The Relationship Between Yosef and Leah's Four Oldest Sons

Parshat Miketz

by Rabbi Avi Billet

With the exception of Binyamin, the births of all of Yaakov Avinu’s children are recorded in Parshat Vayetze, in chapter 29 and 30. Half of Yaakov’s sons (the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah and Leah’s two youngest sons) do not have a speaking role in the Torah, and typically appear as part of the Bnei Yaakov, Bnei Yisrael, Achei Dinah, Achei Yosef, etc. Even the exception to this, when Yosef brings five brothers before Pharaoh (47:2) proves the rule. Firstly, they are not even identified in the text. Secondly, none are identified as specifically speaking. 

 [The identities of the five are disputed: One view is that they were Reuven, Shimon, Levi, Yissachar and Binyamin (Pesikta, Rashi on 47:2). The other view is that they were Zevulun, Dan, Gad, Naftali, Asher (Sechel Tov, Targum Yonatan, Rashi on Baba Kama 92a). Everyone agrees that Yehuda was NOT brought before Pharaoh, though for different reasons. Note how the second view includes Leah’s youngest son and the 4 sons of Bilhah and Zilpah] 

Yehuda and Tamar’s Relationship After Discovery

Parshat Vayeshev

by Rabbi Avi Billet 

The story of Yehuda and Tamar is familiar to regular parsha readers. Yehuda marries off his son Er to Tamar. Er dies for being “bad in God’s eyes” and so Yehuda gives the bereaved widow to Er’s brother, Onan. The Torah reports that Onan would spill his seed so as not to impregnate Tamar (hence the term ‘onanism’) so God caused Onan’s death as well. Fearing widowhood and singlehood for the rest of her days, Tamar disguised herself as a harlot on a crossroad, only to meet, by design!, one specific potential customer, her recently widowed father-in-law Yehuda, who does consort with her and impregnates her, all while being unaware of her true identity. 

 Upon discovering her pregnancy, and thus her faithlessness in (not) waiting for Yehuda’s third son, she is slated for punishment, which most assume was to be a capital punishment of burning. 

And Yaakov Was Left Alone

Parshat Vayishlach

by Rabbi Avi Billet

One of the most compelling images in the Torah, which you can easily find in varying artistic renderings through the centuries with a simple Google search, is of the tussle between Yaakov and the “Man” during the night before the anticipated reunion of Yaakov and Eisav after so many years apart. 

The Torah introduces that struggle with the phrase ויותר יעקב לבדו, which is typically translated to mean “Yaakov was left alone/by himself,” and on a simple level, it means he was the last one remaining after everyone had crossed the Yabok safely. 

 The English translation, owing to its idiomatic interpretation, is most ironic and contradictory. Yaakov may have been the last one there, but he surely was not left alone! If someone picks a fight with you, the person is not “leaving you alone.” 

Two Thefts, Exodus, and Survival

Parshat Vayetze

by Rabbi Avi Billet

Chapter 31, verses 19 and 20, present two thefts. The first is Rachel “stealing” her father’s terafim. The second is Yaakov “stealing” Lavan’s heart in that he doesn’t tell him of his departure from Lavan’s home, with his wives, children, and his belongings. 

Were these really both "thefts" in the traditional sense of stealing? Or is there a different kind of message being conveyed, despite the language of stealing being employed.

 Most of the commentaries in the Mikraos Gedolos Chumash focus on Rachel’s deed, ignoring Yaakov’s “theft” simply because Yaakov’s is clearly a figure of speech, but is not a crime, whereas Rachel actually takes objects that belong to her father. 

Diplomacy and Cold Peace is Better Than Open Hatred

Parshat Toldot

by Rabbi Avi Billet

Some of the commentaries suggest that Akedat Yitzchak was, in some way, a reaction to what took place immediately before it in the Torah, the treaty that Avraham made with Avimelekh. That treaty, in which Avraham ceded some of the land promised to him by God, was a treaty Avraham, arguably, had no right to make without God’s instruction. As a result, this approach offers, he was challenged to wonder what the promises to him were worth if he would be tasked by God to take his son’s life. 

All that at least being a possibility, one wonders why Yitzchak would make the same mistake. 

