This week’s Parsha, that we’ll read B'ezrat Hashem on Shabbat, is Parsha Vayeitzei. The Parsha opens:
Yaakov departed from Beer Sheva and went toward Charan. And he encountered a place and lodged there because the sun had set. And he took from the stones of the place and placed them at his head, and he lay down in that place.
Chazal, in the Midrashim, discuss how many stones Yaakov Avinu took, and three opinions are presented (Bereishit Rabbah, 68:11). Rabbi Yehuda said Yaakov took twelve stones, saying: “Hakadosh Baruch Hu has decreed that He will establish twelve tribes. Avraham did not establish them and Yitzchak did not establish them; if these twelve stones cling to one another, I will know that I am establishing twelve tribes.” And when the twelve stones clung to one another, he knew that he would establish twelve shevatim. Similarly, Rabbi Nechemia said he took three stones, saying: “Hakadosh Baruch Hu unified His name through both Avraham and Yitzchak. If the three stones cling to one another, I will know Hakadosh Baruch Hu will unify His name through me.” Finally, the Rabbis said the minimum of אַ בְ נֵי, a plural term, is two. Yaakov said: “From Avraham came pesolet (waste) – Yishmael and the children of Keturah; From Yitzchak came Eisav and his princes. If these two stones cling to one another, I will know that no pesolet will come from me.”
Regarding the number twelve, it is known from ancient times that Hakadosh Baruch Hu intended to establish the world upon twelve tribes. The Midrash states (Bereishit Rabbah, 24:4): It would have been fitting for Adam HaRishon to have twelve tribes descend from him, but Hakadosh Baruch Hu said: “I gave him two sons, and one arose and killed his brother. How can I give him twelve tribes?” And thus, He said to Adam: “I am not giving it to you, but to your children.” זֶה סֵפֶר תּוֹלְדֹת אָדָם – This is the book of the generations of Adam; the word ה"ז equals twelve.
Chazal further say (Bereishit Rabbah, 63:6): It would have been fitting for Rivkah to have twelve tribes descend from her; this is learned from the Pesukim describing her pregnancy: Two nations are in your womb – two; And two peoples shall be separated from your body – four; And one people shall be stronger than the other – six; And the greater shall serve the younger – eight; And when her days to give birth were fulfilled – ten; And the firstborn came out red – eleven; And after that his brother came out – that makes twelve.
However, the twelve tribes did not come from her, because from her came forth Eisav. The Midrash (Tanchuma, Ki Tetzei 4) explains what occurred: וְחַטַּאת אִמּוֹ אַל תִּמָּח – And do not blot out the sin of his mother; when Eisav came forth from his mother’s womb, he damaged it so that she’d be unable to give birth again. Speaking of the sins of Edom (Eisav), it says in Amos (1:11): עַ ל רָ דְ פוֹ בַ חֶ רֶ ב אָ חִ יו וְ שׁ ִ חֵ ת רַ חֲ מָ יו. The Midrash (Tanchuma Ki Tieitzei 4) highlights the word רַ חֲ מָ י ו and reads it as רַ חְ מ וֹ – rendering the meaning as: He (Eisav) pursued his brother with the sword and repressed his uterus – i.e., the womb from which he had been born. Since Rivkah did not merit giving birth again, the tribes did not come forth from her.
The number twelve is the number upon which the world is based. Chazal tell us that the structure of the Jewish people is composed of the numbers 3-12-70. Rabbi Tzadok HaKohen of Lublin says גְבִיעַ is an acronym for the three (ג) Avot, the twelve (יב) shevatim, and the seventy (ע) nations.
Regarding twelve, Chazal say everything that Hakadosh Baruch Hu created in the world, He created in the merit of the twelve shevatim (Pesikta). You find twelve months in a year, twelve constellations in the sky, twelve hours in the day, and twelve hours in the night. Hakadosh Baruch Hu said: “Even the upper and lower realms – I did not create them except in the merit of the tribes, as it says: כָּל אֵלֶּה שִׁבְטֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל שְׁנֵים עָשָׂר – All these are the tribes of Israel, twelve.”
