Leah and Rachel

Leah and Rachel are no doubt amongst the most well known women in the Tanakh—Hebrew Bible. They are, along with Sarah and Rebecca two of the matriarchs of the Jewish people in addition to being two of Jacob’s four wives. Leah and Rachel are the daughters of Laban, Rebecca’s brother and Jacob’s uncle.

We first encounter Leah and Rachel in the 29th chapter of the Book of Genesis. Jacob has just arrived at his uncle Laban’s home after having fled from the wrath of his twin brother, Esau, from whom he stole his birthright. Rachel, a shepherdess was at the well, caring for her flocks when Jacob first meets her. In this dramatic and famous scene, upon meeting Rachel, Jacob kisses her and bursts into tears, whereupon Rachel goes and tells Laban of his arrival. It is not long before arrangements are made for Jacob to marry Rachel and in exchange for Rachel, he agrees to work for Laban for seven years. Laban, however, at the last possible moment deceives Jacob by switching Rachel for Leah instead. In response to his anger over this move the following morning, states that it is not his custom to permit the younger sister to be married before the elder. He tells Jacob that if he wishes to marry Rachel, he must wait until the bridal week for Leah has concluded and must work for an additional seven years. Tension arises between the two sisters owing to the fact that Leah bears six of Jacob’s twelve sons and a daughter, Dina while Rachel remains barren, eventually giving birth to Joseph and Benjamin.

A very rich corpus of Midrash exists concerning Leah and Rachel. The term Midrash is derived from the Hebrew root meaning to search out and is vehicles through which the rabbis and sages sought to fill in the gaps in the narratives concerning many of the individuals in Tanakh. The Midrashim (plural of Midrash) about Leah and Rachel offer many interesting insights into their character.

Commenting upon the fact that the sole bit of information we have concerning Leah’s physical appearance is that she had weak or tired eyes, the rabbis imagine that her eyes were weak on account of the many tears she shed upon learning that she was fated to marry Esau. Upon learning of Esau’s character and disposition (in rabbinic literature, Esau is depicted as the complete and polar opposite of Jacob, wanting for good qualities), she wept bitterly. G-d had compassion upon her and allowed her to marry Jacob instead. Leah is considered to be a prophetess just as the other matriarchs are. Although Rachel was Jacob’s preferred and favored wife, the Midrash states that he does come to grips with the fact that Leah is the chief wife, having given birth to six of the twelve tribes, eight if we also include Zilpa’s two sons, Dan and Naphtali. Leah’s descendants include King David and the priesthood, all of whom are descendants of Levi.

Concerning Rachel, the Midrash states that she was often torn between her love for Jacob and her compassion for Leah and that the latter often won out. In a very poignant insight into Rachel’s character, one Midrash has her tell Leah the various signs that she and Jacob were to use on their wedding night, having been informed of the deceit that Laban was about to perpetrate. Not wishing to embarrass her sister, she gives her these signs. Although the Torah doesn’t tell us the ages of Leah and Rachel when they married Jacob, one Midrash claims that they were twins and married Jacob at twenty-two.

The Midrashim concerning Leah and Rachel note that both sisters were equally righteous and equal in beauty.

Some Chasidic commentators see the rivalry between Leah and Rachel over Rachel’s infertility as mirroring the fact that each woman had different spiritual strengths and that the sisters wanted to better themselves spiritually by improving upon the areas in which excelled.