Ask the Rabbi with Rabbi Chaim Mintz:
Rochel was buried on the side of the road in Kever Rochel, and not in Me’erat Hamachpeilah. This was so that when the Jewish people would pass her tomb on their way into galut (exile), she would daven (pray) for them, as the pasuk says,
“Rachel mevakah al ba’neha” —Rachel cries for her children (Yirmiyohu 31:14). But Rochel was the mother of only two of Yaakov’s twelve sons, so why is the entire Jewish nation described as “her” children?
Rabbi Chaim Mintz responds
I will answer the question based on a true story.
Divorce?
A young couple married, looking forward to a long and happy life together. Alas, it was not to be. Shortly after their marriage, they discovered that the husband was unable to have children. They went to their Rabbi to discuss what to do. Should they get divorced, granting the young woman a new lease on life and the chance to raise a family?
The rabbi shared the following thought with the husband: “Although in your situation it seems improbable that you will ever have children, you can still have the merit of bringing children into the world. Since you are the one who holds the key to your wife’s chance of having a family, by letting her do so, all her future offspring will be considered your children. As Chazal say “Gadol hame’aseh yoser min ha’oseh” – one who enables others to perform a mitzvah is greater than the one who actually performs the mitzvah. So even for your sake it would be worthwhile to get divorced.”
The husband agreed to divorce her, and she remarried and had a family. In a true stroke of hashgacha pratit (Divine providence), many years later, a remedy was found for the husband, and he remarried and had children. No doubt, in the merit of his noble act, he was himself granted the blessing of having his own biological offspring.
Preserving Humility
The same can be said about Rachel. When Yaakov asked Rachel to marry him, she warned him that her father Lavan was a swindler, and he may attempt to substitute her sister for her. To prevent this, Yaakov gave Rachel a secret code to use on the night of their wedding.
However, when Rachel realized that Leah was about to be terribly humiliated, she shared the code with her, sacrificing her own future as the matriarch of the Jewish people to save her sister from disgrace. Since it was Rachel’s remarkable act of benevolence that paved the way for Leah and her maidservant, Zilpah, to marry Yaakov, their children are also considered Rachel’s children, earning her the status of a matriarch of all of Yaakov’s children. This is why Rachel’s crying for the entire Jewish nation can aptly be described as crying for “her” children.
Her Merit Will Save Us
Indeed, the Midrash tells us that it was this noble and selfless act that makes her tefillot (prayers) so potent and the ones that will ultimately bring us back from galut.
This is a very powerful thought. As we have mentioned in the past, when we seek to invoke the merits of the Avot and Imahot (forefathers and foremothers), it is not sufficient to merely mention their greatness; rather, we must strive to follow in their footsteps. By emulating Rachel and sacrificing our own comforts for the sake of others, we too become worthy of having our tefillot answered.
In Short:
Rachel facilitated her sister Leah’s marriage to Yaakov, so all of Leah’s children are considered hers as well.
Written by Rabbi Aaron Shapiro
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