Text: Genesis 29 - 32

11″ x 14″



Leah was in many ways a bitter woman, though with good reason: she was married off to a man she didn’t love, who had really wanted her younger sister, Rachel; when Jacob did marry Rachel as well, she was clearly left in second place to her sister in her husband’s eyes; in fact, in one place, the Torah even says that she thought Jacob hated her. However, her source of gladness in life was her many children. She had a total of seven, one daughter, Dinah, and six sons who would go on to head half the Tribes of Israel: Reuven, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zevulun. Judah, in fact, lends his name to what we call our people to today, Jews, from Judaism (from the beliefs of Judah), and Levi founded the tribe from which Moses and Aaron descend. I chose to portray Leah at her happiest, when she was expecting one of her many beloved children.