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Conclusion To Die like a Woman? To Live like a Woman? Is There a]ewess inJudaism? In a society that reserves politics for men-such as the privilege ofrepresenting the paradigm ofhumanity-it is the feminine that discriminates because the task ofgathering the imprint of all the hesitations, problems, and patterns of compromise always reverts to the feminine. -Nicole Loraux, Children ofAthena, 249 A classic deathbed scene guides readers ofGenesis 48-49 through the dying moments ofa venerable patriarch in his Egyptian home. Old, frail, and virtually blind, Jacob is pleasantly surprised to receive a visit from his powerful son, Joseph, accompanied by the latter's two young sons. Overjoyed, Jacob expresses his pleasure through blessings. But he, like Isaac before him, fails to recognize the correct identity ofeach child, bestowing on the younger the blessings due to primogeniture. Jacob then summons all his sons to listen to their respective destinies. Finally he issues orders regarding the desired topography of his burial-he is to be buried in the family burial ground in Canaan, next to Abraham, Sarah, his grandmother, Isaac, Rebecca, his mother, and Leah, his wife (Gen. 49:30-31). This is clearly an ideal. To judge by the irenic spectacle, an Israelite hero who has enjoyed singular divine favor in his lifetime dies in old age, at home, and surrounded by his numerous progenies. Greek heroes, by contrast , ifloved by the gods, die young and in battle. An Israelite male model is buried according to his wishes, together with his ancestors and with his (senior) wife. One element is conspicuously missing from the elaborate scene of Jacob's demise. No women are present at his deathbed, neither wives, 162 Conclusion nor concubines, daughters or daughters-in-law, or granddaughters. Yet, women do make an appearance on the stage of patriarchal death, somewhat obliquely and through verbal allusions rather than visual attendance. Jacob's dying words recall the memory of the deceased matriarchs whom he is about to join in the familial graveyard where select members, male and female, had been buried. He mentions, twice, the events that embroiled his daughter, Dinah, in premature and forced widowhood without, however, referring to her by name (Gen. 48: 22; 49: 5-7). And he recalls the death of his beloved wife, Rachel: When I came from Padan, Rachel, to my sorrow, died in the land ofCanaan, on the way, when there was still some distance to go to Ephrath. And I buried her there on the way to Ephratha, that is Bethlehem. (Gen. 48:7, RSV) This is a touching but select tribute. In the confrontation between life and death that underlies Jacob's text, the death of Rachel is made to fit the dignity of the patriarch's departing words. But in the clash between birth and death, as they meet in the bodyofa dying woman, Rachel's demise presents a startling contrast with that ofJacob. She dies in an agony that men cannot share, untimely and away from the domicile. Gen. 35:16-19 is terse: They left Beit El and still had a way to go before reaching Ephratha when Rachel was seized with labor pains. She had a difficult labor. And when she was experiencing difficult labor the midwife said to her: Do not fear for this [baby], too, is a son. And when she was dying, Rachel named him "Son of my Sorrow" with her dying wish. But his father renamed him "Son of my Strength" [Benjamin]. And Rachel died and was buried on the road to Ephratha, namely Bethlehem. Rachel's labor, repeatedly characterized as difficult, drives home a closed world of women in which pain mixes with joy, and sorrow with satisfaction . When motherhood finally comes to her it entails a personal transformation and a tragedy. Rachel, the daughter and wife, becomes a prophet of the mother's self-destruction when she issues an ultimatum to her husband to provide her with sons or to bear the responsibility for her death (Gen. 30:1). He demurs and Yahweh arbitrates. She gives birth to her firstborn, Joseph, naming him "The one who will add more sons" (Gen. 30:22-24). But the redacted text, chillingly, registers the fulfillment of Rachel's ardent longing for a second son right after it records the birth ofDinah who never becomes a mother (Gen. 30:21). And it anticipates Rachel's fate by insert- .233.6] Project MUSE (2024-04-20 07:18 GMT) Conclusion ing the tale...

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