Cheshvan 11 – Rachel and Benjamin

Cheshvan 11, 5786; from sunset November 1, 2025, to sunset November 2, 2025

(The eleventh day of the eighth month)

Rachel & Benjamin

Though the Bible itself does not give us a date for these events, Today in the Bible, Judaism recognizes as the day that Rachel, wife of Jacob and mother of two of the twelve tribes of Israel, died while giving birth to her son Benjamin.

Then they journeyed from Bethel. And when there was but a little distance to go to Ephrath, Rachel labored in childbirth, and she had hard labor. Now it came to pass, when she was in hard labor, that the midwife said to her, “Do not fear; you will have this son also.”

And so it was, as her soul was departing (for she died), that she called his name Ben-Oni (Son of my Sorrow); but his father called him Benjamin (Son of the Right Hand).

So Rachel died and was buried on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem). And Jacob set a pillar on her grave, which is the pillar of Rachel’s grave to this day. – Genesis 35:16-20 (NKJ)

So, the last of Jacob’s sons, Benjamin, was born under tragic circumstances. He was the only one of Jacob’s children born in the land of Israel.

Before Jacob’s death, he pronounced this blessing over Benjamin:

And Jacob called his sons and said, “Gather together, that I may tell you what shall befall you in the last days: Gather together and hear, you sons of Jacob, and listen to Israel your father. – Genesis 49:1-2

“Benjamin is a ravenous wolf; in the morning he shall devour the prey, and at night he shall divide the spoil.” – Genesis 49:27 (NKJ)

And, likewise, Moses blessed the tribes before his death:

This is the blessing that Moses the man of God pronounced on the Israelites before his death. – Deuteronomy 33:1

About Benjamin he said: “Let the beloved of the LORD rest secure in him, for he shields him all day long, and the one the LORD loves rests between his shoulders.” – Deuteronomy 33:12 (NIV)

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