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There's two ways of looking at things that happen in history. One way is looking at the forces that make things happen, and another is to take a view from thirty thousand feet up. So when we look at the story of why Yaakov marries Leah before he marries Rachel, the simple answer is because Lavan tricked Yaakov into marrying Leah first. Rachel imenu helped Lavan trick Yaakov by giving away the simanim. But when we look at it from thirty thousand feet up, we have to ask ourselves: this was obviously Hashem's plan. Because no matter what happens in the world, there's always two ways of looking at it. There's the thing that happened and the causes down here, but then you have to remember that it was always going to be this way. It was always going to be that Hashem worked out. The Hashgacha is that Yaakov marries Leah before he marries Rachel. The question is, why does Yaakov need to marry Leah before he marries Rachel? It seems like in order to get to Rachel, as much as he wants to marry Rachel, first he has to marry Leah first. The question is why?
We're gonna detour from that question for a moment, and we're gonna go in a completely different direction. We all know the story. We'll just repeat it very quickly. We know that Lavan had an idol in his house. That idol was called the Tzrifim. You've also heard of the Tzrifim before. We know that Rachel stole it. And that Lavan, when he caught up to Yaakov Avinu, and he said, "You stole my idol." Yaakov said, "I didn't steal nothing. I didn't steal anything." "And he said, 'Search for it, but you're not going to find it. But whoever took it, they're cursed. They're going to die young.'" And we know the story that Rachel was hiding it in such a way. We don't have to get into the details. Lavan was that Rachel was hiding in such a way that Lavan couldn't find it. But obviously, in the end, even though she took the terafim, because of Yaakov Avinu's curse, she died young. She died in childbirth with Benjamin.
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Again, it's a very strange thing that's happening over there. Why does it have to be? Even though in the world we can see the order, Rachel stole the terafim, Yaakov. Gave the curse because he didn't think it was shyach to Rachel, and now Rachel Imenu dies young and she's buried along the way. B'derech Efrata, right? She's not buried in Marasamach Pele. Obviously, that's what happened down here. But from thirty thousand feet up in the air, obviously it was always Hashem's plan that Rachel Imenu was going to die young and needs to be buried over there on the side of the road. Let's take a look now, in a deep, deep way, of why Rachel steals the t'rafim from Lavan. What exactly are her intentions here? So we take a look at the Rishbam. Rishbam was of course a Rishon. The Rishbam says that the Tzrifim were like AI. It was like the original AI. You could ask it any question, and it would give you the answer. Rachel was afraid that if Lavan had the Tzrifim, he would be able to know that Yaakov Avinu was planning on leaving in the middle of the night and absconding away with Lavan's family. So she took the terufim because she didn't want Lavan to know. That's a reasonable reason to take the terufim.
Avodah Zarah is like fate. So again, just because something is Avodah Zarah doesn't mean it doesn't have power. There are things that have power; they don't necessarily have to be Avodah Zarah. There's two ways that could be Avodah Zarah: either it is an Avodah Zarah, or because we could ascribe that power, we could say it is a god. Not that it's a power that comes from Hashem, but it is a god. So these terufim had an actual power; it was the power to reveal accurate information to Lavan, and Rachel had to take it in order for them to be able to get away. That's what the Rashbam says. The Abarbenal and the Ibn Ezra say very similarly, but a little bit different. They actually say that it's like Life three hundred and sixty. You all know what Life three hundred and sixty is. I just learned what is today. The boys told me what is. It's like Life three hundred and sixty. It's like a GPS. So similar thing that Lavan, if he would have had the t'rafim, he could have seen exactly where Yaakov went, and then he would have chased after them and caught up to them. So very similar. The Abarbenal and the Ibn Ezra say that she was concerned that Lavan would be able to get their exact route, and that's why she took this magical item from Lavan.
The Bichar Shor, who's one of the Baly Tosfos, says she took them because she wanted them. It wasn't exactly like the Rishbam and the Abarbenal and the Ibn Ezra say. She actually wanted them. Why did she want them? What was it about these tefillim that she wanted them? This is the Bachar Shor. The Bachar Shor says that she actually wanted them. But didn't he end up catching up to them? But it took him more time. That's according to the Rishpam. That's according to the Barbenel. That's according to the Ibn Ezra. According to the Bachar Shor, we're going to see it's not exactly the same. We'll put them all together in a moment. The Bachar Shor says it's not so much that they were trying to get away. Racheli maya actually wanted these tefillim. She wanted this power. The question is, what exactly was the power that she wanted? There's an amazing arizal on this that you can put together with this b'chor shor. And the truf, the arizal explains that the trufim are one side of the coin.
