וַתֵּ֣רֶא לֵאָ֔ה כִּ֥י עָמְדָ֖ה מִלֶּ֑דֶת וַתִּקַּח֙ אֶת־זִלְפָּ֣ה שִׁפְחָתָ֔הּ וַתִּתֵּ֥ן אֹתָ֛הּ לְיַעֲקֹ֖ב לְאִשָּֽׁה׃ (י) וַתֵּ֗לֶד זִלְפָּ֛ה שִׁפְחַ֥ת לֵאָ֖ה לְיַעֲקֹ֥ב בֵּֽן׃ (יא) וַתֹּ֥אמֶר לֵאָ֖ה (בגד) [בָּ֣א גָ֑ד] וַתִּקְרָ֥א אֶת־שְׁמ֖וֹ גָּֽד׃ (יב) וַתֵּ֗לֶד זִלְפָּה֙ שִׁפְחַ֣ת לֵאָ֔ה בֵּ֥ן שֵׁנִ֖י לְיַעֲקֹֽב׃ (יג) וַתֹּ֣אמֶר לֵאָ֔ה בְּאׇשְׁרִ֕י כִּ֥י אִשְּׁר֖וּנִי בָּנ֑וֹת וַתִּקְרָ֥א אֶת־שְׁמ֖וֹ אָשֵֽׁר׃ (9)

When Leah saw that she had stopped bearing, she took her maid Zilpah and gave her to Jacob as concubine. (10) And when Leah’s maid Zilpah bore Jacob a son, (11) Leah said, “What luck!” So she named him Gad. (12) When Leah’s maid Zilpah bore Jacob a second son, (13) Leah declared, “What fortune!” meaning, “Women will deem me fortunate.” So she named him Asher.

Genesis 30:9-13

Discussion Questions

1. Where could queer women be “hiding” in the passage?
2. How does accounting for queer women impact the meaning of the text?
3. What are the broader implications of this passage and its commentary?

Supplementary Material

WHEN LEAH SAW THAT SHE HAD LEFT OFF BEARING SHE TOOK ZILPAH HER HANDMAID, etc. I do not know what motivated this deed of Leah and why she gave her handmaid to her husband for she was not barren that she should hope to have children through Zilpah, and it is not natural for women to increase the number of their husbands’ wives. We must, however, say that the matriarchs were prophetesses,108Bereshith Rabbah, end of Chapter 72. who knew that Jacob was destined to establish twelve tribes, and Leah desired that the majority of his sons be from her or from her handmaid, who was in her power, so that her sister Rachel would not prevail over her with respect to the number of her sons. Therefore, she said, G-d hath given me my share, because I have given my handmaid to my husband. Jacob also came unto her on account of this, i.e., that he raise many sons for he knew it to be so, as our Rabbis have said. Jacob was also aware that he was destined to establish twelve tribes. It is possible that knowing that the Land had been given to their children, and realizing that Abraham and Isaac had not had many children, Jacob wanted to have many wives in order to increase his progeny so as to inherit the Land, for a fourth generation shall come hither again, and so Leah wanted to give him her handmaid so that he would not wed a stranger. [2]

Ramban on Genesis 30:9

Zilpah’s memory of Jacob’s arrival is nothing like Rachel’s or Leah’s, but then Zilpah had little use for men, whom she described as hairy, crude, and half-human. Women needed men to make babies and to move heavy objects, but otherwise she didn’t understand their purpose, much less appreciate their charms. [3]

Anita Diamant, “The Red Tent”

For women, the need and desire to nurture each other is not pathological but redemptive, and it is within that knowledge that our real power is rediscovered. […] Interdependency between women is the way to a freedom which allows I to be, not in order to be used, but in order to be creative. This is a difference between the passive be and the active being. [4]

Audre Lorde, “The Master’s Tools Will Never Dismantle The Master’s House,” Sister Outsider

Commentary

Leah Session (Summer 2021)

Water

Leah has legal ownership of Zilpah as her handmaiden, but by having her bear children to Jacob they establish a stronger familial bond. Zilpah also, by becoming a concubine to Jacob, now has children of her own and security beyond Leah to care for her as she ages.

Earth

poly dynamic with Leah/Jacob/Zilpah feels queer
Anita Diamant implies a level of queerness in Zilpah, but we don’t see much of anything about Zilpah in the Torah text

Ramban gives the sense that adding more women to the relationship is not natural and not understood (by the men)
becomes more understandable once you apply a queer reading/understanding of the dynamic

Audre Lorde text implies a natural, mutual exchange between the women
Zilpah benefits from Leah’s status and being a mother to Jacob’s children
Leah benefits from Zilpah’s labor by adding children to her tally with Jacob

Rachel and Leah seem pitted against each other throughout the Torah text, even though they are sisters
Sisters are supposed to support each other, but Leah finds her closest female ally in Zilpah, who is below her social status
-indicates chosen family vs. biological family

Fire

– this paints a very upsetting picture of a lesbian being forced to have sex with a man by her employer

-Is the more feminist interpretation the one that tries to recognize the problem and the inequality or one that erases it

– the ancient near east was not a feminist utopia

– this note of men as half-human inverses many of the things that have been said about women

– This does not increase zilpah and leads to intimacy or make them alys this is unlike the potential poly vibe about ruth Naomi and Boaz

-there is something theoretically queer about the idea these kids have two mommies

– there are other reasons people consent to sex other than attraction

-Zilpah has no power this doesn’t match with the Lourde quote

the Lorde quote

the Ramban quote might read queerness into Leahs choices but that doesn’t make it non-expoitative

You can have abuse on queer relationships

If we talk about fucked up reasons to consent this results in gad and asher being Zilpah and leahs kids this is not the surface reason of anyone’s motivation.

There is power in acknowledging these horrible parts of the queer experiance

Air

Zilpah doesn’t get power or benefit really from this, she’s not buying into the system.