The 12 Tribes of Israel Collection
Issachar from the 12 Tribes of Israel
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Issachar - The Scholar“G-d has given me my reward.” (Gen. 30:18)
Leah's fifth son, Issachar, embodies the notion of the reward that comes from hard work. The painting takes us to the Jezreel valley in the north, where the quilted landscape shows the lush reward of the pioneers and farmers who laboured to transform an arid land into a productive one. The valley unfolds before us like a scroll or a book, mirroring the role of the tribe of Issachar as Israel’s scholars and educators. Through the labour of Torah study, we harvest the richness of G-d’s wisdom, which provides us with guidance, sustenance and direction, allowing us to see far into the peaceful distance.
The deep blues of the painting reflect Issachar’s gemstone, sapphire, which was also the material from which was carved the Tablets of the Ten Commandments, the Divine source of our wisdom and scholarship. |
Detailed Explanation
- Essential Quality - Reward
- Birth Mother - Leah
- Birth Order - Fifth
- Mother's Naming - G-d hearkened to Leah; and she conceived and bore Jacob a fifth son. And Leah declared, "God has granted me my reward because I gave my maidservant to my husband." So she call his name Issachar. (Genesis, 30:17-18)
- Landscape - A view north overlooking the Jezreel Valley from Mount Gilboa.
- Gemstone - Sapphire
- Father (Jacob) Blessing - Issachar is a strong-boned donkey; he rests between the boundaries. He saw tranquility that it was good, and the land that it was pleasant, yet he bent his shoulder to bear and he became an indentured labourer. (Genesis, 49:14-15)
- Kabbalah - Issachar is the scholar. Scholarship provides wisdom, clarity and direction. It is the foundation of any system. Issachar is the dedication to immerse in study and education. Ultimately, the final reward of hard work is peace and bounty. (Jacobson, Simon from Twelve Tribes - Twelve Paths)