After working for his uncle Laban for seven years, Jacob became the husband of both Leah and Rachel, Laban's daughters.
There was lots of tension between the two sisters. Leah longed for Jacob to love her more, and hoped that the sons to whom she was giving birth---Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah---would draw Jacob closer to her.
Rachel, who was not initially able to have children, was jealous of her sister. In one comic incident, young Reuben one day brought home some dudaim (a.k.a. mandrakes), plants believed to promote fertility. Rachel wanted the mandrakes, and Leah traded them to her for a night in bed with Jacob. The result was that Rachel got the mandrakes, but Leah conceived Issachar, another son. Despite all of the scheming, it was still God who was in charge of fertility.
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