Yaakov Avinu knew the world is based on twelve tribes, and the Imahot knew this as well. The Gemara (Berachot 60:1) asks what the meaning of וְ אַ חַ ר (and afterward) is in the Pasuk וַתֵּלֶד בַּת וַתִּקְרָא אֶת־שְׁמָהּ דִּינָה וְ אַ חַר – And afterward she bore a daughter and called her name Dinah. After Leah judged the matter herself and said, “Twelve tribes are destined to come forth from Yaakov. Six came from me and four from the maidservants – that makes ten. If this next one is male, my sister Rachel will not be equal to one of the maidservants.” Immediately, her unborn child was transformed into a daughter. Leah already knew there’d be twelve tribes.
The number twelve is a number we find everywhere. In the twelve tribes of Hashem – שְׁנֵים עָשָׂר שִׁבְטֵי-יָהּ – in the stones of the Urim v’Tumin, in the offerings of the Nesi’im, and in the final day of Moshe Rabbenu too. When Moshe wrote thirteen Sifrei Torah, he gave each and every tribe a Torah scroll and left one in the Aron. Everyone knows the Halacha that when a person builds a shul, there must be twelve windows, corresponding to the twelve shevatim.
The Magen Avraham brings in the name of the Arizal that they were careful not to change the customs of Tefillah, because there are twelve gates of Tefillah in heaven. Although there are twelve מַעֲרָכוֹת שֶׁל תְּפִלָּה – arrangements of Tefillah, each month has its own intention, for each month corresponds to a tribe, each corresponds to a name, to a constellation, and to an hour. Everything is through kavanot.
Hakadosh Baruch Hu also commanded that each and every tribe have its own judges and officers (Sanhedrin 16b). Although each tribe has its own uniqueness, together they form a unit of twelve and must all be unified, to such an extent that Chazal say (Bamidbar Rabbah, 13:8) Hakadosh Baruch Hu made them absorb from one another – עָשָׂה אוֹתָם יוֹנְקִים זֶה מִזֶּה.
Corresponding to this, the Bnei Yissaschar writes there is a kavana (intention) for each of the twelve months of the year, and we direct twelve kavanot in the Musaf of Rosh Chodesh just before reciting the Bracha of בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה ה' מְקַדֵּשׁ יִשְׂרָאֵל וְרָאשֵׁי חֳדָשִׁים.
When Yosef was sold to Egypt, it is written that Yaakov Avinu was in terrible mourning and refused to be comforted (Yalkut Shimoni, Vayeishev 143). He said: “Behold, the covenant of the tribes has been broken – how much I labored to establish twelve,” as all of Hakadosh Baruch Hu’s deeds correspond to the twelve tribes.
Today, Besiyata Dishmaya, I wish to discuss one of these twelve tribes, and bring ourselves closer to the days of Chanukah in a special way. Shlomo HaMelech says in Shir HaShirim (7:14): הַדּוּדָאִים נָתְנוּ רֵיחַ וְעַל פְּתָחֵינוּ כׇּל מְגָדִים חֲדָשִׁים גַּם יְשָׁנִים דּוֹדִי צָפַנְתִּי לָךְ The mandrakes give forth fragrance, and over our doors are all manner of precious fruits, new and old, which I have kept for you, my beloved.
There is a Midrash Peliah – a cryptic and elusive Midrash – whose source is unknown, but everyone cites it. It says that הַדּוּדָאִים נָתְנוּ רֵיחַ refers to Reuven; and וְעַל פְּתָחֵינוּ כָּל מְגָדִים refers to the Chanukah candles. The question arises: What connection is there between Reuven and Chanukah? In previous years we have explained many ideas, and today, B'ezrat Hashem, we’ll pursue a new direction.
Let’s begin with Yaakov Avinu's arrival in Charan. Yaakov Avinu comes to the house of Lavan, and Lavan greets him with kisses and embraces, hoping to find money and jewels on his body. Let us read the Pesukim:
And Lavan said to him, “Surely you are my bone and my flesh.” And he dwelt with him a month of days. And Lavan said to Yaakov, “Because you are my brother, should you therefore serve me for nothing? Tell me, what shall your wages be?” Now Lavan had two daughters; the name of the elder was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel. And Leah's eyes were tender, but Rachel was beautiful of form and beautiful of appearance. And Yaakov loved Rachel, and he said, “I will serve you seven years for Rachel, your younger daughter.”
