The Secret of Rachel and Leah: The Virtue of Humility and the Sweetening of Judgments

Lesson No. 299 | Motzaei Shabbos Kodesh Parashas Vayishlach, Eve of 20 Kislev 5761 - Melaveh Malkah for Shadarim (Emissaries) - Part 1

A profound discourse on the spiritual root of our matriarchs Rachel and Leah, and how Leah's tears sweetened the severe judgments and elevated her to the level of the Hidden World. Through this, the secret of Moshe Rabbeinu's humility is explained, as he merited to attain the supernal level of Leah through his wife Tzipporah.

The Divine Name Eheyeh (I Will Be) consists of four letters. Four multiplied by four equals sixteen (represented by the Hebrew letters Tes-Zayin). This is the secret of the verse, "the measure of my days, what it is (hi)" — the word hi (she/it) has a gematria (numerical value) of sixteen. In the Keser (Crown) of our matriarch Leah, there are sixteen lights. In contrast, the Keser of Rachel, even though it is lower, contains eighty lights, in the secret of the word va'ed (and forever — the letter Ayin equals 70, and Daled equals 10). The question arises: Why does Leah, who is spiritually higher, receive only sixteen lights, while Rachel receives eighty?

The Secret of the "Milui" (Expansion) of Adam and Chava

To understand this, we must contemplate the secret of Adam and Chava (Eve). The Kabbalistic configuration of Zeir Anpin (the "Small Face," representing the emotional attributes of the Divine) is called "Adam." This is the secret of the Name of Hashem (Havayah) when spelled out with the letter Aleph (known as the Name of Mah), which has a gematria of 45. The milui (the spelled-out expansion of the letters) of the Name represents the feminine aspect, which fills the masculine aspect with life-force. If we take only the expansion letters of the Name of Mah (Vav-Daled, Aleph, Vav-Aleph-Vav), we discover that their gematria equals 19, which is exactly the numerical value of the name "Chava."

Every woman is the expansion and fulfillment of her husband, and therefore Chava is the expansion of Adam. This is why Adam HaRishon (the First Man) said:

"Bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh."

Leah is called the "Higher Chava" and Rachel is called the "Lower Chava." Leah's spiritual root lies in the severe judgments of the Alma D'Iskasya (the Hidden World). However, the verse testifies: "And Leah's eyes were tender." Because she cried day and night out of fear that she would fall into the portion of the wicked Esav, through her prayers and tears she completely sweetened her own judgments, until she merited to enter the portion of Yaakov Avinu.

Leah's Tears and the Sweetening of Judgments

When Yaakov married Leah, they sang to her at the wedding, "Leah, Leah." Usually, the dancing at a wedding is meant to sweeten the judgments of the bride, but Leah no longer needed any sweetening. She had cried so much that she became completely spiritual, a soul without a body, and entirely sweetened. Therefore, she is the one who merits to bring Mashiach ben David into the world.

The Torah says:

"And Yaakov loved Rachel more than Leah... And Hashem saw that Leah was hated."

Is it possible that Yaakov Avinu, the choicest of the Patriarchs, hated Leah? Heaven forbid. The explanation is that Leah was on the level of Alma D'Iskasya — a hidden and concealed world. Yaakov had no spiritual grasp of Leah, and therefore she was called "hated" (*senuah*) — a term implying distance and concealment. Only when Yaakov elevated himself from mochin d'katnus (a constricted state of consciousness) to mochin d'gadlus (an expanded state of consciousness) and received the name "Yisrael," did he merit to attain Leah's level.

The Heel of Humility is the Fear of Hashem

Shlomo HaMelech (King Solomon) says in Mishlei (Proverbs):

"The heel of humility is the fear of Hashem."

Wisdom and fear, which represent the level of Rachel ("A woman of valor who fears Hashem, she shall be praised"), are only the "heel" of humility, which is the level of Leah. A person who is truly humble ascends to the Alma D'Iskasya, to the highest possible level.

Moshe Rabbeinu merited to attain the level of Leah in its entirety through his wife Tzipporah. The holy Arizal explains that Tzipporah was the highest aspect of Leah (Malchus d'Abba - the Kingship of the Supernal Father). Through her, Moshe attained all of his immense spiritual comprehensions, and therefore the Torah testified about him:

"Now the man Moshe was exceedingly humble, more than any person on the face of the earth."

To truly be "humble more than any person," one must attain all forty-nine gates of *Binah* (Understanding). Moshe Rabbeinu held onto the highest trait of humility, and therefore no dispute, not even the complaints of Korach, could harm him. Whoever holds onto the highest trait of humility is connected to the root of all souls and merits to illuminate the entire world.

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