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Rav Kook (Orot ha’kodesh, Volume 3)
Leah’s eyes were tender, but Rachel had beautiful features and a beautiful complexion. (Bereishit 29:17). Rashi: Leah’s eyes were tender because she expected to fall into Esav’s lot, and she wept, because everyone was saying, “Rebecca has two sons, and Laban has two daughters. The older daughter for the older son, and the younger daughter for the younger son.”
A person’s soulful greatness, which yearns for supernal holiness and great and exalted matters, must also involve itself in rectifying his character traits and deeds. At times, that soulful greatness must descend to the depths of everyday life and burrow into its minutest details in order to them and rectify direct them along the lines of righteousness and justice, as understood by the Torah and halachah. That soulful greatness must penetrate into the depths of his character traits in order to strip them of everything wicked and distorted.
If a person only concerns himself with ascent and not with purification and sanctification on the lowest level, the entire supernal light of ascent may shatter and turn into a scourge. The greatness of this person’s soul may be transformed into a bizarre egotism, and his yearning for knowledge about the essence of heavenly mysteries may turn into a fantasy that takes pride in the array of its colors.
A mighty spirit that elevates the phenomenon of life can also lift up a person’s stormy lusts. His desire for money, honor, and sensory pleasures can break all bounds. And from the mighty heights of a person’s supernal, angelic yearning can come the most terrible fall.
The hidden world is the trait of Leah, whose “eyes were weak.” She sits at the crossroads and prays not to fall into the world of Esav. Due to her greatness and weeping, she attained the foundation of prophecy and royalty [Yehuda is descended from Leah], and the portion of Israel.
Commentary (Mostly from Rav Moshe Weinberger’s Song of Teshuva Vol. 4)
Rachel and Leah were not simply great spiritual personalities. They established and represent different pathways of Divine service. According to the Zohar, Leah is connected to the hidden world (lit. עלמא דאתכסיה), and Rachel is connected to the revealed world (עלמא דאתגליא). This is an esoteric statement, but it is expresses itself on the p’shat level as well. Ya’akov met Rachel first, and intended to marry her. In contrast, the marriage to Leah was part of a secretive Divine plan that was concealed from Ya’akov. He simply did not anticipate that Leah would become part of the future of the Jewish people.
Our Sages teach that “Leah took a portion of praise.” Leah is associated with dynamic spirituality, song, self-expression and giving thanks. A song is composed of high and low notes. Leah had many diverse sides, and therefore she had many children. From one part of her came Reuven, from another part came Shimon, and so on. Various musical notes may be in conflict with each other. And there were many clashing sounds in Leah’s heart. She was drawn to, yet repulsed by the world of Esav. Our Sages teach that she lost the luster of her youth because she was crying and begging Hashem not to end up in Esav’s world. She was asking Hashem not only to save her from being married to Esav but also to save her from becoming a female version of Esav. Leah was the mother of all ba’alei teshuva, of all those who struggle with inner turbulence, whose every step is a struggle.
Had she not rectified her character traits, she could have fallen into the lost regions associated with Esav. She cried out to Hashem to help her do the right thing until she married Yaakov, and from their union came ultimately Moshe, the master of Torah and prophecy, and Dovid, the master of prayer. Everything comes from Leah, who was flying high but never neglected her character traits and deeds. Because she was constantly struggling, she is the mother of all baalei teshuvah, of all warriors. Because she cried and fought to do the right thing, she established the portion of Israel and the ultimate repair of the entire world.
In contrast to Leah, our Sages teach that “Rachel took a portion of silence” (Bereishis Rabbah 78:5). Rachel possessed an inner silence, a confidence in who she was. She was not conflicted but in a state of harmony. Rachel’s external beauty expressed a blameless inner complexion. Hers was the world of the tzaddik who is perfect from childhood. A “Rachel” type of person possesses an inner tranquility. He does not experience evil as a temptation that might at any moment overwhelm him. Once he receives proper guidance, he naturally and comfortably proceeds in a straight manner.
