parsha bit: Vayetzei

[cellio]

Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev said that when Rachel learned of the deception Lavan planned, substituting Leah for her in the wedding ceremony, she went to Leah and taught her her mannerisms to try to prevent Yaakov from rejecting Leah. When Yaakov learned later that Rachel had done this, sacrificing her own happiness to show compassion for her sister, his love for Rachel increased even more.

(Aside: I don't know what, if anything, Rabbi Levi Yitzchak said about Yaakov's developing attitude toward Leah. And I still believe that this ruse harmed Leah at least as much as, if not more than, the other parties involved. I've written about that before.)

Comments

[patsmor.livejournal.com]

(Hope you don't mind a former Christian butting in here from time to time -- I learn a lot from you...)

I just went back and read your previous essay (which I remember enjoying the first time), and agree now more than ever.

I've always, since I heard the story early on (at about age 9), thought that while it was horrible to separate Yaakov and Rachel, it must have been even more awful on Leah. My 9-year-old brain thought (and still does) that forcing Leah to marry Yaakov, whom she knew loved Rachel and not her, must have created a lot of hate toward all the other participants.

(My thought at the time was that she should have refused the marriage and taken vows, if she was that unlikely to be attractive in marriage to anyone, which shows you how confused about religions I was at that point.)

I'll have to go look, but I cculdn't find anything saying that anyone ever loved Leah more than as a sister. Which seemed like a horrible way to go through life, with bitterness toward Rachel, which much have made her feel guilty because she knew she should rejoice in her sister's love.

It has just occurred to me that I want to go look at some of those other fairy stories where "the first daughter must marry first" is the plot line. I'd like to see if the early versions of them say anything about the feelings of the younger daughters, or tricking the groom.

(Rambling away...)

[cellio]

Hope you don't mind a former Christian butting in here from time to time

Of course not. And if I do, I shouldn't be posting publicly with comments enabled, right? Thanks for the comments.

It has just occurred to me that I want to go look at some of those other fairy stories where "the first daughter must marry first" is the plot line. I'd like to see if the early versions of them say anything about the feelings of the younger daughters, or tricking the groom.

That's a good idea. I'll be interested in hearing what you find out.

[nobble.livejournal.com]

Was it this incident that lead to the creation of the tradition for checking prior to the wedding ceremony whether the intended bride was actually under the veil by the bridegroom? Just wondering

[cellio]

Yup -- this is the citation given for that.