Rachel Names Naphtali and the Twin Readings of Her Wrestling

Midrash Aggadah, Genesis 30:8

Curated by Arthur·Told by Maggid·

"With wrestlings of God I have wrestled with my sister" (Genesis 30:8) — like "twisted or crooked" (Proverbs 8:8). And some say: like an expression of prayer — "I prayed before the Holy One, blessed be He, to be like my sister, and I also prevailed." And the one who says it is an expression of wrestling speaks thus: the Holy One, blessed be He, held me back from being like my sister, and yet I also prevailed in part.

Themes

Divine ProvidenceMatriarchsPrayerTribesNaphtali

Biblical References

Continue Reading

Yalkut Shimoni on TorahFour Measures in Names and Leah Who Named Her SonsRabbi Yose bar Hanina counted four kinds of names in the world. Some names sound noble while the lives behind them rot. Esau carries a name from the verb to do,Midrash AggadahLeah Prays Her Unborn Son Become Dinah So Rachel Is Not ShamedLeah already cradled six sons of her own, and the two maidservants had given Jacob four more. Ten. And Leah knew the count that Heaven had set: twelve tribes weMidrash TanchumaThus Do Our Masters Teach Us Upon Observing Beautiful CreaturesAnd God remembered Rachel (Gen. 30:22). May it please our master to teach us the blessing that is recited upon observing a handsome person? Thus do our masters Midrash AggadahWhy Jacob Sent Joseph From the Valley of Hebron"Go now, see the welfare of your brothers," said the father, and the words landed like a stone in a well. The sages read them beside another seeing: "And Aaron Midrash AggadahWhy Joseph Stayed Two Extra Years in Prison and the Ladder of Prayer"At the end of two full years"—and why two? The sages read the delay as a sentence. Joseph had begged Pharaoh's cupbearer, "but remember me when it is well withMidrash AggadahFour Improper Vows and the Coming of Rebecca to EliezerWhen the well grew quiet, Eliezer the servant of Abraham held his breath and his prayer at once. He had set a sign: let the right maiden offer water both to him