YeshivaThe torah world Gateway
Beit Midrash
- Torah Portion and Tanach
- Bereshit
- Vayetze
The names of those first children indicate Leah’s inner trauma: "Reuven: my husband will see I gave him a son." Then "Shimon: Hashem has heard my cries." Then "Levi: my husband will accompany me." (If Leah is holding Reuven in one arm & Shimon in the other, then Yakov would have to help with the third child!).
The pasuk says, "aynay Leah rakot," Leah’s eyes were "weary;" by tradition, it was because she was continually crying at the prospect of having to marry Esav, since she was the older sister & Esav the older brother.
And yet, Leah – more than anyone else – is the "mother of Israel!" She has as many of the 12 Tribes (6) as all the other mothers combined! These sons include Yehuda & Levi, the political & spiritual leaders of Israel for all eternity, who will survive even when their other brothers vanish.
Leah will be buried in Ma’arat HaMachpela, rather than Rachel, & she is a prime paradigm of Mesirat Nefesh. So while Rachel "gives up" Yakov (albeit temporarily) when she gives Leah the secret password ("ha-chen"), Leah will show her love & devotion to her sister by praying that her last daughter be a girl (Dina), so that Rachel would not have less tribes than their handmaidens.
Leah, says the Gemara, is the first person to truly give thanks, when she names her 4th son Yehuda; "ha-pa’am odeh et Hashem." Knowing prophetically that there will be 12 sons among 4 wives, Leah understands that having 4 tribes means that she is getting more than her share. This is the essence of thanks – understanding that all we receive from Hashem is abundantly more than we actually deserve to have.
Tragically, Leah is the only one of the Avot or Imahot whose date of death is not marked, not even hinted at (like that of Rivka). But Leah, as we said, had "aynayim rakot." Read that not as soft, or weary or teary eyes, but as "long-seeing" eyes or vision ("arakot," rather than rakot). She could see into the future, she sensed, or knew, that she must bear the lion’s share of Am Yisrael, & overcome the despair & depression that resulted from the many tough challenges that she had to face in her difficult life.
Leah, the maligned, may be the greatest mother of all.
Rabbi Stewart Weiss
Was ordained at the Hebrew Theological College in Skokie, Illinois, and led congregations in Chicago and Dallas prior to making Aliyah in 1992. He directs the Jewish Outreach Center in Ra'anana, helping to facilitate the spiritual absorption of new olim.
Jewish Laws and Thoughts Shul “etiquette:” can we honor Hashem while respecting our fellow congregants?
Kuzari -Rabbi Ari Shvat Kuzari class 8- "Answering Questions on the Kuzari's Proof from Mass Revelation
Rabbis in Midrash
Lessons
fast navigation
Kuzari -Rabbi Ari Shvat Kuzari class 9 - "Seeing is Believing" (parag. 21-30)
These paragraphs elaborate on the theme that seeing and knowing is better than any attempt to prove logically, and begins explaining the difference between Israel and gentiles.
Ein Aya Various Universal Stages of the Geula Process
Rav Kook examines the various stages of redemption, explaining how (in addition to the obvious oft-mentioned stages of ingathering the exiles, reviving the Hebrew language, army, state etc.) the messianic dream of world prosperity, the State of Israel and world unity can and are realistically and logically gradually coming true.
Kuzari -Rabbi Ari Shvat Kuzari class 8- "Answering Questions on the Kuzari's Proof from Mass Revelation
How do we know that the "claim" of mass revelation to 2,000,000 witnesses at Mt. Sinai is really true? This important class answers all of the questions skeptics ask about this claim of the Kuzari.
Ein Aya Armies Still Necessary for Balance & the War Against Wars
Rav Kook explains why the world was originally divided into the various seemingly contradicting ideologies and cultures, in order to develop each one respectively. Swords or armies symbolize how each respective ideology defends themselves, as well as deters their opposing ideologies and cultures. On the other hand, the messianic era will be one of peace, and Rav Kook explains the transition to that stage, which mankind is already undergoing.
The Land of Israel LGBT'S IN ISRAEL
The question was asked, how can one make Aliyah with the LGBT parades?
Kuzari -Rabbi Ari Shvat Kuzari class 7 - Five Accumulative Proofs of G-d
As a preparation for the Kuzari's classic proof of G-d from the mass-revelation at Sinai, we start here with 5 other directions to strengthen our belief which also contribute to what the Kuzari will present as well.
Ein Aya Muscle & Meaning: The Dual Nature of Gevurah (Physical Strength)
Is physical strength and fitness a necessity or an ideal? Although it if often totally overlooked among topics of Judaism, Rav Kook writes that it clearly is also a necessity to deter the many enemies of Israel, but even in Y'mot HaMashiach, in the Messianic era, to a certain extent, it's ideal continues even after our enemies will have been finished off.
