Why are Bilhah and Zilpah not included in the traditional count of our Matriarchs?
The simplest answer may be that Bilhah and Zilpah married Yaakov and became mothers through the intercession of their mistresses, Rachel and Leah, who were each eager to have as great a share as possible in creating the Jewish nation. Let's probe a little deeper.
By the time Leah had already borne Yaakov four sons, Rachel, who was still childless, approached Yaakov and demanded, "Give me children. Otherwise I am dead." Yaakov replied, "Am I instead of God Who has withheld from you the fruit of the womb?" Rachel then gave Bilhah to Yaakov as a wife, and Hashem blessed them with two sons. When Leah saw that she had stopped conceiving, she too gave her maidservant to Yaakov, and Zilpah bore Yaakov two sons. Leah then bears two more sons herself and Rachel bears one at this point.
Rachel's words echo the words of Sarah, who gave Hagar to Avraham. Sarah said, "Perhaps I will be built up through her." Rachel also said, "Perhaps I too will be built up through her." Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch notes that 'building' can refer to a physical edifice or to building in time when one action forms the basis for another. A son (ben) is a brick (levena) in the structure of generations. Rachel learned from Sarah's action that one can place a brick, a child, in the building of generations. Future generation can then further be built on that. Rachel hoped to be "built up" to have her own child in the merit of raising her maidservant's son as her own. She also understood, as Chana would understand generations later, that she could not rely on the merit of her husband, writes Rav Dovid Hofstedter in Derash Dovid, but would have to put in her own effort and prayer.
Rachel names Bilhah's son Dan, explaining that "God had judged me." She added, "He has also heard my voice and has given me a son." Dan was the result of Rachel's prayers on Bilhah's behalf, points out the Daas Shraga. When Rachel and Leah prayed for their maidservants to have children both they and their maidservants were answered.
The Siftei Chaim points out that one must pray, but one must also invest effort to achieve results. When Yaakov told Rachel, Am I instead of God?" he was urging her to do something. In response, Rachel gave her maidservant to Yaakov. When Rachel conceived, Hashem remembered both her efforts and her prayers. Similarly, our faith too must strike a balance between effort and prayer. We must not get so caught up in our own efforts that we forget to pray and ask Hashem to make our efforts successful.
Rabbi Solomon explains that the purpose of our efforts is to make us worthy to receive God's blessings. Nevertheless, our faith must lie staunchly in Hashem and not in our own efforts. Our efforts must be viewed as our obligation rather than as a condition for success. This was the greatness of our matriarchs, writes the Bein Hamishpatayim. They did their hishtadlus and gave their maidservants to Yaakov but they focused on prayer.
Rabbi Adari writes that the name Bilhah is derived from behalah, alarm and panic, which she felt at her mistress's childlessness. Zilpah, too, is derived from zolof, for her eyes were wet from tears she shed at the prospect that her mistress would be married to the evil Esau. When we speak of Rachel and Leah as our Matriarchs, Bilhah and Zilpah are automatically subsumed within those names. Likewise Rav Yedid points out that the maidservants represent the more hidden aspects of the Matriarchs' personalities.
When Rachel approached Yaakov demanding children as akeret habayit (the mainstay of the household), on her exalted level there was a touch of arrogance. Yaakov's response, then, was, "Look within yourself, not to me, for the merit of having children." Rachel realized that while Sarah treated Hagar with respect, she had been treating Leah somewhat haughtily. She vowed to change her attitude. To reinforce this resolve, she put an additional wife into the household and determined to treat both Leah and Bilhah with the utmost respect. This change in behavior, writes the Yalkut Lekach Tov, gave wings to her prayers and allowed them to enter heaven.
Just as the world was built on loving kindness, so too is the House of Israel. Rabbi Dov Yaffe points out the Medrash that when Leah conceived her seventh child, she prayed that it be a girl so that Rachel would not be humiliated by having fewer sons than the maidservants. She followed in the footsteps of Rachel who divulged the secret signs to Leah so that she would not be humiliated under the bridal canopy. Both Rachel and Leah set very high standards for their family. Through their actions they displayed mutual respect, sensitivity to others, and loving kindness.
Good character was also a hallmark of the maidservants, who exemplified humility. Even after they married Yaakov, they remained in their own eyes maidservants, writes Ktav V'Hakabalah. They did not want personal recognition; they were content to be the reflected glory of their mistresses. Just as they subjected themselves to the will of their mistresses, they taught Bnei Yisroel to subject themselves to the will of Hashem. As proof of the importance and greatness of the maidservants, the Zohar writes that after the death of Rachel and Leah, the cloud representing God's Presence moved and hovered over the tent of Bilhah. Certainly she and Zilpah were great women to merit such an honor.
The gifts of the maidservants remain with us. All of our Matriarchs were worthy models for us to emulate, the four that we remember and the two that bask in their reflected glory.
