Hello, My Name is Zilpah, The Drooping One
Named after my great-aunt Zelda, my mother thought it was a good name to give me. I've been having some thoughts on the subject. Like maybe changing this name. When I arrived in Israel at age 11, and was asked my Hebrew name - I said I had one but didn't like it - so they gave me Gila - as in happiness/joy. That stuck for the duration of my school years in Israel approximately 4 total - (left school officially in the 9th grade and never returned). For years went back to Joy, then started looking at Zilpah till one Syrian rabbi in Brooklyn told me it was a bad name. *Do you want to be called Zal Peh?* Which essentially is breaking the name Zilpah into 2 words - Zal meaning slow and peh meaning mouth. I.e a stupid woman who spews nothing but minutia. Then when I came back to Israel I spoke to Rabbi Ginsburg who said she was one of the 4 mothers and it was a good name. How can she be one of the 4 mothers if the mothers are
Sarah
Rebecca
Rachel
Leah
And there's no mention of SIX as far as I can remember - so - hmm. But she did give birth to two tribes - Asher and Gad which received pretty good blessings from their father Jacob. And I've always had a very special place in my heart for Jacob and the whole persona of who he was and what kind of life he led. When visiting the Tomb of the Patriarchs in Hebron I couldn't stop sobbing. I just felt so much sadness at the loss. Anyway - here is who Zilpah was - and the archetype of who I'm named after......
Zilpah
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
In the Book of Genesis, Zilpah (זִלְפָּה "Drooping", Standard Hebrew Zilpa, Tiberian HebrewZilpāh) is Leah's handmaid and the second concubine of Jacob and the mother of Gad and Asher.
Zilpah is given to Leah as a handmaid by Leah's father, Laban, upon Leah's marriage to Jacob (see Genesis 29:24, 46:18). According to some commentators, Zilpah and Bilhah, the handmaids of Leah and Rachel, respectively, were actually younger daughters of Laban {Pirke De-Rabbi Eliezer, xxxvi.}.
According to Rashi, Zilpah was younger than Bilhah, and Laban's decision to give her to Leah was part of the deception he used to trick Jacob into marrying Leah, who was older than Rachel. The morning after the wedding, Laban explained to Jacob, "This is not done in our place, to give the younger before the older" (Genesis 29:26). But at night, to mask the deception, Laban gave the veiled bride the younger of the handmaids, so Jacob would think that he was really marrying Rachel, the younger of the sisters.
Zilpah also figures in the competition between Jacob's wives to bear him sons. Leah stops conceiving after the birth of her fourth son, at which point Rachel offers her handmaid, Bilhah, in marriage to Jacob so she can have more children through her. When Bilhah conceives two sons, Leah takes up the same idea and presents Zilpah as a wife to Jacob. Leah names the two sons of Zilpah and is directly involved in their upbringing.
In Jewish tradition, Zilpah is believed to be buried in the Tomb of the Matriarchs in Tiberias.
Sarah
Rebecca
Rachel
Leah
And there's no mention of SIX as far as I can remember - so - hmm. But she did give birth to two tribes - Asher and Gad which received pretty good blessings from their father Jacob. And I've always had a very special place in my heart for Jacob and the whole persona of who he was and what kind of life he led. When visiting the Tomb of the Patriarchs in Hebron I couldn't stop sobbing. I just felt so much sadness at the loss. Anyway - here is who Zilpah was - and the archetype of who I'm named after......
Zilpah
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
In the Book of Genesis, Zilpah (זִלְפָּה "Drooping", Standard Hebrew Zilpa, Tiberian HebrewZilpāh) is Leah's handmaid and the second concubine of Jacob and the mother of Gad and Asher.
Zilpah is given to Leah as a handmaid by Leah's father, Laban, upon Leah's marriage to Jacob (see Genesis 29:24, 46:18). According to some commentators, Zilpah and Bilhah, the handmaids of Leah and Rachel, respectively, were actually younger daughters of Laban {Pirke De-Rabbi Eliezer, xxxvi.}.
According to Rashi, Zilpah was younger than Bilhah, and Laban's decision to give her to Leah was part of the deception he used to trick Jacob into marrying Leah, who was older than Rachel. The morning after the wedding, Laban explained to Jacob, "This is not done in our place, to give the younger before the older" (Genesis 29:26). But at night, to mask the deception, Laban gave the veiled bride the younger of the handmaids, so Jacob would think that he was really marrying Rachel, the younger of the sisters.
Zilpah also figures in the competition between Jacob's wives to bear him sons. Leah stops conceiving after the birth of her fourth son, at which point Rachel offers her handmaid, Bilhah, in marriage to Jacob so she can have more children through her. When Bilhah conceives two sons, Leah takes up the same idea and presents Zilpah as a wife to Jacob. Leah names the two sons of Zilpah and is directly involved in their upbringing.
In Jewish tradition, Zilpah is believed to be buried in the Tomb of the Matriarchs in Tiberias.
Comments