This week's double Torah portion starts with rules for sacrifice and concludes with rules for sex and marriage. Please join me (Rabbi David) and your Nafshenu friends tonight, 7-8pm, for a look at the portion, as well as the Haftarah (from the Prophets
section of the Bible) and some echoing texts in Psalms and Proverbs (from the Writings section of the Bible).
One of the no-nos listed in the Torah, is for a man to marry both a woman and her
sister. Why matches like that might be a bad idea can be found in the story of Jacob's four wives (two sisters and two concubines) and the psychological hurt that unfolded from it.
DON'T TRY THIS AT HOME: Jacob marries sisters Leah and Rachel, one for love and the other through his father-in-laws deception. He also marries his wives' servants, Bilhah and Zilpah. The resulting sadness, anger and jealousy -- extending to the generation of their children -- is a proof-text for the Torah's later prohibition against a
man marrying sisters.
By the way, polygyny was not prohibited then. It was not outlawed until about 1,000 years ago among Ashkenazi Jews, and until the past century among Sefardi Jews.