This approach does not work for someone with a “Leah” personality. A person who possesses a greatness of soul longs for the highest levels of holiness. He wishes to remove himself from the world, to go into the woods and engage in spontaneous prayer – hisbodedus– to Hashem. In consequence, a separation between his soul and body may develop. He might rise to high places, then all of a sudden descend to the darkest depths.
To prevent that, he must constantly work on improving his good traits, which are deeply connected to his body. They are the bridge over which the physical passes to the spiritual. Additionally, he must work on his actions, and on living in accordance with the Shulchan Aruch… [H]e must dedicate a tremendous amount of attention to rectifying his character traits and actions. Even as he experiences constant yearnings to grow in spirituality, he must descend into the many details of his life, correcting them and directing them in accordance with truth and righteousness.
For instance, he must play with his children and involve himself in the other simple, day-to-day affairs of his family. There is an opposite type of person who has no spiritual yearnings but focuses solely on day-to-day halachos and rectifying his traits. The life of such a person is above reproach but relatively sterile, cold, and unmotivated. A true service of God contains both of these elements: yearning for exalted spirituality together with work on rectifying the smallest details of day-to-day life…
A person who wanders into shul at ten-thirty in the morning – to daven, recite Tehillim, and sing – may think that he is the most spiritual person in the world. If he were really spiritual, however, he would force himself to get up early. Generally, a person of this sort recoils from confronting his physical desires. Thus, he is liable to give into them. That is why people who appear to be spiritual are often up to all kinds of mischief. Such a person lacks the stability and sturdiness of a Jew who is absolutely, unwaveringly attached to the Shulchan Aruch. The latter person drags himself out of bed when the alarm goes off at five -thirty in the morning because his spirit is telling him that he must get up to serve God. He may be incomplete in that he feels no great emotional upheaval or revelation. But because he listens to his spirit, he is spiritual. However, we do not have to choose between these two extremes. We must do our best to be fervent Jews who never abandon the smallest details of halachah…
I myself saw games in the waiting room of a great tzaddik in Yerushalayim. The Rebbe’s gabbai told me that they belong to the Rebbe who plays them with his young children. A tzaddik who is involved in heavenly matters does not feel like sitting down with his children and playing these games. But he understands that they need him to do so. His playing with them is a tremendous kindness – and so it is spiritual.
Food for Thought
Zohar: All that concerned Leah is kept under a veil by the Torah, as she typified the upper world, which is veiled and undisclosed. This is another reason why Leah’s death is not divulged like that of Rachel. It is in accordance, too, with this difference between the upper and the lower worlds that Leah was buried away from sight in the cave of Machpelah; whereas Rachel was buried by the open road.
Rav Ari Kahn: The Torah states that when Jacob came in from the field in the evening he was greeted by Leah, with whom he was intimate that night: “And Jacob came from the field in the evening, and Leah went out to meet him, and said, ‘You must come to me; for I have hired you with my son’s mandrakes.’ And he lay with her that night.” (Genesis 30:16) The Zohar notes that the text does not state that Jacob was intimate with Leah, rather the nameless mysterious “he” (Zohar Vayetze 157b). The Ariz’al stresses that Jacob has two identities: Jacob and Israel. This is an idea with which we are familiar from the biblical text. The Ariz’al explains that Jacob was married to Rachel while “he” who is identified with is Israel was married to Leah. This is not a case of schizophrenia; rather, Jacob embodies two missions which need to come to fruition. These missions are represented by Leah and Rachel
Questions for Discussion
- Do you think you are more of a “Rachel” type or a “Leah” type? Why?
- What other differences can you identify between the personalities of Rachel and Leah?
- What happens when a “Leah” type is forced into the mode of a “Rochel” or vice-versa?
- Yehuda is the most prominent descendant of Leah, whereas Yosef is the most prominent descent of Rachel. Do they have similar personality types as their respective mothers?
- Rav Moshe Weinberger writes that someone who listens to his spirit is spiritual, even if they don’t feel a sense of inspiration. Do you agree? Why or why not?
