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The verse we're looking at is Genesis 30:23, where Rachel, finally blessed with a son, exclaims, "God has removed my disgrace!" But what exactly is this "disgrace" she's referring ...
That’s the kind of feeling we get when we delve into Bereshit Rabbah, a classic collection of rabbinic interpretations on the Book of Genesis. Specifically, let’s look at verse 30:...
We find a classic example of that – and its consequences – in the story of Jacob and Laban. It all revolves around a seemingly simple agreement about sheep, and honesty... or the l...
The Torah tells us, "Jacob took for himself rods of fresh poplar, and almond, and plane; he peeled white streaks in them, exposing the white that was in the rods” (Genesis 30:37). ...
We often think of money, houses, cars... but what about flocks? Genesis 30:43 tells us that Jacob, the patriarch, "became exceedingly prosperous." Now, "prosperous" is an understat...
It turns out, this isn't just a modern consideration. The ancient rabbis were thinking about this too! Our story today comes from Bereshit Rabbah (Genesis Rabbah), a collection of ...
Jacob, our patriarch, knew that feeling all too well. He was working for his father-in-law, Laban, and things were…complicated. In Genesis 31, we hear Jacob expressing his frustrat...
But the rabbis of the Talmud saw something more. Rabbi Yudan offers one explanation: Rachel died first "because she spoke before her sister." It's a fascinating idea, suggesting pe...
Genesis 31:22 tells us, "It was told to Laban on the third day that Jacob had fled." Three days! That's all it took for word to reach Laban. But here’s where it gets interesting. R...