Parashat Hashavua: Rachel, Leah, and King David – What Happened? | Rabbi Yossef Carmel | Beit Midrash

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When the descendants of the matriarchs Rachel and Leah lead the nation jointly, the unity in Bnei Yisrael receives special significance. Differences of opinion do not doom that prospect, and when the parties know how to compromise, multiplicity of thinking is an advantage. The place in which this goal finds beautiful expression is Beit Lechem. In this town lived descendants of Leah, from the family from which the monarchal dynasty would emerge (the ancestors of Boaz were Yehuda, Peretz, Chetzron, and Ram – see Divrei Hayamim I 2:9). Yet, the townspeople blessed Boaz: "May Hashem make the woman who is coming to your house like Rachel and Leah, the two of whom built the House of Israel … and may your home be like the house of Peretz whom Tamar bore for Yehuda …" (Rut 4:11-12).
Up to the days of Shaul (from the Tribe of Binyamin, which was considered an extension of the Tribes of Yosef), the idea that leadership would come from the descendants of Leah finds little expression. (We discuss why in the upcoming Tzofnat Shmuel). When David became king, the window opened to the possibility of remedying the situation. The first ones to realize this opportunity were the children of Shaul.
The first one who tried to unify the leadership between the tribes was Yonatan, son of Shaul and thus a descendant of Rachel. Right after David killed Goliat, Yonatan made a pact with him and took off his cloak and weapons and gave them to David (Shmuel I 18:3-4). Yonatan explained elsewhere the content of the pact – David would be king, and Yonatan would be his viceroy. If this had come to fruition, Bnei Yisrael would have had the perfect situation – a king from the sons of Leah and his number two from the sons of Rachel, along the lines of the blessing of the people of Beit Lechem. Unfortunately, Yonatan’s death in battle on Mt. Gilboa prevented this.
The second attempt was by Shaul’s daughter Michal, who strove to marry David and thereby make him her father’s son-in-law (see ibid. 18:20). Had this worked, unity would have been reached on two planes. Right away, David would have had the standing of the son-in-law of the king. Yonatan, the heir apparent, would have cooperated, and they could have ruled together. In the second generation, David’s children from Michal would have been a combination of Mashiach, the son of Yosef and Mashiach, the son of David. Unfortunately, severe problems disrupted this. Shaul decided to use the proposed match as a way of getting David killed (ibid. 21-25). Shaul demanded that David earn this match by embarking alone on a virtual suicide mission against the Plishtim. Even when David succeeded against all odds, Shaul still continued to look for ways to have him killed (ibid. 29). When this did not succeed, Shaul gave Michal to Palti ben Layish as a wife. Only after Shaul died, did Michal return to David, but the union did not result in offspring.
Next week we will continue to look into unity between Rachel and Leah in the time of David.

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