When you read the story of Chana and Penina on Rosh Hashana, Penina reads very much like the villain. The second wife of Elkana, Penina taunts Chana, Elkana's first and primary wife, knowing full well the misery she is causing and does it anyway. Yet the commentaries say something astonishing - they say she was a righteous woman whose actions against Chana were completely well-intentioned. 

How do we interpret this? And if Penina was indeed righteous, why was she punished so severely, by losing eight of her ten children? And what lesson does she teach us about Rosh Hashana and prayer?

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