Photo: Dulcey Lima (on unsplash) - Don’t cry, it’s just a stupid bug! - But it’s hurt! Look, its leg got crushed by a stone. Let’s take it with us and pray, God will make it better. - If God can fix bugs, then maybe God could get us some rain, so I don’t have to walk the sheep so far and have that huge rock rolled off the wellhead to water them. --------------------- The night is still; only the veils that cover her from head to toe make a slight swishing sound as she is led toward the tent. Father has told her not to say a word. She will try her best. Surely, if she is a good wife, he will come to love her for who she is. --------------------- God hears her silent weeping. She had a head start of seven days before he began spending his nights with Rachel. It wasn’t enough to prove herself worthy; it wasn’t enough to open his heart. She yearns for affection the way an open wound yearns for salve. But perhaps this child will make a difference, and he will no longer hate her.
Just what it says: a little midrash, a filling in of some of the lacunae Torah leaves in the lives of its characters. The stories lay no claim to being right, but they do explore what is possible. Texts don't sit still long enough to have fixed meanings; too often we assume that Torah is done and finished. It is never finished.