Yaakov Avinu served seven years, the time for the wedding arrived, and Lavan went and placed Leah under the chuppah instead of Rachel. I saw a novel idea in the Sefat Emet today – sourced from Seder Olam and Yalkut Reuveni – that the wedding of Yaakov Avinu took place on the night of Shabbat HaGadol (Seder Olam says on a regular Leil Shabbat). According to this, we can understand why Yaakov only saw in the morning that it was Leah and not Rachel. This was part of Lavan's deception – to perform the wedding on Erev Shabbat, so that Yaakov would not be able to light candles after the ceremony, since Shabbat had already begun.
Fast forward a bit, and the Torah tells us Hakadosh Baruch Hu saw that Leah was hated:
And Hashem saw that Leah was hated, and He opened her womb, but Rachel was barren. And Leah conceived and bore a son, and she called his name Reuven, for she said, 'Because Hashem has seen my affliction, for now my husband will love me.'
Leah bore Reuven, then Shimon, then Levi, then Yehuda; וַתַּעֲמֹד מִלֶּדֶת – And she stopped bearing. Why did she stop having children? The Ibn Ezra says it relates to her statement of הַפַּעַם אוֹדֶה אֶת ה' – This time I will praise Hashem. Her meaning was: now that I have four sons, I will praise Hashem and will not desire to have more. As if to say, I will praise Hashem for giving me all this, and it’s sufficient for me. Therefore, she stopped bearing children. This entire matter of הַפַּעַם אוֹדֶה אֶת ה' is a very broad subject, and we’ll address it only briefly here.
Knowing there’d be twelve tribes, Leah said: “I know there are supposed to be twelve tribes, and I know that each mother is supposed to bring three tribes into the world. Since I have already received the fourth, then I am grateful for what I have received beyond my share.” The Ibn Ezra is implying that she does not desire to have more; and she praises Hakadosh Baruch Hu for all she received. Therefore, she stopped bearing children.
There are other commentators who suggest that the reason she stopped having children is because the way of gratitude is to thank Hakadosh Baruch Hu for the past and immediately begin requesting for the future. We find this throughout Birkat Hamazon; one thanks Hakadosh Baruch Hu for having eaten, and immediately the requests begin: הָרַחֲמָן... הָרַחֲמָן... הָרַחֲמָן. Why are you asking for more?! It is because this is סֵדֶר הַהוֹדָאָה – the order of gratitude. You give thanks for the past and ask for the future. Since Leah gave thanks for the past but did not ask for the future, she stopped having children.
When Rachel saw that she had not borne children for Yaakov, Rachel became jealous of her sister, and she said to Yaakov, "Give me children, or else I die." Yaakov's anger was kindled against Rachel, and he said, "Am I in the place of G-d, who has withheld from you the fruit of the womb?"
Rashi explains: What Rachel said was, “Did your father (Yitzchak) do this to your mother (Rivkah)? Did he not pray for her?” Yaakov responded, "Who has withheld from you? You say I should act like my father, but I am not like my father. My father had no children; but I do have children. It was withheld from you; not from me!” Chazal say that Hakadosh Baruch Hu said to him, "Is this how you answer those who are in distress?!" We have discussed this point before – chas v’shalom to say that Yaakov spoke harsh words to her.
What was Rachel's complaint? It was, "Why aren't you davening for me?" And Yaakov answers, "Because I have children; it’s you who doesn't." What kind of answer is that? Heaven forbid to think he wanted to rebuke her! We find this with Chana and Penina – for those who remember, we discussed this in previous years. Chana had no children for ten years, then Elkana took Penina, and in nine and a half years, she gave birth to some ten children. One year on Rosh Hashanah, Elkana goes up with Penina to the Mishkan in Shiloh, and he sees her distressed, not eating. He asks her, "What's wrong?" And then of course, she expressed to him that she was unable to conceive, after 19 years of barrenness, and he says to her: הֲלוֹא אָֽנֹכִי טוֹב לָךְ מֵעֲשָׂרָה בָּנִֽים – Am I not better to you than ten sons? She immediately went to the Mishkan in Shiloh to ask for mercy. What happened that only now she went? For 19 years she didn't go, but now she did?!