Truth be told, Yitzchak’s similar encounter with Avimelekh is, on the one hand, not really a treaty. Secondly, he is bound by the treaty that his father made. Despite that, Yitzchak does have grievances over how he was treated by Avimelekh’s people, particularly since there had actually been a treaty between Avimelekh and Avraham’s family (note: Avimelekh might be a title similar to Pharaoh, so he might be dealing with a different person than the one Avraham dealt with). 

Avraham's Children (and daughter?)

 Full transparency: I had already decided on this week’s topic, when I accidentally came across an article entitled “Did Avraham Have a Daughter?” - https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/399547 Thankfully, my research did not include the author’s main source (Rav Hirsch) so here we go. 

Parshat Chayei Sarah

by Rabbi Avi Billet

Rabbi Baruch HaLevi Epstein (in his Tosefes Bracha) notes the passage in Yevamos 62a that the mitzvah of reproducing (פרו ורבו) is to have a son and a daughter (according to one opinion) – so the parents essentially replace themselves. Avraham focuses on finding a wife for Yitzchak, which based on his analysis (which includes Baba Basra 141a, Bereshis Rabba 60, and Tosefta Bechoros chapter 6) that a wifeless father should usually find a wife for himself before concerning himself with his son finding a wife, unless he has already fulfilled the mitzvah of פרו ורבו. Therefore, the only way Avraham could concern himself with finding a bride for Yitzchak is if he, in fact, had a daughter as well – thus there is good reason to believe he had a daughter, even though the text makes no mention of one. 

 As noted here Seforno is of the opinion, based on Divrei HaYamim I 1:28 that Avraham only had two sons, Yishmael and Yitzchak, and that the 6 children of Keturah (ibid 1:32 and Bereshit 25:2) were hers from a previous union. Seforno describes Avraham as “raising her children” as he compares the situation to Michal bat Shaul being credited with giving birth to 5 children to Adriel (her sister’s husband) (Shmuel II 21:8), while a different verse tells us Michal never had children (Shmuel II 6:23)! Just as she raised her sister’s children that she didn’t birth, Avraham raised Keturah’s children that he did not father. 

How Old Was Yishmael When Sent Away With His Mother

 It depends who you ask

פסיקתא זוטרתא (לקח טוב) בראשית פרשת וירא פרק כא סימן יד

בן כ"ז שנה, י"ד קודם ליצחק ושלש עשרה היה יצחק, דכתיב כי לא יירש וגו' בן הראוי לחלק בירושה הוא יצחק, ויש אומרים ישמעאל היה בן י"ז שנה. י"ד עד יצחק, וג' עד הגמל את יצחק הרי י"ז

According to the Pesikta he was EITHER 27 or 17

שכל טוב (בובר) בראשית פרשת וירא פרק כא סימן יד

והיה באותו פרק בן י"ז שנה כי כשנמול היה בן י"ג שנה, ולבסוף שנה באה שהיא שנת י"ד לו, נולד יצחק, ולבסוף ב' שנים אחרות, שהיא שנת ט"ז לו נגמל יצחק, וזה הדבר בשנת י"ז לו:

According to Midrash Sechel Tov, he was 17

בכור שור בראשית פרק כא פסוק יד

(יד) שם על שכמה. החמת והלחם ואת הילד בידיה, כי בן י"ד היה.

 According to Bechor Shor, he was 14

אלשיך על בראשית פרק כא פסוק יד

ראוי לשים לב למה נתן הכל להגר ולא נתן גם לנער, כי מאז נימול היה בן שלש עשרה שנה, מלבד אשר גדל אחרי כן שהיה בן שבעה ועשרים שנה למאמר רבותינו ז"ל (בראשית רבה נו).

According to Alshich (following the lead of the Midrash), he was 17

רד"ק בראשית פרק כא פסוק יד

ואת הילד - שילך לפניה כי בן חמש עשרה היה, וכשייעף תשאנהו על שכמה או בחיקה:

  According to Radak, he was 15

רש"ר הירש בראשית פרק כא פסוק יד

הרי שביחס לגיל מאה - ועשרים, צעיר בן שבע - עשרה באותם הימים מקביל לנער בן עשר - אחת - עשרה היום.

Rav Hirsch  says he was 17, but proportional to how long people lived at that time (120), a 17 year old then was "like a 10-11 year old now" (Rav Hirsch wrote his commentary in the latter half of the 19th century. )