(טז) וּלְלָבָ֖ן שְׁתֵּ֣י בָנ֑וֹת שֵׁ֤ם הַגְּדֹלָה֙ לֵאָ֔ה וְשֵׁ֥ם הַקְּטַנָּ֖ה רָחֵֽל׃
(16) Now Laban had two daughters: the name of the elder was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel.
(יז) וְעֵינֵ֥י לֵאָ֖ה רַכּ֑וֹת וְרָחֵל֙ הָֽיְתָ֔ה יְפַת־תֹּ֖אַר וִיפַ֥ת מַרְאֶֽה׃
(17) And Leah’s eyes were weak; but Rachel was of beautiful form and fair to look upon.
What questions do you have about this verse?
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(א) ועיני לאה רכות. לשון רך וטוב כלומר שהיתה נראית יפה מתוך שהיו עיניה יפות ונראית רכה וילדה...
(1) ועיני לאה רכות, “Leah’s eyes were soft, so that due to her beautiful eyes she appeared beautiful all over,”[the expression רך appears next to טוב, “good, when” the calf served by Avraham to the angels in Genesis 18,7 is described)...
(ז) וְאֶל־הַבָּקָ֖ר רָ֣ץ אַבְרָהָ֑ם וַיִּקַּ֨ח בֶּן־בָּקָ֜ר רַ֤ךְ וָטוֹב֙ וַיִּתֵּ֣ן אֶל־הַנַּ֔עַר וַיְמַהֵ֖ר לַעֲשׂ֥וֹת אֹתֽוֹ׃
(7) And Abraham ran unto the herd, and fetched a calf tender and good, and gave it unto the servant; and he hastened to dress it.
How does Genesis 18:7 help us understand the explanation of the Da'at Zekainim?
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(א) ועיני לאה רכות. ת״א יאין. פירושו נאות והכי פי׳ רשב״ם. והכונה שהיו נאות אבל מפני רכותן לא היתה יכולה לרעות בצאן משום שאור השמש היה מזיק להן:
(א) ועיני לאה רכות, יפת תואר היתה אלא שעיניה היו רכות ודומעות,
(1) ועיני לאה רכות, although her eyes were beautiful, they had a habit of breaking out in tears constantly. She was given to weeping excessively.
In your own words...
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(א) ועיני לאה רכות. שהיתה סבורה לעלות בגורלו של עשו ובוכה שהיו הכל אומרים שני בנים לרבקה ושתי בנות ללבן, הגדולה לגדול והקטנה לקטן:
(1) "The eyes of Leah were soft". For she supposed that she would be fated to become Esau's [wife] and she wept. For everyone used to say: "Rebecca has two sons; Lavan has two daughters - the older [daughter] for the older [son] and the younger [daughter] for the younger [son]."
In your own words...
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At the crossroads she would hear people say: “Rebekah has two sons, and Laban has two daughters. The older girl for the older boy, and the younger girl for the younger boy” (BT Bava Batra 123a). According to another exposition, this was not merely what people said, rather, Rebekah and Laban sent letters to each other, settling among themselves that Esau would marry Leah, while Jacob would take Rachel as a wife (Tanhuma, ed. Buber, Vayeze 12). Leah would ask: “What does the older one do?” They told her: “He is an evil person, a highway robber.” She continued to ask: “What does the younger one do?” She was told that he was (Gen. 25:27) “a mild man, who stayed in camp.” Leah would cry until her eyelashes dropped (BT Bava Batra loc. cit.). Accordingly, her weak eyes teach of Leah’s good traits: that she did not want to be married to Esau. Another exposition has her weeping and saying: “May it be His will that my lot not fall in the portion of the wicked Esau,” and her prayer was efficacious in saving her from this fate (Gen. Rabbah 70:16).
Leah’s prayers, like a perfectly poised arrow, reach straight to heaven, and her fate shifts...
So potent were her prayers that she married Jacob instead of Esau. The Talmud displays Leah as the paradigm of effective prayer, because her communication with G‑d actually rewrote her life’s script. She is identified by the Torah with her tears, an expression of the fresh enthusiasm and tender sincerity of her compelling prayers. Day in and day out she lifted her voice to heaven, and her words never became stale from repetition.
http://www.chabad.org/parshah/article_cdo/aid/1044440/jewish/Why-Jacob-Loved-Rachel.htm
In the space below, draw a symbol to represent Leah based on this commentary.
The great rebbe and Kabbalist Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi explains that Leah’s soul stemmed from the world of thought, while Rachel’s soul was from the world of speech. Leah was introspective, a master of meditation and internal communication, plumbing the depths of her soul and always emerging with a newfound appreciation of G‑d. She was a paradigm of humility and innocence, her eyes tender from an outpouring of fresh emotion.
So, who was Leah?