The Ma’adanei Shmuel answers, the reason is that she had always trusted in Elkana's prayers, but at that moment he said to her הֲלוֹא אָֽנֹכִי טוֹב לָךְ מֵעֲשָׂרָה בָּנִֽים, it meant he is already at peace, and he has given up asking. Chana said: “If he has given up asking for mercy for me, then now I will go and ask for myself!” Similarly, Yaakov said: “If I have children and you don't, Hakadosh Baruch Hu wants to hear your voice! הַשְׁמִיעִנִי אֶת קוֹלֵךְ – Let me hear your voice; Hakadosh Baruch Hu wants you to speak to Him directly!” Rachel Imeinu then says: הִנֵּה אֲמָתִי בִלְהָה בֹּא אֵלֶיהָ וְתֵלֵד עַל בִּרְכַּי וְאִבָּנֶה גַם אָנֹכִי מִמֶּנָּה: Here is my handmaid, Bilhah, consummate a marriage with her. Let her give birth upon my knees, and I too will have a son through her.
I saw in one of the commentaries, as written in the Zohar Hakadosh, that in the early generations they were careful that every woman's name contain the letter ה', because the letter ה' grants fertility to a woman. Therefore, Sarah Imeinu, as long as she was called שָׂרַי, did not bear children. They needed to change her name to שָׂרָה, and then she was able to have a child. The Zohar says the same applies to Rivkah, Leah, Zilpah, and Bilhah; רָחֵל does not have the ה', so they needed to add it to her. How? Through בִּלְהָה. She took one ה' from Bilhah, and בלה remained with only one ה', and thus she was able to give birth. Bilhah gave birth to Dan, Zilpah gave birth to Gad and Asher, and then we arrive at the Pesukim that we want to elaborate on.
Reuven went in the days of the wheat harvest, and found mandrake (or jasmine flowers) in the field. He brought them to Leah, his mother. Rachel said to Leah, “Please give me some of your son’s mandrakes.” She [Leah] said to her, “Isn’t it enough that you took my husband? Would you also take my son’s mandrakes?” Rachel said, “Therefore, he shall be with you tonight in exchange for your son’s mandrakes.” Yaakov came from the field in the evening, and Leah went out to meet him. She said, “You will come to me, for I have hired you with my son’s mandrakes, and he was with her at night.” Hashem perceived Leah’s wish. She conceived and bore her fifth son to Yaakov. Leah said, “Hashem has given me my reward because I gave my handmaid to my husband.” She named him Yissachar.
The Gemara says (Sanhedrin 99b): וְהַנֶּפֶשׁ אֲשֶׁר תַּעֲשֶׂה בְּיָד רָמָה – And the soul that does anything with a high hand, refers to Menashe ben Chizkiyahu, who sat and expounded on the Aggadot with heretical interpretations. On the Pasuk “And the sister of Lotan was Timna, and Timna was a concubine to Eliphaz,” Menashe asked: “Did Moshe have nothing else to write about?!? Why does the Torah tell us Timna was a concubine to Eliphaz? What does this have to do with us at all?!” Similarly, Menashe asked, “Why does Moshe tell us that Reuven went in the days of wheat harvest and found dudaim in the field? What does this have to do with us?!”
If the Torah writes these details, it’s a sign that their meaning is great. Let’s explore. The Gemara says Timna was a daughter of kings – אַלּוּף לוֹטָן אַלּוּף תִּמְנָע – and there is no princess without a crown. Timna wanted to convert. She came to Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov, but they did not accept her. She instead left and became a concubine to Eliphaz, son of Eisav, saying, "Better to be a maidservant to this nation than a mistress to another." From Timna descended Amalek, who harassed Am Yisrael. Why did Amalek come from her and cause such pain and suffering? It is because the Avot should not have distanced her.
