OCTOBER 26/CHESHVAN 11

2208 (1553 BCE):

Birthday (and Yahrzeit--2323) of Binyamin, the second of the 2 sons of Yaakov and Rachel (Yaakov’s 12^th and last son) (Midrash Tadshe).

G. Hamori (Public Domain)

2208 (1553 BCE):

Yahrzeit of Rachel, one of the 4 Matriarchs, Yaakov's second and favorite wife and the only Biblical woman whose date of death is commemorated for posterity. She died while giving birth to her second son Binyamin.  Yaakov buried her by the roadside, in Bethlehem; there, "Rachel weeps over her children, for they are gone [in exile]" (Jeremiah 31:14). Her tomb has served as a place of prayer for Jews for more than 35 centuries.