Reuben: Tribe of Tammuz

Exploring the tribe of Reuben, associated with the Jewish month of Tammuz

Photo by Matt Noble on Unsplash

Reuben (רְאוּבֵן), the first born of Jacob and Leah, is the tribe associated with the month of Tammuz (תָּמוּז).  His name, Reuben is directly related to the sense of sight, which is considered to be the sense of the month of Tammuz.  When Reuben was born, Leah exclaimed, “Because the Eternal looked (רָאָה) upon my affliction; and now my husband will love me.” (Genesis 29:32)

Reuben has three very stand-out memorable moments in the Torah.  Possibly more, but three that jump right to mind for me.  First, is the the scene with mandrakes in Genesis 30 where Rachel begs Leah to give her the mandrakes (דוּדָאִים) Reuben has harvested, with this Leah “buys” another night with Jacob and conceives Issachar.