Weekly Torah Portion

Much of this portion records how Jacob came to marry four wives and the subsequent birth of eleven sons and a daughter (a twelfth son is born in next weeks portion). Each birth is accompanied with the giving of names and it is most interesting to note that after all the births it is Leah and Rachel who name all the children. In addition, a reason is given for the choice of names in all cases except that of Dinah.

There is a teaching that when parents name their children there is a touch of prophesy involved in the choice of a name. When parents look at their new child somehow they are given special insight into their nature and ultimate direction in life. Many parents report a flash of intuition, a moment of clarity, when trying to find the very name that will best suit this new creation.

The Talmud states that an extra portion of understanding was given to women. It then is no surprise that the Torah records that is was Leah and Rachel who gave the names. What is somewhat paradoxical though is that the reason given for all the names seems to be based more on immediate expressions of emotions than prophetic insight regarding the future. Yet in this lies a deep insight, for being totally engrossed in the present opens a gateway into the future. One of the great secrets of time is that every moment of time in potential contains all time, past present and future (see The Mystical Nature of Light ).

The climatic moments and days surrounding a birth bring with it accompanying flashes of inspiration and insight born of that peak experience. Those moments of inspiration bridge the illusion of linear time and open a portal to a much expanded experience of time, especially as regards the essence of the new child.

This idea is very connected to a Jewish view of astrology which sees constructive wisdom based on the position of the sun, moon and planets at the very moment of birth. While Torah forbids the use of astrology to predict the future or as a crutch interfering with free choice, it does not forbid the use of astrology to better understand the potential of an individual based on the planets influence at the time of birth. The Tamud contains scores of references to the power and the influence of the stars along with the appropriate warnings regarding the misuse of this information.

On one’s birthday we are taught that our potential or mazal, the preordained “deck of cards” that each person comes into this world with is strengthened and ascendant. It is good therefore to spend one’s birthday in deep introspection as to ones mission and purpose in the world.

As each child was born to Jacob the circumstances and feelings surrounding these events were understood by Leah and Rachel to be a gateway into seeing the child’s inner essence and a prophetic glimpse into the mission and character of each of the future tribes of Israel.