44:00 No no noo. It's not literal at all. He switched his father's bed and that is why his father rebuked him soo. On his level it was considered as if.
Rashi cites the midrash brought on Shabbat 55b:
Because he switched around his [father's] bed, the Torah treats him as if he slept with her. Now, why did he switch and desecrate his bed? When Rachel died, Yaakov took his bed, which was placed most frequently in Rachel's tent rather than the other tents, and Yaakov put his bed in Bilha's tent. Reuven came to protest his mother's insult. He said: "If my mother's sister was a rival-wife to my mother, should the maidservant of my mother's sister now become a rival-wife to my mother?" Therefore, he made the switch.
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Whoever says that Reuven sinned is mistaken. He tampered with his father's bed, and Scripture considers it as if he lay with Bilhah (Shabbat 55b).
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Reuven [means, see the difference between]. Leah said, "See the difference between my son and my father-in-law's sons, Esav. Although Esav sold his birthright willingly, Esav harbored hatred toward Yaakov (Genesis 27:41), whereas my son surrendered his birthright to Joseph against his will, yet he was not jealous of him. On the contrary, Reuven heard, and he rescued him from their hand" (ibid. 37:21) (Berachot 7b).
Topic: Ask JTF for September 29, 2013 is ready, baruch Hashem (Read 2038 times)