Rachel or Leah, Serenity or Struggle
Would you prefer a life of serenity and peace of mind, or a life of hardship, emotional crises and inner turmoil?
When Jacob fled to Charan to escape his brother Esau, he arrived at the well. He saw Rachel, the daughter of his uncle Laban. It was love at first sight.
Laban had two daughters. As the Torah describes:
Now Laban 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. (Genesis 29:16:17).
Jacob wanted to marry Rachel but he was tricked into marrying her sister Leah. While Jacob’s love for Rachel was greater, Leah became the most important of his four wives. She bore six of his twelve sons, and while Rachel was buried on the side of the road on the way to Efrat, Leah was laid to rest together with Jacob in the cave of Machpelah. As Jacob commanded his children before his passing:
Bury me with my fathers, in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite…
There they buried Abraham and his wife Sarah, there they buried Isaac and his wife Rebecca, and there I buried Leah.
Rachel was beautiful. She was righteous and spirituality wholesome. Jacob, who the Torah describes as “an innocent man, dwelling in tents” was immediately drawn to Rachel’s purity and innocence. Leah, on the other hand, had a complex personality, she experienced inner tension and frustration and had to struggle to live the life she desired and to achieve her spiritual goals.
The children of Rachel and Leah personified the character traits of their mothers. Rachel’s children, Joseph and Benjamin, were naturally righteous, while Leah’s children had to struggle with their moral integrity. They sold their brother as a slave, Judah went to Tamar, who he thought was a harlot. They were far from perfect. Yet Leah’s children learned to overcome their moral shortcomings, they learned to correct their mistakes and grow from the negative experiences.
Jacob loved Rachel. Jacob was attracted to a woman who had inner peace and serenity. Yet it turns out that Leah, who triumphed over hardships and challenges, became the matriarch who bore six of the twelve tribes, and who was buried with Jacob in his eternal resting place.
We often yearn for “Rachel”, for a life filled with tranquility and inner beauty. The story of Jacob teaches us that we should embrace the “Leah” in our life. The challenges we face in our lives are opportunities for us to discover the deepest and most profound part of ourselves. The true potential for growth lies in the experience of facing a challenge and persevering.
Adapted from Lekutei Sichos Vayishlach, vol. 35 Sicha 3.