“Have You Taken My Husband?”—But Leah Took from Rachel

The Daily Strengthening from The Rav, the holy gaon and tzaddik Rabbi Eliezer Berland shlit"a – Why is Shemittah the greatest “Na’aseh v’Nishma”?!

“Is it a small thing that you have taken my husband?” (Bereishis 30:15)

Thursday, 19 Sivan 5783 – “The union of Rachel and Leah, the secret of the signs”

These are his holy words:

Leah’s “feet” enter into Rachel’s “crown”—Leah above and Rachel below. Because all of Yaakov’s avodah was to unite Rachel and Leah. Rachel handed over the signs to Leah.

Leah says to Rachel: “Is it a small thing that you have taken my husband?” (Bereishis 30:15). Why does she say, “my husband”? It should be the opposite! After all, Leah took Rachel’s husband—Yaakov—from Rachel, not Rachel from Leah.

But the reason Leah says to Rachel, “you have taken my husband,” is because Leah truly did not know. Rachel never revealed to Leah that she herself was Yaakov’s intended match. Rachel never, ever told Leah that she was the first match, and that Yaakov met her at the well and told her: “Your father Lavan is a deceiver—he will certainly deceive.” And then Yaakov gave her the signs connected to the ear.

The parshiyos of Tazria–Metzora speak about how the Kohen sprinkles on the earlobe and on the two big toes—the right big toe and the left.

The Ben Ish Chai explains in Parshas Vayeitzei that these were the signs. But what do toes have to do with this? What does the right big toe and the left big toe have to do with it? An ear, fine—we can understand that, because the main thing is the light of the ear (Etz Chaim / Sha’ar 8 / Chapter 1). “Nishma” comes through the ear—Na’aseh v’Nishma. And the true Na’aseh v’Nishma is Shemittah, because you must prepare the place for Shemittah—before Shavuos!

Because not working for a full year (the year of Shemittah)—that seems impossible. How can a person not work for a full year? What will we eat?

The question is “What will we eat?”—but that is a question of apikorsus! “What will we eat?” is the greatest apikorsus! If Hashem says you will have—then there will be abundance!! There will be oranges, and there will be wheat, and there will be barley!