(ב) אבל רחל היתה יפת תאר ויפת מראה בלא שום מום. ותאר הוא על צורת הפנים ושאר האברים וקומות הגוף, ומראה על הבשר שהיה לבן ואדום והשער שחור:
(2) יפת תאר ויפת מראה, but Rachel suffered from no physical blemish at all, but was perfect both in shape and in facial features. The word מראה describes the appearance of one’s skin, healthy or otherwise, as well as the colour of her hair, i.e. black. In other words, the part of one’s body normally visible to all is described as מראה.
Rachel was different. She was a communicator, charismatic and appealing to others. She commanded a sphere of influence. Her beautiful complexion alludes to the shining of her countenance. Her Hebrew name, Rachel, is numerically equivalence to the phrase vayehi ohr, “and there was light,” both equaling 238. With Rachel there was light; the environment was illuminated with her presence.
Talmud Megilla 13b
"Jacob asked Rachel: "Will you marry me?" She said: "Yes, but you should know that my father's a trickster and he will outwit you." "And what is his trickery?" "I have a sister older than I and he will try to marry her off first." So he gave her signs (signals by which he would ensure the bride was Rachel). Come the night of the wedding and Rachel saw Leah being led to the chuppah. She thought: Now my sister will be humiliated? And she gave over the signs."
Yaakov and Rachel anticipated this trick of Lavan and prepared for it. Yaakov gave Rachel a code or password, which she was to give over to him at the wedding to confirm that she was the real bride. In a bizarre twist, Rachel, seeing the ruse about to be carried out, cannot allow her sister to be humiliated. It's as if she is so overwhelmed by compassion at the pain of another, that she has no choice but to give over the password. Rachel absolutely cannot stand by and witness another person's suffering, even if it were at the expense of her love, her future, her destiny! The only calculation that seemed to enter her mind was: I cannot allow my sister to be humiliated. That's it. http://www.aish.com/jl/b/women/Women-in-the-Bible-Rachel--Leah-Part-1.html
By giving over these "signs," Rachel was basically allowing her sister, Leah, to marry Jacob instead of her. As far as Rachel knew, she may never wed Jacob at all. Indeed, even though she eventually did become a wife to Jacob, sharing him and her future with her older sister was not always a picnic! What drove Rachel to make such a selfless decision?
Total, all-encompassing compassion. Rachel was incapable of tolerating the thought that her sister would be humiliated, and was driven to prevent it even if it meant forsaking her own love and destiny.http://www.aish.com/f/hotm/Our-Mother-Rachel.html
Rachel had to choose between her love for Jacob and her compassion for her sister, and she decided in favor of the latter.
(א) לו לאשה. מגיד הכתוב באומרו לו וגו' כי עקרת הבית היא רחל כי היא בת זוגו: