In this week’s Torah portion, Yaakov
(Jacob) heads to Charan to escape his brother Esav’s (Esau’s) wrath and to find
a wife from amongst his own people.
“And it came to pass, when Yaakov
saw Rachel, the daughter of Lavan (Laban), his mother’s brother, and the sheep
of Lavan, his mother’s brother, that Yaakov drew near and rolled the rock off
the mouth of the well, and he watered the sheep of Lavan, his mother’s brother.
And Yaakov kissed Rachel, and he raised his voice and wept.” (Bereishit/Genesis
29:10-11)
Rashi writes that Yaakov weeps
because he foresees that Rachel will not be buried beside him. Rabbi Moshe
Hadarshan explains that Yaakov cries because he has arrived empty-handed,
unlike his grandfather’s servant Eliezer, who arrived in Charan with engagement
gifts for his mother Rivka (Rebecca).
“Lavan had two daughters; the
name of the elder was Leah and the name of the younger was Rachel. Leah’s eyes
were tender, but Rachel had beautiful features and a beautiful complexion.”
(Bereishit 29: 16-17)
Talmud (Bava Basra 123a) explains
that Leah’s eyes are weak because she weeps profusely when she learns she is
destined to marry Yaakov’s brother Esav, who she is told is an evil robber. Writes
Rebbetzin Chana Bracha Siegelbaum in Women at the Crossroads: “Her eyes
were soft from crying out to G-d in heartfelt prayer. This prayer enabled her
to transcend her destiny and merit to become a partner with her sister in
building the house of Israel.”
“And Yaakov loved Rachel and he said
[to Lavan], ‘I will work for you seven years for Rachel, your younger
daughter.’…So Yaakov worked for Rachel seven years, but they appeared to him
like a few days because of his love for her.” (Bereishit 29:18, 20)
At the end of seven years, Yaakov
asks Lavan to make good on his promise to allow Yaakov to marry Rachel. Anticipating
the possibility of Lavan’s deception, Yaakov and Rachel devise a series of
signals so that Yaakov will be able to recognize his bride, even though she will
be heavily veiled. However, when Rachel learns of Lavan’s plan to deceive
Yaakov by substituting Leah for Rachel, Rachel teaches the signals to Leah. She
thereby protects Leah from the embarrassment of having the deception revealed
in front of the wedding guests.
After discovering Lavan’s ruse the
morning after the wedding, Yaakov confronts Lavan. Lavan tells him: “It is
not done so in our place to give the younger one before the firstborn.” (Bereishit
29:26) This is a not so subtle reference to Yaakov’s deception in taking his
brother Esav’s birthright. Lavan then tells Yaakov he must work for another
seven years to marry Rachel, which Yaakov does.
“And he came also to Rachel and
he also loved Rachel more than Leah; and he worked with him yet another seven
years. And the L-rd saw that Leah was hated, so He opened her womb; but
Rachel was barren.” (Bereishit 29:30-31)
Leah gives birth to four sons. She names
the first three according to her relationship with Yaakov. The first is Reuven
(G-d will see my affliction and Yaakov will love me); the second, Shimon
(the L-rd has heard that I am hated); and the third, Levi (Now my
husband will be attached to me.) The fourth son she calls Yehuda (I will
give thanks.) The Midrash (Bereishit Rabbah 71:4) explains that Leah does
not expect to have a fourth son. She foresees that Yaakov will have twelve sons
and she expects that the sons will be equally divided amongst Rachel and two maidservants.
She is extremely grateful for her “bonus baby.”
“And Rachel saw that she had not
borne [any children] to Yaakov, and Rachel envied her sister, and she said to
Yaakov, ‘Give me children, and if not, I am dead.’ And Yaakov became angry with
Rachel, and he said, ‘Am I instead of G-d, Who has withheld from you the fruit
of the womb?’ So she said, ‘Here is my maidservant Bilhah; come to her and she
will bear [children] on my knees [I will raise them as my own] so that I, too,
will be built up from her.’” (Bereishit
31:1-3)
How could the righteous Rachel feel
jealousy toward her sister? Mrs. Leah Kohn on torah.org explains: “[Rachel]
feels that G-d has denied her children because she has fallen short
spiritually, while her sister has succeeded. Rashi tells us that Rachel is
certain Leah has earned the privilege of having so many children because of her
superior righteousness, and that such envy is wholesome.”
