T orah P ortion
Acknowledging Forgotten Foremothers
BY RABBI BETH JANUS
Parshat Vayetzei
WHAT IF I TOLD YOU
that in addition to the three
forefathers, Abraham, Isaac,
and Jacob, and the four
foremothers, Sarah, Rebecca,
Rachel and Leah, there are
two other women we should
be celebrating and honoring as
part of our original ancestors?
Jacob, with his Herculean
strength, single-handedly lifts
a gargantuan heavy rock off
a well where shepherds are
congregating. He does this
because of his instant attrac-
tion to Rachel, whom he
sees for the first time as she
approaches the well with her
sheep. He kisses her, weeps
with emotion and goes home
with her. Jacob meets Rachel’s
father, Laban, and moves in.

Jacob then strikes a deal with
Laban that he will work for
seven years and in return he
will marry his love, Rachel.

The night of the wedding
Laban somehow tricks Jacob
into marrying Leah, though
he still thinks he is marrying
Rachel. When Jacob figures
out he married the wrong
woman, he agrees to work
seven more years to marry
Rachel. Fourteen years of work
is worth it for the privilege of
marrying Rachel.

Then the babies start coming.

First Leah has a few. Rachel
has fertility troubles, so she
gives her handmaiden Bilhah
to Jacob as a surrogate for
herself. This works and Bilhah
has two sons. When Leah stops
having children, she gives her
handmaiden Zilpah as a wife to
Jacob in order to produce even
more boys. Eventually, Rachel
births two sons on her own. By
the end, we have 12 sons born
to Jacob through these four
women. These sons become the
12 tribes of Israel, which are the
basis of the transformation of
Judaism from one family into
the Jewish nation.

Usually we speak about our
three patriarchs, and our four
matriarchs. We do not often
mention the two other women
who mothered four of these
sons. This was not always our
tradition, though. There are
several midrashes that write
about the six matriarchs. For
example, in Numbers Rabbah,
a work written in the 12th
century, “Six corresponds
to the six matriarchs: Sarah,
Rebecca, Leah, Rachel, Zilpah
and Bilhah.” The Torah text
itself lists Bilhah and Zilpah
alongside Leah and Rachel
when listing all the sons of
Jacob and their mothers in
Genesis 35:23-26.

In Reform Judaism, we
embrace an idea called
audacious hospitality. It’s
defined as “a transformative
spiritual practice rooted in the
belief that we will be a stronger,
more vibrant Jewish commu-
nity when we fully welcome and
incorporate the diversity that is
the reality of modern Jewish
life.” Audacious hospitality
emulates our first patriarch,
Abraham, who was known
for his hospitality through his
ushering in of strangers who
wandered by his desert tent.

CAN DL E L IGHTIN G
Nov. 27
Dec. 4
The goal of audacious hospi-
tality is to contemplate who is
not showing up in our commu-
nities and ponder why that is.

Who are we excluding, either
on purpose or by mistake?
To whom do we need to be
reaching out? Who else should
we be including in our tent?
By honoring and including
Bilhah and Zilpah as two of
our foremothers, we rectify
their exclusion. It is correct to
honor them for their sake, but
it also can push us to be more
accepting of others. It reminds
us to pause and think about
others for whom we might need
to be audaciously hospitable.

For example, we know that
we must open our doors more
widely for the Jews of color
in our midst who often are
dismissed. Many communities
are actively figuring out how to
do that. All marginalized Jews
should feel the full embrace of
Klal Yisrael. By putting Bilhah
and Zilpah back in the place
of our original mothers, we
expand our community and
enrich ourselves. These two
4:19 p.m.

4:18 p.m.

women symbolize different
perspectives, which enable us
to see Judaism from another
angle. Perhaps
equally as
important, we tell the truth
of where we come from. Our
story does include Bilhah and
Zilpah. We would not have 12
tribes without them. The Torah
felt they were vital enough to
our history to include them.

It’s time to follow the Torah’s
example. l
Rabbi Beth Janus is a community
rabbi who sings with people living
with dementia, teaches people of
all ages, and officiates at life cycle
events. The Board of Rabbis of
Greater Philadelphia is proud to
provide diverse perspectives on
Torah commentary for the Jewish
Exponent. The opinions expressed
in this column are the author’s own
and do not reflect the view of the
Board of Rabbis.

Lecture HIAS
transgender rights.

“Many people are surprised
when I really foreground trans-
phobia as a key element of white
nationalism, but one of the
reasons why it’s so central to
white nationalism is because it is
the ultimate destabilizer of essen-
tial gender norms,” Stern said.

Stern illustrated her points
with slides featuring hateful
memes and images posted
by extremists on Twitter and
far-right social media platforms.

Many of them accused Jews of
destroying a 1950s-era white
Alexandra Minna Stern (top left) answers audience questions with Katz Center staff Steven Weitzman (top right)
utopian society. Some lauded and Anne Albert.
Photo by Sophie Panzer
Hitler youth groups and Nazi
propaganda. Stern said these during her research.

instability and disruption, and reflection of that,” she said. l
images were widely distributed
“It does seem that we’re the rise of the far right, who
online and she had collected moving into a kind of new act in a range of different polit- spanzer@jewishexponent.com;
an extensive library of them era defined by polarization, ical and social capacities, is a 215-832-0729
European Jewish background,”
she said.

After the performances,
the event divided into Zoom
breakout rooms based on
language, with sections for
English, Spanish, Arabic,
Kiswahili, Pashto
and Ukrainian. Interpreters for each
language translated the event in
live chat rooms.

In the English-speaking
room, Miller-Wilson asked
participants to reflect on their
favorite performances and what
they were thankful for during
this difficult year. Guests
mentioned friends, family, good
health and a new baby. l
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16 NOVEMBER 26, 2020
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