Leah and Rachel Bargain Over the Mandrakes

Yalkut Shimoni on Torah 129:2

Curated by Arthur·Told by Maggid·

"And she said to her, Is it a small matter that you have taken my husband?" (Genesis 30:15). You have brought before me what is mine. Rabbi Shimon ben Yochai taught: because she belittled the righteous one, she does not enter the grave together with him. This is why she said to her, "Therefore he shall lie with you tonight" - with you he shall lie, but not with me. Rabbi Berekhiah said: this one lost and that one lost, this one gained and that one gained. Leah lost the mandrakes and gained tribes and the birthright, and so on. Rabbi Shmuel bar Nachmani said: Leah lost the mandrakes and gained tribes and burial, and so on.

Themes

MatriarchsJealousyTribes

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