We now have a reason why the Torah writes about Timna, but why וַיֵּלֶךְ רְאוּבֵן בִּימֵי קְצִיר חִטִּים? The Gemara says, from here we learn about the righteous; that they do not stretch out their hands to steal. This detail teaches us that a five-year-old child walks and sees wheat but doesn’t touch it, because it’s not his! Dudaim – commonly translated as mandrakes or jasmine flowers – are ownerless, so it was perfectly permissible to take them, but yet he did not.
The Midrash says: חֲנֹךְ לַנַּעַר עַל פִּי דַרְכּוֹ גַּם כִּי יַזְקִין לֹא יָסוּר מִמֶּנָּה – Train a child according to his way; even when he grows old, he will not depart from it. Where do we find this? In Parshat Matot, where the children of Reuven and Gad request an inheritance on the other side of the Jordan River; they didn’t want to enter Eretz Yisrael. The Maharzu asks how much time passed from the story of Reuven walking in the fields during the harvest and the time his children wished to remain on the east of the Jordan. The answer is three hundred years. Reuven was careful not to touch stolen property – i.e., property not his own – so three hundred years later, his descendants request an inheritance on the other side of the Jordan, so that their flocks, heaven forbid, would not enter to graze in foreign fields (within Eretz Yisrael) and cause them to stumble into theft. The Midrash tells us, if this small child was careful about theft, then three hundred years later, it still influences his future descendants to be careful about something related to theft.
If that is so, I thought of suggesting that perhaps this is the yesod regarding Timna as well. Timna had a power of persistence. She goes to convert with the Avot, but they don’t accept her. So, what does she do?! She attaches herself to the seed of Avraham Avinu. No matter what, if not with Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov, then she’ll connect to Avraham through the angle of Eisav. Chazal say that from her came Amalek, who also symbolizes the principle of persistence. Why exactly did Amalek travel some 1,600 kilometers to attack a non-threatening Bnei Yisrael? They knew they wouldn’t succeed in doing any damage, so why even come and try? Chazal say they came to cool the bathwaters. Bnei Yisrael had just come out of Egypt all mighty, and they arrived on the scene to cool them off. They inherited this essence from Timna – the power of persistence in pursuing a goal.
With that, we’ve arrived at the דּוּדָאִים. The Ibn Ezra says regarding dudaim: The Targum Onklos translates the word as יַבְרוּחִין – mandrakes; they’re called by this name in the language of the Ishmaelites, and they have a pleasant fragrance (Shir HaShirim 7:14): רֵיחַ הַדּוּדָאִים נָתְנוּ – The dudaim gave forth fragrance. They have the form of a human being, for they have the likeness of a head and hands, and some say they are an aid to pregnancy.
Referencing the Ibn Ezra’s commentary, the Ramban says: The correct interpretation is that Rachel wanted the dudaim for delight and pleasure, for she was given children through prayer, not by medicinal methods. And Reuven brought the branches of dudaim, i.e., its fruit, which resemble apples and have the good smell. The stem, however, which is shaped in the form of the human head and hands – he did not bring, and it’s the stem which people say is an aid to pregnancy. The Ramban adds that if this is true, it is through a spiritual property in them, not through their natural properties, and he has not seen this mentioned in any medicinal books.
The Binyan Shlomo, written 120 years ago by Rabbi Shlomo HaKohen of Vilna, writes: I myself saw the dudaim that a man brought from Jaffa, and I saw that they had the form of a face and mouth, a forehead and a seal, and facial features, with hands and feet attached to it, and also thighs. Behind them they have shoulders and eyebrows just like a human being. And on the heart in front, there grew another face, with a nose and feet and hands, and that face was small, like the form of an infant. And it is among the wonders of the Creator, who gave nature to the earth to grow plants such as these, which have the form of a human being. I saw this on Tom Chamishi, the 18th day of Shevat, 5614.
The question arises: Reuven brought dudaim and placed them in his pocket. How did Rachel Imeinu know that the dudaim had arrived, that she said to Leah, "Please give me some of your son's dudaim"? If we say that they have such a pleasant fragrance, that is fine; she then smelled their fragrance and understood they’d arrived in the area. But if we say that he brought the part of the root that has no fragrance (and is linked to fertility), how would she have known?
I found a Midrash Aggadah, and a wondrous idea, referenced in sefer Tzror Hamor...
