FROM GRIEF TO THE RIGHT HAND

“But [Rachel] died in childbirth. As she was dying she named her son Ben-Oni [son of my grief], but his father called him Binyamin [son of the right hand, son of the south].”
Genesis 35:18

When both my children were born, a decision was made to not know the gender. Although this decision taxed me many times, as I am one who likes to plan way in advance, I had no choice but to go through with it. Sure, I attempted to take the doctor aside and bribe her, but because of my wife’s decision, the doctor stood firm. The not knowing, however, allowed us the opportunity to consider names and colors for the baby room, despite what the gender would be. And planning paint along with deciding names filled our time. We tried on an array of ideas, but in the end I only was able to get my votes in as middle names. Still, in all our ideas, we never considered giving our child a name like Ben-Oni.
Granted I do understand that Rachel would pass as she gave birth, and that the naming of children held within them a profession of who they would become, it is because it would be a profession that I find myself questioning why such a name would be given. Who would want their child to be a constant reminder of pain and grief, or to only know these traits in all that he did? It is because of this, then, that Ya’akov spoke up and canceled Rachel’s naming choice. Instead of his final son taking on a name of grief, Ya’akov rewarded his son with the name Binyamin, the son of my right hand.
To be named as the son of the right hand holds within it a stature. Being associated with the right hand or right side was traditionally a reference to strength and virtue. However, the name Binyamin also translates as son of the south, and could in fact reference the location of where he was born, as Kena’an (Canaan) was located south in their travels. I do not have the footing to argue and dispute rabbinical sources, but I believe that both descriptions fit. The location of Kena’an cannot be disputed, but nor can the truths we read in scripture just soon after, where Binyamin is cherished and protected following the supposed death of Yosef. It is in his name, though, that I find a question. Ya’akov cherished Binyamin. Do I cherish my children the same way? Do I look at them as an illustration of strength and virtue? And, am I calling this strength and virtue out of them as Ya’akov did?

Genesis 35:14 – 36:19