Everything that exists in the world of tuma exists in the world of kedusha, and everything that exists in the world of kedusha exists in the world of tuma. The Arizal says in kedusha There's the urim vetumim. What are the urim vetumim? That's the breastplate of the Cohen Gadol that has the parchment with Hashem's name in it. And what do we use the urim vetumim for? We ask it questions to know what Hashem's divine will is. In the tzad of tumah, that power in Lavan's house is called the trufim. Now we kind of see how it all goes together. Because what were the Tzurafim? What did the Rashbam, the Abar Benel, and the Ibn Ezra say? It reveals things. It reveals the answer. You want to know where someone's location is. It tells you where it is. What does the Bechor Shars say? Rachli Menu wanted this power.
She wanted the power of revealing something that is concealed. So Lavan has that power. She wants to take the traphim. She doesn't want to use it as an avodah zara. She wants to take it over to the tzad of kedusha. And ultimately, when she does, what does the traphim become? It becomes the urim v'tumim, where you're able to reveal that which is concealed. We don't know what Hashem's will is. What do we do? We consult the urim v'tumim, and then we're able to know what Hashem's divine will is. Just to repeat this to put it all together to make sure we're all on the same page. We wanted to know why Rachli Menu stole the trufim. What did we learn about the trufim? Number one, it was ChatGPT. It was an AI. It could tell you the answer to any question. Number two, it was Life 360. It could tell you where anyone is and the way to get there. Number three, what did we learn from the Bachar Shor? Rachli Menu actually wanted this power. Why? According to the Arizal, because these trufim were the negative side of what of the Urim V'Tumim.
They go together by stealing the power of the trufim. What does she do? She's taking away the tuma. She's bringing it over to the side of kedusha. Ultimately, what do the trufim become? The urim v'tumim. When you put them all together, what do you get? Revealing that which is concealed. Revealing that which is concealed. The trufim, the urim v'tumim, reveal that which is concealed. So let's look at this for a second. Let's go back to that thirty thousand feet view. So Rachli Menu steals the trufim, which ultimately become the power of what? The Urim V'Tumim. And yet, what do we see happens to her? She dies young. And where is she buried? On the side of the road. It's not exactly what we would have expected. What would we have expected from a story like this? If Rachli Menu goes into the house of Lavan and she takes that power of revelation, what would we have expected?
We would have expected that she's rewarded for that. And yet, what do we see? She's buried ingloriously on the side of the road. Dies young. This does not seem to be a good ending to the story. Why would we think that? If there's a side for everything, if there's something that's tied to a side of it, or a side that's tied to producing a lot, do we think that she would get rewarded for beating down? It's not right. Because there's value in taking something away, taking away power from the tzad of tuma. For example, I'll show you a very cool parallel. I skipped it on purpose, but I'll use it now to answer your question. There's another story that just happened in the Torah that's exactly a parallel to this. Somebody that acts in a stealthy type of fashion to take away power from the negative side. Esau, for example, had the power of the bechor. Yitzchak was going to give him the bracha. What does Yaakov do? He also steals the bracha in a very stealthy type of fashion. He covers himself up just like Rachel, who covered up the traphim. And he takes away the power from Esau and he brings it into the tzaddik kedusha. Rachel acts exactly like Yaakov did. She also acts in a secret way.
Steals the traphim from Lavan, hides it under herself in a way that Lavan can't find it, in order to remove the power from the tzad of tumah. So this is a very beautiful thing. What do we see from thirty thousand feet up in the air? It seems like it ends pretty badly. Let's take a deep look at this now. At the end of Yaakov Avinu's life, he wants to make peace with Yosef. He dies early. Yaakovinu doesn't. In fact, Yaakovinu doesn't die at all. Actually, the Gemara in Tanya says Yaakovinu lo meis. We're not going to get into that right now. But that's a story for another time. This is a deep story. At the end of his life, Yaakov realizes that there's a grudge, there's a resentment that Yosef is holding against him. Listen to what he says. Listen to the pasuk. He's talking to Yosef, and he says, "Vaani." Bevoi mi Paden, I when I was returning from Paden, meisa alai Rachel b'Beretz Canaan b'Derech be'od kivras Aretz lavo Efrata ve'ekber Asham b'Derech Efrat he beis lechem. I was returning from Paden. Rachel died on me. She died on me. Like she was meisa alai, right?
