Our review of the merits and accomplishments of our matriarchs has brought us to Leah, the first wife of Yaakov Avinu. The Arizal, in his teachings, emphasizes this relationship, and his students repeat this title – the wife of Yaakov. As above, so below, and the Arizal taught of a cosmic structure that prefigured the marriages of Yaakov with Leah and with Rachel.
Leah is the higher union; she represents the connection to the infinite, bridging to higher levels, whereas Rachel links Yaakov to his body and the physical world. We will speak more of Rachel, G-d-willing, next week. Rashi tells us that Leah wept because she expected to be married to Esav. This would have been a fitting balance if Esav had become the tzaddik he might have been and merited Leah – Leah in her spirituality to Esav’s physicality, like the physical and practical beauty of Rachel grounding Yaakov in his state of spiritual transcendence. But in the end Yaakov came to encompass spirituality and physicality and he married both sisters.
Leah and Rachel are competitors for Yaakov’s affection, but their devotion and kindness to one another is unabated. Leah, in particular, consistently puts herself and her interest last, as she is concerned always for Yaakov and for the future children of Israel. We learn this from Scripture, but especially from many Midrashic tales of her self-sacrifice and generosity. As a reward for her many acts of selflessness and kindness, Leah becomes the ancestor of both the future king and the high priest of Israel. In the Gemara she is also associated with the herald of redemption, as Gad is named by her and an opinion identifies him as the progenitor of Eliyahu. This is a funny connection to make, because if Eliyahu is descended of Levi as is more commonly considered, then anyway he would come from Leah. The Gemara is making a point specifically connected to the selflessness of Leah in providing her handmaiden to Yaakov to bear him Gad in pursuit of the full quotient of twelve tribes of Israel.
As noted above, Leah represents the spiritual aspect of the union of Yaakov with his soulmates. The recitation of Tikkun Chatzot derives from the aforementioned teachings of the Arizal, and it is divided into the rituals of Rachel and Leah. They relate to these parallel conduits of divine light that are flowing into our world. The light of Leah is a supernal light that rectifies the higher spheres, and for this reason her Tikkun is recited on Shabbat and holidays. The Gemara in Berachot (7b) teaches that from the time of the creation of the world, nobody ever came along to thank Hashem properly until Leah named Yehuda, saying “This time I will thank Hashem.” For each of the sons born to her and to Zilpah, Leah chose names inspired by prophecy.
The Torah tells us that Leah was “hated,” but the Sages and the commentators assure us that this must not be taken literally. Certainly, Leah was not loved as Yaakov loved Rachel, the love of his life, but Yaakov loved her and had many children with her. Her love for Yaakov never wavered; we don’t find her ever complaining for her own sake or bemoaning this fate. In the end it is Leah who merits being interred by Yaakov’s side for all time in Me’arat HaMachpelah with the great tzaddikim who came before them.
