מדרש אויף בראשית 30:23

[Another interpretation (of Gen. 30:22): THEN GOD REMEMBERED RACHEL.] What is written above on the matter (in vs. 1)? WHEN RACHEL SAW THAT SHE HAD BORNE JACOB NO CHILDREN…. < AND SHE SAID TO JACOB: GIVE ME CHILDREN >, OR ELSE I SHALL DIE. Our masters have said: From here you learn that all who are childless are regarded as dead. Thus it is written of Hannah (in I Sam. 2:6): THE LORD BRINGS DEATH AND GIVES LIFE. Hannah simply said this: Before he gave me a son, I was one of the dead. Now that he has given me a son, I have been reckoned with the living. Rachel said to Jacob (in Gen. 30:1-2): GIVE ME CHILDREN, OR ELSE I SHALL DIE. THEN JACOB'S ANGER WAS KINDLED AGAINST RACHEL. The Holy Spirit says (in Job 15:2): DOES A ONE WHO IS WISE ANSWER WITH WINDY KNOWLEDGE?⁵²Gen. R. 71:7. Jacob said to Rachel: Am I the viceroy⁵³Gk.: antikaisar. of the Holy One? (Gen. 30:2, cont.:) AM I TAKING GOD'S PLACE? The Holy One said to him: By your life, in the words you have uttered, AM I TAKING GOD'S PLACE? In these very words her son is < going to > rise up and say to your children (in Gen. 50:19): AM I TAKING GOD'S PLACE? She said to him: Did your father, Isaac, do this to your mother, Rebekah? Did not the two of them stand and pray for each other? It is so stated (in Gen. 25:21): THEN ISAAC ENTREATED THE LORD ON BEHALF OF HIS WIFE. You also should pray unto the LORD for me! And did not your grandfather Abraham do so for Sarah? He said to her: Sarah brought a rival wife into her house. She said to him (in Gen. 30:3): If so, HERE IS MY MAID BILHAH; GO IN TO HER. He did not do so; but, when she had < actually > given him her bondmaid, she immediately (in vs. 5) conceived and gave birth. (Gen. 30:6:) THEN RACHEL SAID: GOD HAS JUDGED ME. He has judged me and found me guilty; he has judged me and found me innocent. He has judged me and found me guilty by not giving me a son; he has judged me and found me innocent by giving my bondmaid a son. (Ibid., cont.:) SO SHE CALLED HIS NAME DAN (i.e., he has judged). Then she conceived and gave birth to Naphtali, AND (according to vs. 8) RACHEL SAID: WITH SUPERNATURAL WRESTLINGS (naphtule) I HAVE WRESTLED (niphtalti) < WITH MY SISTER >. {< Naphtali > should be interpreted as < the Greek word > nymphe, since in the Mediterranean cities they call a bride a nymphe.} Naphtulai < means in translation > that the wedding canopy was mine. Now on each Wednesday⁵⁴Wednesdays were generally considered unlucky, especially for sick children. See yTa‘an. 4:4 (68b) (bar.); Ta‘an. 27b (bar.); Soferim 17:5. See also Pes. 112b. she was adorned to enter it, but < it was > Leah < who > entered.⁵⁵Cf. Gen. R. 71:8. Therefore, < it was > "my wedding canopy" (naphtulay), but her sister entered. (Gen. 30:8:) < AND RACHEL SAID: WITH SUPERNATURAL WRESTLINGS (naphtule) I HAVE WRESTLED (niphtalti) > WITH MY SISTER; {AND} I HAVE ALSO PREVAILED. SO SHE CALLED HIS NAME NAPHTALI. Why Naphtali (NPTLY)? Because from their border they put a crown on the Torah,⁵⁶The allusion is to the fact that the borders of Naphtali contain Tiberias, a city which for hundreds of years represented the center of Jewish learning in Israel. about which it is written (in Ps. 19:11 [10]): SWEETER ALSO THAN HONEY AND THE DRIPPINGS (NPT) OF THE COMB. When Leah saw that she had borne six, she said: The Holy One has made this agreement with Jacob, to raise up twelve tribes. Now here I have borne six sons; and the two bondmaids, four. That makes ten. Then Leah conceived < again >. Our masters have said: She conceived a male.⁵⁷Ber. 60a; Gen. R. 72:6; cf. Ber. 9:3; yBer. 9:5 (14a). Leah said: Here I have conceived, but my sister Rachel has not given birth.⁵⁸Thus, Rachel would not even equal the bondmaids. What did Leah do? She began to pray for mercy upon her sister Rachel. She said to let whatever should be within her⁵⁹Probably a misreading for “my” in accordance with the direct discourse of the Hebrew text, which reads literally, “She said: Let whatever is within her belly….” belly become female, and let not my sister Rachel be prevented from giving birth to a son. The Holy One said to her: By your life, you have had mercy upon you sister. See, I am making that which is within your belly female, and < I > am remembering her in this regard. (Gen. 30:21:) THEN AFTERWARDS SHE BORE A DAUGHTER AND CALLED HER NAME DINAH. What is the meaning of DINAH (DYNH)? That she argued (DYNH) against giving birth to a son on condition that Rachel bear a son; for thus it is written below (in Gen. 30:22-23): THEN GOD REMEMBERED RACHEL…. SO SHE CONCEIVED AND BORE A SON. What is the meaning of SO SHE CONCEIVED AND BORE < A SON >? < The verse > likens her giving birth to her conception. Just as her conception was painless, so was her giving birth painless. (Gen. 30:23, cont.:) THEN SHE SAID: GOD HAS TAKEN AWAY MY SHAME. What is the meaning of HAS TAKEN AWAY?⁶⁰Gen. R. 73:5. Simply that before a wife gives birth there is shame found within her house. How? When she breaks a vessel in her house, whom does she have to blame? When she gives birth, she blames her child. She therefore said: GOD HAS TAKEN AWAY MY SHAME.