And while I was journeying to Canaan, and I was still short the distance from Efrat, and I buried her there on the road to Efrat, which is now called Beis Lechem. It's a strange conversation. Why is Yaakov Yenu talking about Rachel Yenu's death? Listen to Rashi. I'm going to read you Rashi inside because the Rashi is so beautiful. Sometimes you have to have the patience to read a Rashi inside. Rashi notes, 'Ech berasham, I buried her there.' Viloholachti'a afilu lebeslechem lachnisal aretz. I didn't even take her to Beslechem to bring her into the land. Meaning, I didn't even bring her into Eretz Israel. I didn't even bring her into the land. Viadati sheyesh belibcha alai. Yaakov Avinu says to Yosef, he goes I know you're upset at me. Sometimes people are upset and they don't say anything. I know you're upset. This is going to be very important. I want you to put this in your pocket. Hold on to this. It's going to be very important at the end of the year. Sometimes a person is holding a grudge and they don't say anything.
Avadalacha Listen. This is what Yaakov says to Yosef. You should know. Shalpiadibor kavarati sham. I didn't bury her there for no reason. Hashem instructed me to. This happened because of Hashem. We should stop this Rashi right here, girls. Why did she die on the side of the road and die young in childbirth? Because Yaakov cursed her for stealing the terufim. This whole thing, you should know, it really was coming from Shamayim. What? We'll see. Shetehelu Ezra levaneha So that she can be of service to her children. Kishiy gala osam nevuza dran when they're when klal yisrael is going to be exiled what's going to happen we all know v'how you overim derech sham we're going to pass by what when we're being kicked out of eretz yisrael what's going to happen we're going to go by kever rachel yotseis rachel al kavra ubocha u'mavakshes u'mavakshes alei am rachemim and rachelina was going to see her children going into gullus and what's she going to do she's going to daven for them and she's going to beg mercy from Hashem. As it says in the pasuk You all know the song, "Kol Bara Ma Neshma."
And Hashem is going to say there is reward for your work And the children will be returned to their border. Meaning what? Ultimately, in whose schuz do we come back? We come back in the schuz of Rachli Menu. And by the way, we all know what Rachli Menu's argument to Hashem was. Girls, remember, I gave over the what? I gave over the simanim to Leah. And I was mevatir. You, Hashem Should also be mevatir. In a moment, we're going to get a very deep insight into that argument. It's still a little bit shaky to us. Rachli meino is buried on the side of the road. She's going to why? Because when Klal Yisrael is going to leave Eretz Yisrael when we're going to go out into exile, it's going to be Rachli meino that's going to be able to be the one to convince Hashem to show mercy and bring them back. Listen to what the Zohar Hakadosh says.
The Zohar Hakadosh says the mystery of Rachel and Leah is that there are two worlds. Leah is what's called the Alma de Iskasya. The hidden world. You girls know this. Rachel is the Alma de Isgalia, the revealed world. Leah is always hidden. Rachel imenu is always revealed. For example, let's look at a couple of examples of Leah being concealed. Obviously, the big one is where Leah is buried? She's buried in Maras Machpelah. What's Maras Machpelah really when you translate it? A cave within a cave. It's like what the ultimate in concealed. In contrast, what is Rachel? She's buried on the side of the road. Everyone sees her. It's where you pass by when you go to leave Eretz Yisrael. You pass by Kever Rachel. So Leah is concealed. Rachel is revealed. What's another example of this? Leah's beauty is concealed. Why? How's Leah described? She has puffy, soft eyes. Why? Because she's crying. Her beauty is not revealed. Rachel, meenu, is described as what?
She's exceptionally beautiful. Her beauty is revealed. Leah is concealed. Rachli Menu is revealed. Another example of this. Another example. We're going to get to the under the chuppah one. I want to save that one for last. Another, very good. Another example of this is in Haran. Haran was a great place of great spiritual impurity. And yet Leah is able to have children very easily there. Why is she able to have children very easily there? So al pi chasidus, because she was in a space of spiritual impurity, but you know what she's able to do? If you're the avoda of concealment, you're able to retreat into yourself. It's like some people, even when they're in a very dark place, they're not actually there. They're sort of able to lock themselves away and not be impacted by their surroundings. Leah was able to have children in Charam because she was concealed. So even though she was in Charam, she wasn't really in Charam. Where was she? She was in her own little box. So she was able to have children very easily. But Rachel was very revealed. So when Rachel's very revealed, where is she? She's in Charan. It's very, very difficult to bring children into the world in Charan. That's why it took her very many years to have Yosef. It wasn't easy at all. And obviously, the most obvious example and the one that's going to culminate is Leah is concealed by her own wedding.
