Momma Rachel is crying for her Children : Her Yartzeit was yesterday

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Shalom,

I have been wanting to make a post about Mother Rachel whose anniversary of death is yesterday, the 11th of Chesvan.

http://www.inner.org/times/cheshvan/rachel58.htm

Rachel’s Tomb (1891)

Our matriarch, Rachel’s day of passing is the 11th of Cheshvan, which has been established as Jewish Mother’s Day
Rachel is the spiritual matriarch of the Jewish People who are scattered throughout the world. Rachel personifies the cry for the spiritual and physical return of all Jews. Rachel is she who refuses to be comforted until the ingathering of her children is realized (see Jeremiah 31:14).

Following is a deeper understanding of the symbolism connected with Rachel Imenu, Rachel our matriarch.

For the Jewish People, our matriarch Rachel, Jacob’s beloved wife, personifies the innate power of the soul and its conscious devotion to arouse God’s mercy to redeem His children from exile and bring them to the promised land. This she does with tears and heartfelt prayer.

In the words of the prophet Jeremiah:

So says God: “A voice is heard in Ramah, lamentation and bitter weeping; Rachel weeps for her children, she refuses to be comforted, for her children, who is not.” So says God: “Keep your voice from weeping, and your eyes from tears; for there is reward for your effort, says God; and they shall return from the land of the enemy. And there is hope for your future, says God, and the children shall return to their border.”

We recite this prophecy as the Haftorah of the second day of Rosh HaShanah.

Rosh HaShanah, the “day of remembrance,” is the day that Rachel, after having been barren for many years, was remembered by God to bear a son. Thirty years afterwards, on the very day of Rosh HaShanah, her son, Joseph, was released from prison and appointed viceroy of Egypt.

The phrase “for her children, who is not,” over whom Rachel cries in the above prophecy, refers to Joseph in particular, the spiritual representative of the exiled tribes of Israel.

In Kabbalah, we learn that the twelve months of the Jewish year possess two heads or “parent”-months: the month of Nissan is the “father” of all the months of the year, whereas the month of Tishrei is the “mother” of all the months of the year. The shofar of Rosh HaShanah symbolizes in Kabbalah the womb of the mother; its blast–the birth of a new (blessed) year.

The numerical value of Rosh HaShanah (רֹאשׁ הַשָׁנָה) is 861 and is the trinagle of 41, the sum of all the integers from 1 to 41. 41 is the gematria of “mother” (אֵם). 861 is also the value of “the Holy Temple” (בֵּית הַמִקְדָשׁ), for the woman, the mother, symbolizes the home and builds for her family a holy sanctuary.

Before the blowing of the shofar on Rosh HaShanah, we meditate upon God’s 22-letter Name, whose numerical value is 1681, the square of 41. This is the Name that is encoded in the priestly blessing, the source of all blessing for a good and sweet year.

The yahrzeit (day of passing) of our matriarch Rachel is the 11th of Cheshvan, the month following Tishrei. As the month of Tishrei always has thirty days, the 11th of Cheshvan is the 41st day of the year from Rosh HaShanah. It is thus numerically the “mother’s” day of the year, since “mother” as we saw equals 41.

The full forty-one day period from Rosh HaShanah to the 11th of Cheshvan can thus be understood to be a continuation and extension of the spiritual service of Rosh HaShanah (which equals from 1 to 41, as stated above). The yahrzeit of Rachel consummates the birth (from the womb of mother) of the year. (On this very day she gave birth to her second son, Benjamin, and gave back her life to her Creator in childbirth.)

Our sages teach us that “the gates of tears are never locked.” In the midnight prayer, referred to as tikun Rachel (“the rectification of Rachel”), we meditate that the name “Rachel” (רָחֵל) equals 238 = 2 ∙ 119; 119 is the numerical value of the word “tear” (דִמְעָה), in Hebrew. Thus, our mother Rachel personifies the two cosmic tears of the Shechinah (God’s imminence and revealed presence in our world), that flow from her eyes and arouse mercy over the people of Israel. These two tears correspond to the two days of Rosh HaShanah (Rachel’s Haftorah is read on the second day of Rosh HaShanah, when both tears have been shed).

The word “tear,” 119, in turn equals the word for “little” or “small” (מְעַט). God promises the Jewish People that He will banish our enemies from our land, that we may inherit and settle it, “little by little” (מְעַט מְעַט). Though the Torah explicitly states that this means “not in one year…,” the process can surely be sped up, dependent upon our merit. The process that lead to the redemption of Joseph, the son of Rachel, took not one year but two. Each of these two years can be seen to correspond to one of his mother Rachel’s tears.

