EXTRA · Side-ring · Parashas Vayeitzei · Passuk 30:41
This page is an EXTRA derasha. It is not part of the main-ring PREV/NEXT chain.
And it was, whenever the stronger of the flock were in heat, that Yaakov would place the rods in the troughs before the eyes of the flock, so that they would conceive among the rods.
Classical sources beyond the TT-numbered main ring: context of Rashi and classical readings on selective placement of the rods.
Lemma: הצאן המקשרות.
English: “Whenever the stronger of the flock were in heat” — when the robust animals came into heat, he placed the rods.
Derash / classical peirush — not a formal named middah of the 13. Selective application of the method to favor the stronger animals.
Yaakov timed the placement of the rods to coincide with the breeding of the stronger animals, directing the better stock toward the patterned offspring that would be his.