ציטירנדיקער פּירוש אויף בראשית 29:23

“Our toil” (Deuteronomy 26:7): This refers to the (“Banim”) boys, as it is said, “Let every new born boy be cast into the Nile and let ever girl live” (Exodus 1:22): What is it about the expression “Our toil” that leads the Maggid to assume that it is referring to the Israelite boys who were drown in the Nile River? The word “Amal, toil” or “burden” is often used to refer to labor whose outcome is purposeless and in vain. See Ecclesiastes, 1:3, “What profit has a person of all his toil wherein he toils under the Sun?” or Job 4:8, “They sow wickedness and reap toil.” The Hebrew boys were born and immediately killed by the Egyptians so that the labor of carrying them for nine months and then giving birth to them was in the end in vain. Their mothers toiled and carried these children only to see their sons die. But why, then, does the Maggid also quote the final part of the verse, “and let every girl live?” Since the girls were allowed to live the labor of carrying them was not in vain. Pharaoh’s decree would appear to have been directed at the baby boys and not the girls. They were drowned in the Nile and not the girls. The girls, however, were also “born in vain” since they would remain single and alone all their lives if the Israelite boys were all put to death. They would not be able to establish Jewish homes. Pharaoh’s decrees affected both the boys and the girls. The Israelite boys were killed so that the girls would have no one to marry among their own people. Rabbi Epstein explains the derivation of the words “Ben, son” and “Bat, daughter” in light of this comment. He derives the word “Ben,” from the Hebrew verb “boneh” which means “to build,” because it was the job of the boys to build a future for the Israelite people. He then suggests that the word “Bat” comes from the word “Bayit” or “house.” How could the women establish a “Bayit” if there were no men with whom to help build it?

Jacob did indeed complain about two matters. 1) That Laban had given him Leah instead of Rachel. 2) That he had done so in such a deceptive manner. Jacob thereby revealed that had Laban forced Leah upon him he, Jacob, would have been less concerned than now that he slept with one woman while believing he slept with another. This deception had far-reaching spiritual consequences, as we already alluded to earlier on verse 23.