When we last left Jacob, he was running away from his twin brother Esau, after having stolen
his birthright. That act of deception, which involved Jacob’s impersonating Esau in front
of his blind father, Isaac, was committed at the urging of Jacob’s mother, Rebecca.
On his way to Haran, where he hoped to find family and therefore, someone to marry, Jacob
stopped for a rest, using a stone for a pillow. While he slept, he dreamed of angels ascending
and descending a ladder to heaven. Jacob awoke, and named the place Bethel, the house of God.
He then took the stone pillow, set it upright and poured oil on it, which was how you built
a monument back in biblical days.
Continuing on the road, Jacob came to a well. He saw a maiden approaching, and discovered
from the locals that she was his cousin Rachel. Possessed by superhuman strength, Jacob rolled
the stone cover off the well—a job which usually took many men—and watered Rachel’s
sheep. Then he kissed her, cried, and told her they were related, and Rachel ran to tell
her father, Laban.
Jacob agreed to work seven years for Laban in exchange for Rachel’s hand in marriage.
But at the wedding, Laban, who was a notorious trickster, substituted his older daughter,
Leah, as Jacob’s bride. Laban explained that the local custom was to marry off the
older daughter first, but that Rachel was still available—for another seven years
of labor. But Jacob was a man in love, so he agreed. Besides, fourteen years may seem
like a lot for two wives, but he also received two bonus companions: with Leah, her handmaiden
Zilpah, and with Rachel, her handmaiden Bilhah.
Having sisters as wives might sound convenient, but as this story clearly illustrates, it
quite literally breeds problems. Leah begins to bear children, and Rachel develops extreme
jealousy. So continues an epic sisterly competition, not just over affection from the same man,
but over fertility.
Welcome to Jacob’s marital life: Jacob loved Rachel more, so God gave Leah four children—Reuben,
Simeon, Levi and Judah. Meantime, Rachel, who wasn’t getting pregnant, decided to
give her handmaiden Bilhah to Jacob to have children on her behalf: Bilhah bore Jacob
two sons, Dan and Naphtali, who were named by Rachel. But it didn’t end there. The
pregnancy wars continued.
When Leah realized she wasn’t having more children, she gave her handmaiden Zilpah to
Jacob to become pregnant on HER behalf, resulting in the births of Gad and Asher, named and
claimed by Leah. Team Leah: 6. Team Rachel: 2, sort of.
Leah then becomes pregnant again, bearing Issachar and Zebulun (# 7 and 8, if you’re
still counting). Then she bears a daughter, Dina, who doesn’t count as one of the sons
of Jacob, for obvious reasons. Finally Rachel bears a son, and names him Joseph. Total for
this Torah portion? Team Leah: 8. Team Rachel: 3 (sort of). That’s eleven out of the twelve
sons who will become Israel’s Twelve Tribes.
Jacob has come a long way from being the lonely man on the road to Haran. But he has gotten
there only after years of intricate family dynamics and baby mama drama.
But despite his apparent loneliness on the road, the text indicates, Jacob is guarded
on his journey by angels. Despite the deception, he meets a woman at the well and falls instantly
in love. Despite the jealousy, deception and drama that emerge from his relationships,
Jacob perseveres out of a desire to create a family and spiritual home.
Through Jacob’s actions and the actions of his sons in the Torah portions ahead, the
Jewish people arrive in Egypt. And it is the Exodus from Egypt which creates a desire to
move from spiritual or literal exile to a homeland of equality and freedom. As Jacob
learned, sometimes you have to leave home to find home.