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Leah loved Jacob very much and was blessed to have seven children with him, six sons and a daughter: Reuben, Simon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, and Dinah. Rachel, whom Jacob loved more than Leah, was barren for many years. When Rachel lost hope of having children, she gave Jacob her maidservant Bilhah, hoping she would merit children that way. Jacob and Bilhah had two sons, Dan and Naphtali. Leah followed in her sister’s footsteps and also gave her maidservant Zilpah to Jacob. They had two sons, Gad and Asher. Ultimately, Rachel herself gave birth to two sons, Joseph and Benjamin, but she died while giving birth to Benjamin. Thus, Jacob fathered 12 sons, each of whom became the leader of a tribe of Israel. When Jacob returned to the Land, he wrestled with an angel and was given the name “Israel” (based on the Hebrew for “wrestled”). The Jewish nation has been called Israel ever since.
Many insights can be derived from the traits of Rachel and Leah. There are numerous commentaries which discuss the characters of their children, each following a distinct path. As the children grew into adults, strong tensions increased between Leah’s sons and Rachel’s son Joseph, who was particularly capable and favored by their father Jacob. The brothers believed that like Ishmael and Esau, Joseph was not suited to continue their father’s legacy. They sold him into Egyptian slavery, and told their father he had been devoured by a wild animal. Jacob’s grief was endless over the loss of his beloved and talented son, the orphaned child of his beloved wife Rachel.
Following a long and complicated journey, Joseph the slave ultimately met Pharaoh the king of Egypt. Joseph interpreted Pharaoh’s dreams and saved the kingdom from starvation. As a result, he was appointed second-in-command in Egypt. When the famine struck the Land of Israel (Canaan), Joseph’s brothers traveled to Egypt to buy food. When they arrived, Joseph set up a situation whereby he could test his brothers and determine whether they regretted their actions. Without knowing who he was, they expressed their regrets for having sold their brother. When Joseph saw this, he burst into tears, revealed his identity, and forgave them for selling him. He asked his brothers to tell their father Jacob that he was alive and second to the king in Egypt. Consequently, Jacob’s entire family moved to Egypt.
Over the course of his life, Jacob endured many hardships: his struggle with his brother Esau, his complicated marriages created by Laban’s trickery, the death of his wife Rachel in childbirth, and the difficulties of raising and educating his children. Worst of all was the rivalry between his sons that drove to them selling Joseph into slavery. Nevertheless, due to the merit of Jacob’s adherence to his faith and service to God, ultimately all the sins were rectified, and his sons were reunited. All of them, without exception, stood together around his deathbed and accepted his last request – to cling to their ancestors’ legacy.
According to Jewish tradition, Jacob was worried on his deathbed that one of his children might not sustain the path of faith. His twelve sons reassured him by reciting together the words of the Shema: “Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord is one.” They were saying: “Israel, our father! Do not worry. The Lord your God is our God as well. He is one and there is no other.” This put Jacob’s mind at ease and he responded: “Blessed be the name of His glorious kingdom forever and ever.” With his last words, Jacob requested that his children return his body to the Land of Israel and bury him with his ancestors in the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron. This would be the last time the Israelites visited the Land before they began their long, harsh years of slavery in Egypt.
