Yael Shemesh
Yael Shemesh is an Associate Professor in Hebrew Bible at Bar-Ilan University and the head of Fanya Gottesfeld Heller Center for the Study of Women in Judaism. Her main fields of interest are the poetics of biblical narrative, prophetic stories, measure for measure in the Bible, feminist interpretation to the Bible, animal ethics and mourning in the Bible. Among her publications: Mourning in the Bible: Coping with Loss in Biblical Literature (Hebrew).
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Papers by Yael Shemesh
This paper has two goals. The first is to sketch a profile of Rachel as she is presented in Genesis. Here the focus will be on the analogies constructed between her and other characters in Genesis, especially with Leah and with Jacob. In addition, the astonishing transformation of Rachel’s character in the Bible outside Genesis—from a beloved wife to the mother of the nation—will be considered. The first hints of this transformation can be found in two short references to Rachel (or her tomb) in 1 Samuel 10:2 and Ruth 4:11, but it reaches its zenith in the prophecy about Rachel weeping for her children in Jeremiah 31. It will also be shown how that chapter intensifies the analogies between Rachel and Leah and between Rachel and Jacob.
This paper has two goals. The first is to sketch a profile of Rachel as she is presented in Genesis. Here the focus will be on the analogies constructed between her and other characters in Genesis, especially with Leah and with Jacob. In addition, the astonishing transformation of Rachel’s character in the Bible outside Genesis—from a beloved wife to the mother of the nation—will be considered. The first hints of this transformation can be found in two short references to Rachel (or her tomb) in 1 Samuel 10:2 and Ruth 4:11, but it reaches its zenith in the prophecy about Rachel weeping for her children in Jeremiah 31. It will also be shown how that chapter intensifies the analogies between Rachel and Leah and between Rachel and Jacob.