Comentario sobre Génesis 29:32

ותקרא שמו ראובן AND SHE CALLED HIS NAME REUBEN — Our Rabbis explained it thus: she said, “See (ראו) the difference between (בין) my son and my father-in-law’s son who himself sold the birthright to Jacob and yet wished to kill him afterwards. This (my son) did not sell it (his birthright) to Joseph (it must be remembered that Joseph being the founder of two tribes was regarded as the first-born of Jacob’s sons since the eldest son took a double portion in the father’s property), yet he did not raise any protest to him being regarded as the first-born and not only did he not raise a protest but he even wished to take him out of the pit and so rescue him from death (Berakhot 7b).

יאהבני, the vowel patach under the letter ב is equivalent to the letter having been vocalised with a tzeyreh. We have a similar construction in Isaiah 56,3 where the word yavdilani means the same as if the prophet had written yavdileyni.

בעניי, that my husband suspected me of agreeing to deceive him. As compensation for having been unfairly suspected G’d granted me male seed. (compare the reward for a woman unjustly suspected of infidelity Numbers 5,25)

ותהר..יאהבני, just as much as he loves my sister. The vowel patach under the letter ב substitutes for the vowel tzeyreh.

ותהר לאה,…ותהר עוד. Leah gave birth,..she gave birth again. I have paid attention to the meaning of the names. Normally, a name which alludes to removal of hatred should have preceded a name alluding to love. Leah seems to have reversed this sequence by proclaiming: "now my husband will love me" after the birth of Reuben, whereas after the birth of Shimon she proclaimed: "G'd heard that I am hated, therefore He has given me this one too." Another strange thing is Leah's conviction when Levi was born that "now my husband will grow attached to me." Was he then not attached to her previously?

(32-35) Die aufeinanderfolgenden Namen zeigen, wie mit jedem neuen Kindessegen, den Jakob Lea verdankte, auch sein Benehmen gegen sie lieberfüllter wurde. Zuerst: ראה ד׳ בעניי. Es war also bis dahin die Bevorzugung Rahels in Jakobs Benehmen sichtbar, das schwand mit Reubens Geburt, aber hörbar blieb es noch für Leas Ohr. Sie fühlte es seinem Tone an, dass sie noch nicht in vollem Besitze seiner Liebe war, darum nannte sie den zweiten Sohn: Schimeon. Durch die Geburt des Dritten fühlte sie den Unterschied schon gänzlich verwischt, ja sie sprach die Zuversicht aus, dass jetzt das reinste, wahrste Gattenverhältnis zwischen ihnen bestehen werde, wie es eben der Begriff לויה ausdrückt. הִלָוה ,לוה ist nämlich jenes Aneinanderschließen zweier Wesen, wo jedes sich als den לוה, als den Schuldner des andern fühlt, sein Glück nur in dem andern und durch den andern findet. Höchst bedeutsam spricht daher beim Lewi nicht sie, sondern er dies in seinem Namen aus. Was bei ihr Anmaßung gewesen wäre, war aus seinem Munde das süßeste Bekenntnis, על כן קרא שמו לוי. Als daher Juda, der vierte, von ihr geboren ward, brauchte sie sich des Kindes nicht mehr zunächst als eines Fortschrittes zu der Liebe ihres Mannes zu freuen, die ihr schon voll sich zugewandt hatte, sondern konnte die Freude am Kinde rein genießen, und sprach daher die seligen Worte einer glücklichen Mutter aus: Diesmal kann ich Gott rein für seine Gabe danken, und nannte ihn: Jehuda.

Righteous Leah had shed tears about her fate to become Esau's wife; this is why the Torah mentioned the softness of her eyes. When she now saw that she had become Jacob's wife, she realised that he was not her true בן זוג. When she had a son she attributed this to an act of mercy by G'd who had seen that she was not beloved. The righteous always live according to the imperative of our sages (Avot 1,6) to always interpret everyone else's actions favourably. It therefore did not occur to her that her husband could actually hate her. People who think in that fashion are blessed. When Leah's first son was born she assumed that all she lacked was her husband's love. It was only when her second son was born that she realised retroactively that she had erred; not only had she not been loved but Jacob had actually hated her. When she said: "G'd has heard," she meant that G'd had been aware of something that she herself had not allowed herself to become aware of. When she had her third son she concluded that her previous reasoning that she was not Jacob's intended wife had been wrong too and that she was indeed Jacob's intended wife. She felt that the time had come when her husband would recognise this fact too and that his relationship with her would change for the better.

ותקרא שמו ראובן, “she called his name Reuven.” All the names given to the children of Rachel and Leah were inspired by Holy Spirit assisting their mothers in naming them. The names they gave the children all alluded to certain attributes of G’d. When Leah named her first four sons she alluded to the ten emanations from the bottom up. He called the first son Reuven alluding to the attribute of Justice which corresponds to the last letter ה in the Ineffable Name. Our sages (Bereshit Rabbah 44,12) had said that until Avraham had that letter added to his name he was unable to have a son with Sarah. The word ראובן alludes to ראייה, “seeing, taking note of.” The faculty of seeing is derived from the attribute of Justice, and this is why the עין הרע, “the evil eye” is such a dangerous and powerful characteristic as it directs attention to the attribute of Justice, i.e. retribution. The name שמעון which is derived from שמועה, as Leah said: “for G’d has heard that I am hated,” corresponds to an attribute symbolized by the letter ו in the same four-lettered name of G’d, and the 6 directions in which it extends. When Yaakov blessed Ephrayim and Menashe, the two sons of Joseph, by saying: “they shall be to me just as Reuven and Shimon” (Genesis 48,5), he meant to protect them against this influence of the evil eye which is associated with the attribute hate. Similar considerations prevailed when naming all the rest of the twelve sons. I will go into details when we get to the relevant verses.

Leah also thought of the time after she and Jacob would depart this world when she said ילוה אישי, "my husband will remain attached to me." She was now convinced that their souls would not become separated in the Hereafter as she was his true soul-mate. We have been told by the Zohar Mishpatim section 102 that truly matched pairs will remain together in the Hereafter. She underlined the fact that she had borne Jacob three sons as the number three is indicative of something permanent, enduring.

She also foresaw in her prophetic mind that Jacob would have four wives. Accordingly, she had fulfilled her destiny by bearing him three sons. When she bore Jacob a fourth son subsequently, she said: "this time I will thank the Lord" because up to now G'd had treated her on the basis of justice, i.e. she had borne one fourth of Jacob's sons. Now that she had borne him four sons she thanked G'd who had done more for her than was required by justice.