13
votes
Why was Rachel shepherding instead of Leah?
Ramban there offers a couple of reasons:
Leah's eyes were weak (29:17), so the sun would be harmful to her.
Precisely because she was older, so there was more of a concern that the shepherds would ...
- 7,667
11
votes
Accepted
Rachel Imeinu Deceiving Lavan while pregnant
The Midrash (Megillah 17a) says Yaakov spent 2 years tarrying on his way back from Lavan (18 months in Sukkot and 6 months in Beit-El). So there's no way Rachel was already pregnant when she saw her ...
- 96.3k
11
votes
Accepted
What age were Leah and Rachel when they got married
The Seder Olam Rabba (ed. Leiner) states (ch. 2) that they were twins and were both 22 when they got married:
נמצאו רחל ולאה נשאו בנות כ"ב כ"ב, שהיו תאומות
Thus, Rachel and Leah were both ...
- 35.2k
6
votes
Accepted
How do we reconcile the 2 burial places of Rachel?
In Tosefta Sotah 11:7 the verses from Genesis and Samuel are discussed. It is concluded that the prophet Samuel meant that the group of prophets that Saul will meet are right now near the tomb of ...
- 23.7k
6
votes
What age were Leah and Rachel when they got married
Seder Olam Rabbah 2 calculates that they were twins and married Yaakov at 22.
I don’t follow the math, myself. It seems to just throw out there that Rachel was 36 when she died; since Yaakov married ...
- 33.8k
4
votes
Did anyone (especially Yaakov) ever find out about the idols?
From the Chafetz Chaim's pshat on this passuk it seems that Yaakov did indeed know that his words killed Rachel (since he cursed the one who stole the terafim). From then on he was very careful with ...
- 40.3k
2
votes
Rachel Naming Binyamin
The Artscroll Chasam Sofer offers two answers which addresses the question:
1) Both names Ben-Oni and Binyamin are focused on the concept of strength. Rachel muses that if not for her moral strength ...
- 13.2k
2
votes
Do commentaries address/question the morality of Leah and Rachel's actions against Yaakov regarding switching places?
The Midrash Rabba (Parsha 70)discusses a conversation Yackov has with Leah about her not revealing who she was beforehand, and her response.
וְכָל הַהוּא לֵילְיָא הֲוָה צָוַח לָהּ רָחֵל, וְהִיא ...
- 8,564
2
votes
Do commentaries address/question the morality of Leah and Rachel's actions against Yaakov regarding switching places?
As far as your first queston:
Do any commentaries discuss why Yaakov was not angered at Leah and Rachel?
The Ohr HaChaim HaKodosh notes two worthwhile points:
It is also possible that Jacob ...
- 25.4k
2
votes
What to we learn from וַיִּשַּׁק יַעֲקֹב לְרָחֵל?
The root in Hebrew of the verb to kiss is נשק. This root has several different meanings which can be found in the Jastrow dictionary, such as:
1) to kiss (with the mouth)
2) to equip, meaning to ...
- 13.4k
1
vote
Why did Rachel steal her father's gods?
Some say she stole them in order to wean Lavan off of idolatory (e.g. Rashi).
Ibn Ezra asks a kasha on this:
That teraphim are idols can be ascertained by Laban’s referring to
them as gods (v. 30). ...
- 3,365
1
vote
Why does the torah tell us Rachel was a shepherdess (Genesis 29:9)?
We see from the medrash that until Yaakov came and began working for him, he had no sons to take care of his sheep. Nor could he afford to hire a shepherd in order to take care of his sheep. This is ...
- 42.7k
1
vote
Why does the torah tell us Rachel was a shepherdess (Genesis 29:9)?
The Targum Pseudo Yonathan (29:9) states she was a shepherdess because Hashem had sent a plague among the sheep of Laban and only a few of them remained (at that time Laban dismissed his sheperds and ...
- 6,825
1
vote
Why does the torah tell us Rachel was a shepherdess (Genesis 29:9)?
Or Hachaim suggests that the verse stresses her experience as a shepherdess to explain how it was that she was able to handle all of the animals by herself without any assistance. See there for ...
- 6,414
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible