legend
A question bothered me, I wonder how the rabbi dealt with it;
It is notable in the Torah that at the stage of the formation of the nation there are almost exclusively males. I do not mean that men play more central roles, nor that most of the time women are not mentioned at all (as in the generations from Adam to Abraham). I mean that from Abraham to the generation of the sons of the tribes – only two daughters were born!
Unlike Adam until Abraham, who gave birth to sons and daughters, with Abraham, there are 30, and so with Isaac [regarding Abraham, there is indeed an opinion in the GK that he had a daughter]. Similarly, with regard to the sons of Jacob – the only daughter is Dinah, and also with Deborah their sons – seventy souls composed almost entirely of males (except for Dinah, and perhaps also Yocheved).
[There is indeed an opinion in the Midrash that all the tribes were born with twins – and it was brought by Rashi and Ramban. And Ramban comments that according to this opinion, it is clear that all the daughters died before they went down to Egypt, otherwise they would have had to be counted among the souls who went down to Egypt].
How do we deal with such a phenomenon that is not perceived in the reality we are familiar with – three generations of only males (except for two females) [and the fact that all the girls died before the descent from Egypt is also not perceived realistically, apart from the mere improbability that all twelve births would be double births].
I don’t know. There may have been girls and they weren’t counted for some reason. But yes, it is.
Forgive me, this is a simple question from someone whose way of understanding the Bible is in the Pentateuch of Rashi. Girls were also born, but they were not listed at all because in terms of the relative lists they have no value in a patriarchal society. Those who were listed were exceptional, in whose name some mythological or important event was associated - one that caused the name not to be forgotten for centuries until the story was written down. Dinah was mentioned because of the rape story, although it is possible that Jacob had other daughters: "And all his sons and daughters rose up to comfort him." Such was, for example, "Serah the daughter of Asher." Incidentally, among the men there were also those who were remembered in the Bible because of famous stories associated with their names. Enoch - because God took them, Nimrod - a hero hunter before the Lord, Anah - found the days in the wilderness. And so on and so forth, because he was a merchant to sell, and why?! ‘And regarding the unique reason that from Adam to Abraham it is written that they gave birth to daughters - because this is intended to serve the message that the world was gradually settled, gradually increased in population from a single pair of humans.
Let the difficult one go and open the Kasuto commentary and find comfort for his soul.
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