Another interpretation (of Gen. 30:23): GOD HAS TAKEN AWAY < MY SHAME >.⁶¹See above, 7:12, and the note there. In the hour that Rebekah gave birth to Jacob and Esau, two daughters were born to Laban. They sent letters to each other, saying: You have given birth to two daughters; and I, to two sons. Let us give them to each other. When Leah heard about Esau's conduct, she would cry; but, when Rachel heard about Jacob's conduct she would be happy. [Where is it shown that Leah cried? Where it is stated] (in Gen. 29:17): AND LEAH'S EYES WERE WEAK. The interpreter of R. Jose interpreted < the verse as follows > :⁶²Cf. Gen. R. 70:16. What is the meaning of WEAK? Bleary {i.e., circular}.⁶³I.e., Leah had dark circles under her eyes. R. Johanan said to him: You did not interpret well. Then what is the meaning of WEAK (rakkot)? Long (arukkot), because all that the Holy One gave her (through her children) was long < -lasting > : high priesthood, kingship, and anointing oil. Then, when Leah gave birth for Jacob, Rachel was depressed, saying: Perhaps Esau will take her,⁶⁴The text should probably be emended from “her” to “me” in agreement with Rashi’s interpretation of Gen. 30:22. According to Rashi, Rachel feared that Esau might take her if Jacob divorced her for being childless. since I have not given birth to a child. But when she had given birth to Joseph, she said (in Gen. 30:23): GOD HAS TAKEN AWAY MY SHAME. Now there is no shame but foreskin, as stated (concerning foreskin in Gen. 34:14): FOR THAT IS SHAME TO US. (Gen. 30:24:) SO SHE CALLED HIS NAME JOSEPH (Yosef), SAYING: MAY THE LORD ADD (yosef) ANOTHER SON FOR ME. The Holy Spirit foresaw < here > that she would only bear one other son.

“She conceived, and bore a son, and said: God has removed my disgrace” (Genesis 30:23).
“She conceived, and bore a son, and said: God has removed my disgrace” – Rabbi Levi bar Zechariah said: Until the woman bears a child, the sin is attributed to her, after she bears a child; it is attributed to her child. Who ate this item? It is your son. Who broke this item? It is only your son.
“God has removed my disgrace” – in the incident of the concubine in Giva, “cursed is one who gives a wife to Benjamin” (Judges 21:18).⁷The story of the concubine of Giva is in Judges chapters 19–21. Judges 21:13–23 specifically relates to the oath, and the solution that enabled those who were left from Benjamin to remarry.
“God has removed my disgrace” – “Yerovam did not gain strength again in the days of Aviya; and the Lord afflicted him, and he died” (II Chronicles 13:20). Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥman said: Do you think that it was Yerovam who was afflicted? It was no one other than Aviya who was afflicted.⁸He was punished for causing disgrace to the descendants of Rachel. Yerovam was from the tribe of Ephraim (the son of Joseph). Why was he afflicted? Rabbi Abba bar Kahana said: It is because he mutilated the identifying features of Israel’s faces, as it is written: “The expression of their faces testifies against them” (Isaiah 3:9). Rabbi Levi said: Because he positioned guards over them for three days until their form decayed, as we learned: One may testify only about the countenance of the face with the nose, even if there are distinguishing marks on his body and his belongings…and one may testify only up to three days.⁹See Yevamot 120a. If a dead man cannot be identified, his wife cannot remarry. Rabbi Yoḥanan said: It is because he humiliated them publicly, as it is stated: “Now you presume to withstand the kingdom of the Lord…and with you are the golden calves that Yerovam made for you for gods” (II Chronicles 13:8). Reish Lakish said: Because he denigrated Aḥiya the Shilonite, as it is stated: “Idle and wicked men gathered around him” (II Chronicles 13:7) – he called Aḥiya the Shilonite wicked. The Rabbis said: It is because idol worship came into his possession and he did not nullify it, as it is stated: “And captured cities from him: Beit El and its environs” (II Chronicles 13:19), and it is written: “He placed one [golden calf] in Beit El…” (I Kings 12:29). The matters can be derived a fortiori: If a king, because he mistreated a king like him, was afflicted, a commoner who mistreats a commoner, all the more so.