Why is Rachel upset with Yaakov, and
why does he answer her so harshly, as if to blame her for their inability to
conceive since he has children from Leah? Rachel assumes that because he loves
her, Yaakov will pray and wear sackcloth until his prayers are answered. Writes
the Ramban: “But the prayer of righteous people is not in their control to be
answered no matter what. And because she spoke like the whining of beloved
women to threaten him with her death [Yaakov] was angry with her.”
Bilhah, Rachel’s maidservant, gives
birth to two sons, Dan and Naftali. Then Leah realizes that she is no longer
bearing children, so she gives her maidservant, Zilpah, to Yaakov. Zilpah gives
birth to Gad and Asher. Meanwhile, Rachel still has not conceived.
Leah’s son Reuven finds dudaim (commonly
translated as “mandrakes” or “mandrake flowers”, but Rashi writes “jasmine.”) Whatever they are, they supposedly are either
for fertility or have an aphrodisiac effect. The mandrake root is said to be
shaped like a newborn baby.
“And Rachel said to Leah, ‘Give
me your son’s dudaim.’ Leah said to her, ‘Isn’t it enough that you took my
husband [he loves you more than he loves me]; now you want my son’s dudaim, too?”
Rachel answered, ‘[Yaakov] will lie with you tonight in return for your son’s
dudaim.’ When Yaakov came from the field in the evening, and Leah came
forth toward him, and she said, ‘You shall come to me because I have hired you
with my son’s dudaim.’” (Bereishit 30:14-16)
Mrs. Dina Coopersmith on aish.com
notes that Leah’s assertive greeting of Yaakov seems to contradict “the natural
modesty inherent in Jewish women.” She quotes the Talmud (Eruvim 11b):
“Whoever invites her husband for the sake of a mitzvah [marital intimacy]
merits children who are more righteous than even those in the generation of
Moshe (Moses.)”
On that night, Leah conceives a
fifth son whom she names Yissachar, “reward.”
She then has a sixth son and names him Zevulun, meaning “now my husband
surely will make his zevul (chief abode) with me.” After that, Leah
conceives again. When she learns she is pregnant, she prays for a girl, in
order to save Rachel from the humiliation of bearing only one son, fewer than
even her handmaids. As a result of her prayer, the baby boy in Leah’s womb is
transformed into a girl.
Leah gives birth to a girl whom she
names Dina, “judgment,” recalling how she judged herself and determined that
she was not willing to be the cause of her sister’s humiliation. (Kehot
Chumash from Rashi and Talmud, Berachos 30a) Finally, Rachel
conceives and gives birth to a son she calls Yosef (Joseph), “may He add,”
essentially a prayer for a second son.
Yaakov, his wives, children,
servants and animals leave Charan to return to Canaan. The story of the journey
is recorded in next week’s Torah portion, Vayishlach. After a difficult
labor, Rachel gives birth to a son while they are stopped in Bethlehem on the way
to Efrat. Before she dies, she names him Ben-Oni, “son of my troubles/sorrows,”
but Yaakov changes the name to Binyamin (Benjamin), “son of my right hand/strength.”
“So Rachel died and she was
buried on the road to Efrat, which is Bethlehem. And Yaakov erected a monument
on her grave; that is the tombstone of Rachel until this day.” (Bereishit
35:20-21)
Many years later, before Yaakov
dies, he explains to his son Yosef that G-d commanded him to bury Rachel on the
road, rather than in the Cave of Machpela with Chava (Eve), Sarah, Leah, Adam,
Avraham and Yitzchak. Rashi comments on Bereishit 48:7: “He [G-d} knew
that in the future the [Jerusalem] Temple would be destroyed. The Jewish people
will be going into exile and will pass by Rachel’s grave, and she will stand
before Him and beg for mercy that they be returned.” (P’sikta Rabati 83)
Leah’s death is not recorded in
Torah, but Yaakov mentions where she is buried. (Bereishit 49:31)
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