathers of the Jewish people, even if she was not going to be the mother of them. She had proven thereby that when she “hired” Yaakov in exchange for the mandrakes, she had not been motivated by the desire to satisfy her libido.
Our author wonders how we can be sure of this as even assuming that Leah, who at any rate had to share her husband with other women, something that no doubt caused her much heartache, would have been fully justified in wanting more of her husband’s company than she appeared to enjoy. Our author answers that while it is true that ordinary women whose husbands also have another wife do suffer such heartache and jealousy, so that the name for such a wife who has to share her husband is always called צרה, “rival wife,” if Leah had entertained the type of motivation common to other “rival wives,” she most certainly would not have seen in her bearing Issachar a “reward” from G’d, but as fulfillment of her personal desire. This is why Rashi draws our attention to this psychological insight which many a reader might have overlooked otherwise.