Furthermore, the phrase “little by little” itself alludes to the spiritual service which aids to hasten our redemption and the inheriting of our land. To the extent that the Jewish soul (as a people, the children of Rachel) recognizes its existential smallness, its selflessness in facing God and receiving His blessing, so will God speedily answer our prayers and reunite us with our homeland, to fulfill our destiny and His purpose in creation. And so do we find that God loves us and chooses us for “you are the smallest [me'at] of all the nations,” which the sages interpret as: “you consider yourselves small.”

Furthermore, the phrase “little by little” itself alludes to the spiritual service which aids to hasten our redemption and the inheriting of our land. To the extent that the Jewish soul (as a people, the children of Rachel) recognizes its existential “smallness,” its selflessness in facing God and receiving His blessing, so will God speedily answer our prayers and reunite us with our homeland, to fulfill our destiny and His purpose in creation. And so do we find that God loves us and chooses us for “you are the smallest [me'at] of all the nations,” which the sages interpret as: “you consider yourselves small.”

We are also taught in Chassidut (Tanya, end of Igeret HaKodesh 21) that through repeated acts of charity the Shechinah (personified by Rachel) “shakes off the dust of exile little by little,” and rises to her full spiritual stature. The Hebrew verb “to shake off” (לְהִתְנַעֵר) also means “to become rejuvenated” (the root, נער means “a youth” and the reflexive grammatical form of this verb means “to become young again”). By shedding two tears and experiencing existential smallness, one rejuvenates his personal life and that of his people.

From the Zohar we learn a deep secret about appearances: “He who is small is [indeed] great.” The smaller we are in our own eyes, the greater we appear in the eyes of God (and in fact, in the eyes of all other nations).

Each tear of our mother Rachel nurtures in our, her children’s, consciousness the sense of “smallness.” She “nurses” us with her tears.

Not only does she nurture our consciousness with her tears, but she washes us—cleansing us from all our spiritual blemishes—with her tears:

The Hebrew word for “mother” (אֵם) is spelled identically to the word for the conditional “if” (אִם). The prophet Isaiah says: “If (אִם) God has washed the filth of the daughters of Zion…,” implying that it is the mother-principle (personified by our matriarch Rachel, who in particular is referred to in Kabbalah as the lower mother, the sefirah of kingdom, whose Divine Name is Adni, the Name of God that appears in this verse) that washes clean the filth of the daughters of Zion, the souls of her children.

We may now picture one of Rachel’s two tears as nurturing our consciousness from within, and the second of her tears as washing our souls from without. Each tear corresponds to a state of smallness, the first to the state of my innate existential smallness in the face of the infinite Almighty, and the second in recognition of my distance from Him (the further removed, the smaller) due to my own iniquities.

When this full, rectified state of consciousness and recognition is integrated into our souls, the letters of the word “small” (מְעַט) inverts to spell the word for “taste” (טָעַם), referring specifically to the goodly taste of the secrets of the Torah, which will be revealed by Mashiach, may he come and redeem us speedily in our days. Amen.

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http://www.torah.org/learning/women/class48.html

The Matriarchs Rachel and Leah:
Tears of the Jewish Mothers, Part 2

In our last class, we explored the inner meaning and greatness of Leah's tears. This week we look at Rachel's tears.

To begin our inquiry into the unique impact of Rachel's tears on the Jewish people past, present and future, we turn to a Midrash from the beginning of the Book of Lamentations. The Midrash tells us that God sends the prophet Jeremiah to the Patriarchs, Avraham, Isaac and Jacob, and to Moshe - all of whom have left the world - to ask their participation in mourning and pleading for a better future for the Jewish people. Each advocates for Israel, attempting to appease God by asking Him to reciprocate for his past good deeds.

Avraham reminds God of his willingness to have sacrificed, Isaac, his only son. In essence he says to God, "When You told me to sacrifice my son, I became like a cruel person. I did not pay attention to my merciful feelings as a father. I put Isaac on the altar and tied him down in order to sacrifice him. Why will You not reciprocate by having mercy on Your children, Israel?" But God does not respond.

Next, Isaac reminds God of his willingness to have allowed himself to be sacrificed by his father, Avraham. He asks that God reciprocate by having compassion for and saving the Jewish people. Again there is no response. Then Jacob comes forward and essentially says, "When I came out of Laban's house where I had worked for twenty years, I was with my family and we met my brother Esav along the way. Esav intended to kill me, and I was ready to have myself killed, in order to save my children. Please remember my deed and, in return, save Your children the Jews." No answer.