Eben Yaakov Avinu isn't there. What does Rachelimenu do? She reveals that which is concealed. Rachel Yimenu reveals that which is concealed. And by the way, how well does she do it? She does it so well that not only does Yaakov Yimenu know—but even Leah doesn't know that she got the simanim. How do we know this? Because later has to happen in every sheir at least once. Every single sheir. It's Khamade never given a sheir without a phone going off. It's not the worst ringer in the world. It's a very gentle ringer. Believe me, there are much worse ones. There are much worse ones. A dog barking. Great. Please make sure that yours is on. I would love to be given seir, and all of a sudden hear a dog barking. That is a komer devota moment. When When Rachel comes to Leah and asks for the dudaim, which was a fertility drug, what does Leah say to her?
It's not. Where the Dudaim were a fertility drug, Rachel Imenu asked Leah for the Dudaim. She asked them for this plant that was made to make you more fertile. And Leah's response is, "It's not bad enough that you stole my husband. Now you also want the Dudaim." How could she say you stole my husband if Rachel was the one that gave her that gave Leah to Yaakov? The answer is she never knew. Rachel revealed her secret to Leah so beautifully and perfectly that what happened. That even she didn't know that the revelation of a secret was happening. So now we see something unbelievable. What is Rachli Menu? Rachli Menu is the revealer of the secrets. She's the revealer of that which is concealed. She uses that argument and she goes to Hakadosh Baruch Hu and she says, Hashem I revealed a secret to my sister Leah to make sure that she wouldn't be embarrassed. I did it in such a way that even Leah didn't know. I was mevatir.
Hashem, you should also be mevatir on your children. And what does Hashem say? Now I'm going to show you rachamim. But girls, if you're paying very careful attention, what do we see just happened? Hashem's inner will Which was to redeem Klal Yisrael, was concealed until Rachli Menu comes and does what? Reveals that which is concealed. So by Racheli Menu revealing that which was concealed to Leah, what did she really do? She revealed that which was concealed in Hashem Himself. Hashem's desire is, of course, for Klal Yisrael to be redeemed from exile. The fact that we're going out into exile is not really what Hashem wants, but it's only Racheli Menu that can rise up, so to speak, and reveal the hidden dimensions of Hashem. Just like she revealed the simanim tole'a, just like she was revealed in Charen. That's why she couldn't have children. Just like she's revealed on the side of the road. And where did she get this power from to reveal that which is secret Even though she always had it in her. Remember, well before she stole the tefillah, she revealed the secret tole'a. But why was it Rachel of all the people that was going to take from the house of Lavan? Of all the idols, of all the powers in the house of Lavan, which idol, which power does Rachel imenu take?
The power of revealing that which is concealed. She takes from Lavan the power to reveal that which is concealed. She brings it over to the tzad of kedusha, and what does it become? The urim v'tumim. Ultimately, the divine instrument of how we will know what Hashem wants. You see how everything is starting to come together. Here's a very cool one. The gematria of Eretz Yisrael is eight hundred and thirty-two. The gematria of Rachel is two hundred and thirty-eight. When you leave Eretz Yisrael and you go into Galus, you walk out eight three two. Who brings you back? Rachelimenu two three eight. You see how Rachelimenu is the revealer of that which is secrets. She's the inverse. The secret is that Hashem doesn't want us to leave Eretz Yisrael. It's Rachelimenu who teaches us how to go back two three eight. Back into Eretz Yisrael. One second, do you mind if I keep going for a moment? You need to have a question.
The gematria of Eretz Yisrael is eight hundred and thirty-two. That's how you leave Israel. You go from the eight to the three to the two. Rachli Menu is two hundred and thirty-eight. She brings you back two, three, eight. Now it makes sense then. Rachli Menu has a child. That child is ultimately going to be an amazing tool of revelation. Who is that child? Yosef, and what does he do? He goes down to Mitsrayim. And he's thrown into a jail. What does he start doing in jail? Interprets dreams. People who don't have, people who don't know what their dreams mean, Yosef HaTzaddik now has the capacity to reveal them. Ultimately, what happens? Hashgacha leads him into the house of Paro, and Paro says, "Interpret my dreams." And what does he do? He interprets the dreams. What does Paro name him when he becomes viceroy? Safnas Paneach. You know what Safnas Paneach means?
Revealer of secrets. So where does Yosef HaTzaddik have the capacity to reveal secrets from? He got it from his mother Rachel. His mother Rachel, who revealed the secret to Leah of the Simanim. Rachel, who reveals the secret of Hashem's divine mercy. Rachel Imenu, who brings the Urim V'Tumim, the power for us to uncover the divine will in this world. Ultimately, she has a child who literally his name becomes. Safnas Paneach, the Revealer of Secrets. We're not done yet, because even after Yosef becomes the Revealer of Secrets, what happens? Now another secret comes down to Mitzrayim. The brothers come down and they're looking for Yosef, and what does Yosef do? He keeps himself concealed, and they go through this whole process until Yosef HaTzaddik bursts. And he says, "I can't take it anymore." I'm the Yosef. I Oda vichai, right? Why does Yosef do that? Because ultimately, who is Yosef? He's the revealer of secrets. He reveals to his brothers, "I'm the Yosef you've been looking for." Another example of how Yosef HaTzaddik is the expression of Rachliyminu in this world.
