פרשת ויצא תשכ"ג - רחל ולאה

And he went in also unto Rachel, and he loved Rachel more than Leah, and served with him yet seven other years.

ויאהב גם את רחל, he not only slept also with her, but also loved her more than he loved Leah. On most occasions in Scripture when the word גם appears in an inverted fashion, such as here, the meaning is similar. In Exodus 12,32 when Pharaoh said to Moses וברכתם גם אותי, the meaning is: “also bless me.” In Numbers 22,33 when the angel said to Bileam: גם אותך הרגתי, he meant: “I would also have killed you, seeing that I first squeezed your foot and you are already lame. Now I would have killed you if not for your ass lying down.”

ויתן...ויבא גם אל רחל, just as he had slept with Leah previously, he now slept with Rachel.

ויאהב גם את רחל, the Torah had to write this in order to inform us that Yaakov loved Leah also, even though originally he had not chosen her to become his wife. In the event, now that she had become his wife, he loved her just as most husbands love their wives. However, he loved Rachel better.

And the LORD saw that Leah was hated, and he opened her womb; but Rachel was barren.

Another answer: (op. cit. 145) "God supports all those who have fallen" - these are the barren, whose [status] have "fallen" within their households. And "straightens the bent" - when the Holy One, Blessed be He rewards them with children, they straighten up [in joy.] Similarly, Leah was hated by her household, and when the Holy One, Blessed be He visited her [and gave her pregnancy], she was straightened. That is the same concept by "And God saw that Leah was hated" - "that Leah was hated" - that she behaved in the manner of the "hated", since she was supposed to marry "the hater" [, Esav] (other mss. read "Assessed by the hater") since that was the custom, the firstborn [Esav] marry the firstborn [Esav] and the younger one [Ya'akov] marry the younger one [Rachel]. Therefore Leah cried and said: "May it be your will, God, that I do not become the possession of an evildoer." R' Huna said: Davening is a strong force, that it annulled the decree, and not only that, but that it made her come before her sister [for marriage. Because of this] everyone would mock her: The unemployed people mocked her, the travelers mocked her, and even the ladies behind their backs mocked her, saying, "This Leah, her inside is not like her outside; she appears righteous but is not really righteous. For if she were righteous she would not have cheated her sister [and would have let her marry first.] Rabbi Chanin in the name of Rabbi Shmuel son of Rabbi Yitzchak said: When Yaakov our Forefather saw matters, that Leah had "cheated" her sister, he made up his mind to divorce her, but when she was blessed with children, he said: "To the mother of these I am divorcing?" And in the end he admitted he was wrong, and that is the meaning of the verse: (Genesis 47) "And Yisrael [Yaakov] bowed low at the head of the bed," [and head of the bed is a euphemism for Leah, as she was the first one of his conjugal bed.] "And Rachel was barren," said Rabbi Yitzchak, Rachel was the main part of the household, as it says, "And Rachel was barren (akarah)" - It's main part (ikrah) was Rachel. Said Rabbi Abba son of Cahana, since most of the diners [at Ya'akov's table] were Leah's [progeny, as a courtesy] they named Rachel as the main part, as it says, "And Rachel was barren (akarah)" - It's main part (ikrah) was Rachel. Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai said: Since all these matters [i.e. helping Leah cheat the system] were done by Rachel, therefore the Children of Israel were called by her name, (Jeremiah 31): "Rachel cries for her children," and there was no end to her name, as her children's names lived on, as it says in (Amos 5): "Perhaps the Lord of Hosts will have compassion on the remnant of Joseph [a son of Rachel]" - now her son's name was recalled. And her son's name did not die out either, as it says (Jeremiah 31) "How precious is my son Ephraim [, Joseph's son and Rachel's grandson."

That Leah was hated: Behold Leah tricked her sister and also Yaakov. For if we say, that she was behaving respectfully to her father who grabbed her and brought her into him and she must not cross him, then she should have said or hinted that she was Leah. Rather, she disguised herself all night and therefore, he did not recognize her until he saw her in the morning. And therefore, Yaakov hated her. But God knows that she did it in order to be married to a righteous man, and He had mercy on her. And thus they said in Bereishit Rabba (71:2) "When Yaakov saw the actions that Leah tricked her sister he intended to divorce her. And when God gave her children, he said 'shall I divorce the mother of these?'"And this is the reason "God saw" that He had pity on her that he should not leave her. And there are those who say (the Radak) that two wives were one is very beloved, the second is called "hated." As it says, " he loved Rachel more than Leah"--not that he hated her. And it was embarrassing and God saw her oppression.

And when Rachel saw that she bore Jacob no children, Rachel envied her sister; and she said unto Jacob: ‘Give me children, or else I die.’

ויחר...אשר מנע ממך, G’d denied you children, not I. You have to pray to Him, not to berate me. As far as I am concerned, I have made my contribution already having slept with you far more often than with Leah. If you are genetically barren then you have to ask G’d to open your womb. Your sister did the same and her prayer has been answered. The word מנע, prevented, which Yaakov used meant that the sperm did not enter the area of the womb where fertilisation takes place. Yaakov’s anger was due to Rachel attributing her problem to Yaakov and something Yaakov had failed to do, and not to G’d, Who decrees who is barren and who is fertile. The demand to her husband הבה לי בנים, “get me children,” was entirely out of place. Had she asked Yaakov to plead with G’d to have mercy on her, she would have been perfectly in order. He would not then have become angry at her.