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Feedback and Issues Raised - Page 5

Written by Rabbi Professor Jonathan Magonet Friday, 01 October 2004

A Prayer Book in the Making

Rachel and Leah, Bilhah and Zilpah

The addition of the matriarchs to the Amidah has in turn sparked off a couple of questions. Firstly, why the order ‘Rachel and Leah’, and not ‘Leah and Rachel’ since Leah was the older. Traditionally, as in the blessing of girls on Erev Shabbat, Rachel is listed first, presumably on the Biblical basis that Jacob loved her more and the special role she plays for the prophet Jeremiah, weeping as her children are led into exile (Jeremiah 31:15). Again there are arguments both for retaining the traditional order and reversing it. Perhaps it is worth preserving the traditional order on the grounds that it follows the frequently repeated Biblical practice of preferring the younger child to the older one, thus breaking the convention that the oldest automatically inherits. God, so to speak, repeatedly chooses the unexpected one, thus upsetting any conventional practices, and demonstrating that God acts in God’s own way.

More controversial, apparently, is the question about the two handmaids, Bilhah and Zilpah, who were the mothers of four of the twelve tribes. A powerful rabbinic midrash asks the question why the children of Israel had to endure slavery in Egypt. It answers that the sons of Rachel and Leah dismissed the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah on the grounds that they were the children of slaves and of less worth. By experiencing slavery in Egypt all the descendents of Jacob were made equal in this regard.

While it would be problematic to introduce two more names into the opening of the Amidah which is already somewhat long, it does seem important to note their existence and significance as founding mothers of the Jewish people, so we have introduced them into the blessing for the community which celebrates the entire family of Israel. Nevertheless there has been a strong reaction against this, which is puzzling in terms of our Reform commitment to pluralism and openness. A final decision has yet to be made.

Conclusion

We welcome your views on these and other issues as they arise.