Finally, Moshe speaks. "Wasn't I a loyal shepherd to the Jewish people for forty years? I led them in the desert and, finally, when they were poised to enter Israel, You told me I was to remain in the desert and die there. I was not allowed to enjoy the fruits of my labor and, now, You call upon me to join You in mourning for something I never had? Please remember my efforts and have mercy on Your people." Again, no response.

Each of the Patriarchs, along with Moshe, argues that along with the justice God exacts by exiling the Jews from Israel, He should also show mercy and ultimately save them. But God does not respond.

Back to Rachel. The Midrash tells us that she appears in front of God and reiterates to Him how difficult it was for her to have participated in the plan of replacing herself with her sister, Leah, under the bridal canopy. Rashi from Megillah 13b, gives us a background to this event: "Living up to his reputation as a deceitful rogue, Laban substituted Leah for Rachel on the wedding night. Jacob and Rachel expected Laban to attempt such a deception, and they prepared against it by arranging a secret signal between them. Seeing that they were about to substitute her sister Leah for her, however, Rachel confided the sign to her sister so that Leah would not be put to shame..." Rachel buries her desire to marry Jacob, and gives the signals to Leah. What's more, Rachel also buries her jealousy, in order to be able to carry out her plan with the purest intentions. Rachel asks God the following: "If I, as a flesh and blood mortal, was able to transcend my jealousy and anger, how much more so should You, an immortal King, find compassion for Your people."

The Midrash tells us that, as soon as she says this, God responds to Rachel's tears. He promises, for her sake, that He will ultimately redeem the Jews from their exile: "Rachel recalled her own magnanimity to her sister, Leah. When Leah was fraudulently married to Jacob in place of Rachel, Rachel did not let jealous resentment lead her to protest. Why then, should God be so zealous in punishing His children for bringing idols into His Temple? God accepted her plea and promised that Israel would be redeemed eventually, in her merit."

As it is written in Jeremiah (31:14), "Thus said Hashem: A voice is heard on high, wailing, bitter weeping, Rachel weeps for her children; she refuses to be consoled for her children, for they are gone. Thus said Hashem: Restrain your voice from weeping and your eyes from tears; for there is reward for your accomplishment - the word of Hashem - and they will return from the enemy's land. There is hope for your future - the word of Hashem - and your children will return to their border."

Why is it that God responds to Rachel and not to the Patriarchs or to Moshe? Certainly these were men of greatness and inordinate dedication to the Jewish people. Reb Tzadok HaKohen of Lublin proposes that the difference lies in the initiative Rachel takes, without first having to be commanded by God. From this perspective, we can say that the Patriarchs and Moshe perform their acts of self-sacrifice in response to God's command. Rachel, on the other hand, takes it upon herself to mastermind a plan that will save her sister's dignity, without any prior directive from God.

Had Rachel followed through with her own marriage to Jacob, God would not have held her responsible for Leah's embarrassment. This is because Leah's predicament would have been Laban's fault, since the plan was his. Nonetheless, Rachel takes it upon herself to act above and beyond her obligations. Accordingly, Rachel comes to God with a very strong argument for why her own actions should be a model for God in His treatment of the exiled Jewish people. She is able to say to God, "According to "halacha" (Jewish law) there is no reason why You should save Your people, since they have clearly transgressed. But, inasmuch as I acted with compassion to save my sister, You should do the same." And God accepts.

What we learn from Rachel's tears is that, when a person's actions surpass his or her obligations, God will reciprocate in kind - which is to say, beyond what they deserve according to conventional justice. Our sages tell us that if we want God's favorable judgement, say, on Rosh Hashanah, we should go an extra mile for someone else, even if we are not obligated to do so by Jewish law. This will enable us to convincingly advocate for ourselves in His presence.

In general, tears have a negative connotation, since we associate them with pain and difficulty. On the contrary, tears are the soul's response to a profound experience. We can now understand why, in order to appreciate Rachel and Leah, we have to examine the source of their tears. Leah cries out of fear that she may not be able to participate in building the Jewish Nation. Rachel cries for Israel her exiled children. Both Matriarchs teach us how tears express the essence of a Jewish woman.

We should always ask ourselves, "What do we have to care about to the extent that we'll cry?" This question will help us to define our values, set our priorities and direct our spiritual growth.

Women in Judaism, Copyright (c) 2001 by Mrs. Leah Kohn and Project Genesis, Inc.

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A rather long (30min) discussion on the topic of mother Rachel.

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Raw, minimally edited, video from Kever Rachel:

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