Exiled.  Living off the largess of a man who deceived him into marrying the wrong woman.  Working as a servant so that he can honor his mother Rebekah and father Isaac's desire that he marry one of Laban's daughters.  What a pitiful life for the heir of Isaac--and Abraham.  The only bright spot in his life was Rachel.  Fourteen years he waited for her.

In the meantime, Leah gave Jacob four sons.  Reuben--the first born, Simeon, Levi, and Judah.  "And when Rachel saw that she bore Jacob no children, Rachel envied her sister and said to Jacob, Give me children, or else I die."  She was telling him that her life had no meaning.  But it made Jacob very angry, "...am I in God's stead, who has withheld from you the fruit of the womb?"  In other words, "Don't blame me!"

Rachel then did exactly what Sarah had done when Sarah sent her handmaid into Abraham.  Rachael said, "Behold, my maid Bilhah.  Go in to her and she she shall bear...that I may have children by her."  So Bilhah gave Jacob two sons, Dan and Naphtali.  Which made Leah angry, so she sent her maid Zilpah into Jacob to be his fourth wife.  (He must have been quite a man!)  Zilpah had two sons: Gad and Asher.  But Leah wasn't through with Jacob.  She had two more sons: Issachar and Zebulun.

And Finally, just when you start thinking that having sons is all there is in this story, Leah bears a daughter named Dinah.  And there is a wonderful book of "factual-fiction" about Dinah called "The Red Tent."  I loved it.  It brought the story of all of these people to life.

The Bible concludes the story of Rachel this way:  "And God remembered Rachael...heard her...and she bore a son--Joseph.  Years passed, and Rachael conceived once more.  But her labor was hard and  she died giving birth to Benjamin--Jacob had lost the love of his life, but Rachel's two sons were his pride and joy.  And the other sons--well, they were jealous of them--which is another story.

Leah, Rachael, Bilhah, and Zilpah.  And twelve sons.  (underlined above) Who became the twelve tribes of Israel.  (Jacob's new name that God gave him.) And that is why the Jews are in the land of Israel today.  And why they will never give it up.  All because of Leah and Rachael and their love for Jacob.  The stories about the children of Israel are stories of real people like you and me.  Flawed.