And of course, at the very end of the story, when Yaakov Avinu gets the agalot, when he gets the wagons, from Yosef HaTzaddik to tell him, 'Like I'm Bin Men'shriim the whole time. It's really me, right?' He's revealing the secret. It's really me. It's not an impostor. What does Yosef Hatzadik say? Yosef Hatzadik says Tell my father Koah Mar Bin Chay Yosef Samani Elokim LeAdon LeChol Mitzrayim. I was made and appointed a lord over Mitzrayim. But if you look at the words carefully, there's another way of reading them. Samani Elokim LeAdon. What did I make the master of Mitzrayim? I made Hashem the master of Mitzrayim. So what's the ultimate secret that Yosef HaTzaddik reveals? That even in the lowest place, where do we find Hashem? We find Hashem even in the lowest places. The greatest secret of Rachel Imenu, the great secret of Yosef HaTzaddik, is that our world is really a world of concealment, where you can't find Hashem. It's the midah of Rachel. It's the midah of Yosef HaTzaddik. It's why it's so important. For her to steal the terufim from Lavan and take that power of revealing that which is concealed over to Klal Yisrael to be the urim vetumim, because ultimately this is the mission of Klal Yisrael. The mission of Klal Yisrael is to reveal the secret that's underneath the surface.
Let's go back to our original question. Of course, why did Yaakov marry Leah first? Because Lavan tricked him, and who was involved in that trick? Rachel was involved in that trick. If Rachli Menu is the revealer of secrets, what does there need to be first? There needs to be a secret. Remember, what was Leah? Leah is the great secret. She's the ultimate concealment. Since Leah is the great secret, she needs to come first. Because if Rachli Menu comes into the world, that's like walking into a world of Mashiach. It's like walking into a world of Olam Habah. The word question really means the world question. The word question comes from the Russian of quest. If you have a question, it means you're on a search for the truth. That means every question is really a state of concealment. It's really a state of secretness. I don't know what's happening.
So first, there needs to be the quest. That's why Leah has to come into the marriage first because she has to conceal everything. That's why it happens in such a stealthy fashion. It happens so quietly. Yaakovinu doesn't know what happened. Everything is a secret. And Rachlimenu is the revealer of that secret. So the marriage of Yaakov to Leah first, and then to Rachel, is really the story of all of Klal Yisrael's history. Really, what are we here to do in this world? We're here to reveal the secret. That's why it's so silly when people complain about the darkness. Person gets very upset. They say, 'I'm living in a state of concealment. I don't see Hashem in my life. I don't see Hashem in this world. I'm in so much pain. There's so much going on.' Of course, you are. Why? Because that's the quest. The quest is to be able to reveal the secret. If there's no secret, how could there be a revelation? If there's no secret, then there can't be a revelation. In other words, what's more powerful, the truth or an answer?
The truth is not nearly as powerful as answer because the truth is obvious. There is no quest. But when you arrive at answer, you had to go through a quest. Why doesn't Hashem just make Olam Haba? Why doesn't He put us in a perfect world? Because then, like the Ramchal says, what would we have? Nama de kisufa. We would have the bread of shame. Why do we have the bread of shame? Because we don't want to know the truth. What do we want to do? Discover the truth. We want to be people on a quest. That's why it's so exciting. Whenever you're working hard on something and then all of a sudden you figure it out, you go! It's amazing. The geshmack that you have from discovery is much more profound than the geshmack that you have just from knowing the truth of something. Discovery is an amazing thing. That's why little kids come home from school and they're so excited. To show you what they learned, because every day for them is an explosion of knowledge. Every day from them is like this amazing new answer. Yaakov has to marry Leah first because there has to be a quest. Rachel Yimei reveals the inner essence of Leah.
And we'll finish with this. Leah, because she's concealed, she's connected to the Torah Shebechsav. Rachel, because she's revealed, is related to the Torah Shabbalpeh. Because when you read the Torah shebechsav, it's very concealed. You don't necessarily know the story behind the story. But then when Racheli Menu comes along and she tells you, "I want to tell you the story behind the story," then all of a sudden everything starts to fall into place. Then you could start to see how the revelation is teaching you what was really going on in the concealment. We'll stop here for tonight.
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