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VERSE: Gn30-11a

RASHIS COVERED: Gn30-11a Gn30-16a Gn30-17a


=============== Leah had a troubled anguished marriage ==========

COMMENT
-------
Recall that this email list sees the LIST as the primary
vehicle for explaining Rashi. In this posting we show how
the LIST gives a slightly different emphasis to Rashis
literal interpretation. Thus this posting is a good example
of how the LIST can be used to enrich Rashis literal meaning

BACKGROUND
----------
Recall that Jacob wanted to marry Rachel, But he had to marry
Leah first. Thus Leah wasnt preferred. Leah spent her marriage
trying to win love with superficial items(like children).
The following verse clearly shows her anguish

THE TEXT
--------
Gn29-33 And when the child was born Leah named him HEARD
        because God HEARD that I am hated

Gn30-17 states AND GOD HEARD LEAH & SHE HAD ANOTHER CHILD

THE LIST
--------
It is natural to connect Gn30-17 and Gn29-33. In both cases
God heard that Leah was HATED. In fact the LIST below shows
other incidents of HATRED: Leah fought with her co-wife for
Husband-nights; Leah begrudged her co-wife little things lest
her husband go to her; Leah perceived herself as WORKING to
produce little things to win her husband for the night (ie
she saw no self worth in her own person--intimacy was bought
not a right). Clearly we have an anguished person here.*12

THE RASHI
---------
Rashis actual statement on Gn30-17 is discreet
--------------------------------------------------------
God heard that Leah wanted to have many children since
they would all become Jewish Tribes
--------------------------------------------------------
Our point of view is that this is a discrete way of saying
that Leah had a troubled marriage where intimacy was WORKED
for and won by superficial items, like children, because
she had no self worth

The reader should review the LIST below and decide if such
a re-interpretation is natural and warranted.
=================================================================
VERSE    CHILDS NAME Relation of Childs name to Leahs Hatred
======== =========== ============================================
Gn29-33  HEARD       because God HEARD I was hated*1
Gn30-11a SweeTRAITOR New Child=sweet;Born from my maid=TRAITOR*2
Gn30-15  Wages*3     Fought with cowife: Who would have relations
Gn30-16a WAGES*3     Paid WAGES to cowife to get husband that eve
Gn30-17a Wages*3     God HEARD Leah

NOTES
-----
*1 The Hebrew word SHIMON comes from the root Shin-Mem-Ayin,
   SHMAH which means TO HEAR

*2 The Tribes name was GAD-sweetness *10. However the Masoretic
   text requires us to read the statement SWEETNESS HAS COME
   as one slurred word: That is the Hebrew BA GAD is read as
   BAGAD, one word. The Hebrew word BAGAD means TRAITOR.

   In this case you can easily hear the dual nuances
   -- How SWEET that I have a child
   -- My husband is a TRAITOR;he had the child from my maid

   For further justification on these nuances see *11

*3 A careful reading of Gn30-15:17 shows the anguish of Leah
   - Her son found LoveFlowers in the field. Ordinarily Rachel,
     Leahs co-wife, should be able to share them. But Leah
     angrily retorts: HE LOVES YOU MORE; DO YOU WANT TO STEAL
     MY LOVEFLOWERS ALSO!!? This emphasis on superficial
     items like flowers shows pettiness & insecurity

   - Leah tells her husband that she PAID wages for him that
     night by gathering LoveFlowers (The nuance being that
     she had to do SOMETHING to get her husband to be with her)

   - Leah then names the child WAGES because:
     I received a child as WAGES because I gave my maid
     to my husband.

     Thru-out we see a marriage where intimacy must be
     bought instead of being a right.

-------------------- LONGER FOOTNOTES --------------------------

*10 This root only occurs 3 times in Tnach. It seems to
    mean SWEET or GOOD LOOKING or GOOD. In these 3 verses
    GAD can be translated as GOOD, SWEET or GOOD LOOKING
    ---------------------------------------------------------
    Gn30-11 When the son was born Leah said GOODNESS has come
    Nu11-07 And the Manna was like a GOOD seed..& it is sweet
    Is65-11 Who worship GOODNESS with Tables
    ---------------------------------------------------------

    The following is a more speculative support for these
    translations:

    Finally see url http://www.RashiYomi.Com/dt33-13b.htm

    We bring a dozen examples there to show that when
    MEM is the first letter of a root it refers to the SOURCE
    of what the other 2 letters mean.

    Hence the Hebrew word MEGED, which according to everybody
    means SWEETNESS would be translated as the SOURCE (MEM)
    of GAD(Sweetness). (Thus MEGED would be VERY SWEET--the
    interested reader can look over the examples there since
    the MEM word and the word itself can have the same
    meaning).

    At any rate our main proof are the 3 meanings of verses
    with GAD cited above: where GAD means GOODNESS.

*11 For a discussion of the Biblical method of
   WRITTEN-ONE-WAY-BUT-READ-ANOTHER-WAY see
   http://www.RashiYOmi.Com/fd-12.htm

   There we discussed the Biblical method of WRITING
   and READING Biblical texts differently:

   One of the methods of dealing with a dual Biblical
   WRITTEN-READ text is to hear the duality as an INTENDED
   PUN.

   Thus it is easy to be empathic with Leahs mixed emotions:
   Its SWEET to have a child; TRAITOROUS to let your
   husband have it thru the maid!!!

*12 Perhaps there is a philosophical point here. Leah, as
    a matriarch, serves as a role model for other women
    who have bad marriages. Leah shows how to make the
    most of things in an impossible situation.
==============================================================

RASHI RULE USED: DOUBLE PARSHAS
---------------------------------------------------
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Volume 12 Number 6


#*#*#*#*#  (C) 2001, RashiYomi Inc. Dr Hendel President #*#*#*#*#
Volume 12 Number 6