Saturday, December 02, 2006
In the book of Bereishis (Genesis) there are many unions. Adam and Chava, Avraham and Sara, Yitzchok and Rivka.
This week's parsha discusses Yaakov and Leah. Yaakov wanted to marry Rochel. He worked for Lavan (Rochel's father) 7 years to marry her. But Lavan gave him Leah instead. Since the bride's face was covered, Yaakov was unaware of the deception until it was too late. The commentaries on this event are many and deep. One states that this is a metaphor for all marriages.
Each of us goes into a marriage thinking we know whom we're marrying. We think we're marrying the one we want, the one we worked for. We all think we're getting Rochel. But the truth is, our partner comes into the marriage with his/her face veiled. The true person, the "Leah," is only revealed within the safety and intimacy of marriage. Only then do we see who we really got! Then we realize the "Rochel" we married is more deep and intense than we ever imagined.
The key is to go into marriage knowing this.
p.s. Rochel Leah, this one's for you.
Love, Maven @ 
3 Comments:
At 9:57 PM,
Duby said…
In two words, the message from Rochel/Leah is that everybody is flawed; nobody is perfect. The Kallah's face is covered to show that we are marrying not only the person as we currently know them, but also the aspects we don't know. Speading this message in the frum community would prevent so much of the current single crisis...
At 10:48 AM,
Anonymous said…
What a lovely interpretation of the Rochel/Leah story. Thank you.
At 12:20 PM,
Anonymous said…
Thank you so much...these words spoke so deeply to me, and are just what I needed today! I will be forwarding them on! What a blessing...
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