רש"ר הירש בראשית כ"ט:ל"א
ויפתח את רחמה ורחל עקרה – יש לשים לב לכך שהגרעין העיקרי של העם היהודי לא בא מאותה אם שיעקב – עד כמה שהתורה מספרת – בחר בה, בעיקר מחמת הרושם החיצוני שעשה יופיה אהבת בעלה הייתה מטרתה, ובכל בן שנולד לה קיוותה להוסיף נדבך נוסף לבנין היסוד של אותה אהבה. לבסוף נתמלאו תקוותיה. מה שלא זכתה בו הכלה והאשה, הוענק לאם הבנים.
נמצא שאהבה טהורה לבעל ולילדים, ובטחון מלא בהשגחה עליונה – אלה היו הערכים הבסיסיים המונחים ביסוד ההריון והלידה, הגידול והחינוך, של שבטי ישראל. שמותיהם מהווים זכרון עולם לכל הערכים והקנינים היוצרים את הבסיס לבית היהודי ולאושר הנישואין
דווקא לאה העצובה זכתה לשמחה בביתה ובנישואיה; ואילו רחל שְׂבֵעַת הרצון נתנסתה בעצב ויגון.
We need to pay attention to the fact that the main seed of the Jewish nation does not come from the wife that Jacob chose because of her external beauty. The Almighty specifically chooses the mother who feels poor and deprived, and makes her the main matriarch of his nation.
Both through the names that this woman gives to her children show us that despite her own feeling of deprivation, she nonetheless was full of love for her husband.
The names show us that she elevated herself to truly value the role of the matriarch, both in terms of herself and with relationship to her husband in a complete way. In both these aspects she sent her prayers to G-d who hears and sees all, and rests his presence between man and woman.
Her single focus was the love of her husband, and with every child which is born she hoped to add another layer to this building of this love. In the end, her hoped were fulfilled.
It comes out that a pure love for her husband and for her children, and complete faith in G-d's interventions in her life were the basic values which were placed into her pregancies and births, parenting her children and educating the tribes of Israel.
Their names express a continual rememberance for all the values and qualities which are the basis of a Jewish home and a beautiful rich marriage.
It is specifically Leah the sad one who merits to having joy in her marriage and her house, and Rachel the satisfied one who is tested with sadness and tragedy.
(ב) אל לאה. אע״ג דדרך הבנים הקטנים להריץ מציאתן לאביהן כדאיתא בב״מ די״ב מכ״מ היה בזה חכמת ראובן להשכיל דזה הפרט שייך לאמו יותר לתכשיט.
"To Leah" even though it is the way of young boys to run, bringing things they find to their father, there was wisdom in Reuben giving these flowers to his mother as an adornment.
They were called Dudaim - their name proves what they are - its the language of brothers and lovers, as it evidenced by the language of Isaiah a "caravan of Dodanim" (23,13).
This species is a talisman for bringing love between people, and therefore it is called "Dudaim" from the language of lovers (DODIM).
Therefore Reuben saw when he went into the field found these flowers, and it is already known that Reuben paid attention that Jacob spent his time in the tent of Rachel and not with his mother (until he swapped the beds of his mother with Bilha, Rachel's maidservants). It is for this reason that he brought the flowers to his mother, and thought that through it, love will enter into the heart of Jacob towards his mother, because that is their purpose.
Although Jacob originally loved Rachel very much, when he saw that she didn't have a child that changed. Even if Jacob didn't feel any differently about Rachel, nonetheless she felt Jacob's love had fallen away from her.
She therefore asked Leah her sister: Please give some of the dudaim flowers, to ensure Jacob's love to be upon them equally.
How can the verse say that Reuben saved his brother, if he had not saved him as yet? Also, why does he say, let us not kill him, and then only afterwards let us not spill blood? Why repeat the same idea?
The verse rather comes to tell us how Reuben was very clever in his saving of Joseph. If he had come with them with arguments why his (Joseph's) life should be saved, they would not have listened to him at all when they in such an angry mood, and they would have killed Joseph immediately.
Therefore, he was wise and said:"lets not kill him" and they would understand that this meant not kill him immediately, rather let us torture him first while he is still alive and then kill him! In this way he was portreying himself to be of one mind with them, and in this way he saved his brother from immediate death.....
Once Reuven had seen that they listened to his words, only then did he suggest to throw Joseph into the pit, so that he could save him at a later moment, and in this way have forgiveness from his sins.
כי עלית משכבי אביך. וברור שלא בעל ראובן ח״ו את בלהה. אלא הא דכתיב וישכב את בלהה היינו שכב באהל שלה כדי שלא יבא יעקב אליה בשביל שהרגיש צער אמו. והנה אע״ג שלא הי׳ עצם החטא גדול כ״כ כמו שאם הי׳ בועל ח״ו. מ״מ בזה הי׳ גרוע. דהבועל בעבירה אינו משהה בעון אלא כמהר צפור אל פח משא״כ כששמרה מאביו הי׳ מוכרח לשכב כל הלילה ולא מצא עוד דעתו כמה מגונה פעולה זו.
"For when you mounted your father's bed" - it is clear that Reuben didn't have relations with Bilhah. Rather it means that he slept in her tent, so that Jacob should not be with her. (He did this), because he felt the pain of his mother.
Even though this isn't as bad as if he had relations with Bilhah, nonetheless, this was worse, because he stayed a longer time in her tent preventing Jacob from coming in.
Leah hinted in his name that the child (Reuben) was a stolen child, through the trickery of Laban who swapped Leah with Rachel, and therefore at the night of their consumation of the marriage he believed he was with Rachel.
This intimate act with Leah was therefore seen as not having intention and knowledge of her....Jacob was therefore lacking in intention and focus. She therefore called the him Reu' Ben - see a son - not MY SON.
When Reuben is blessed he is described as "my first born", rather then saying "you are my son". His true (first born son) is Joseph, because everything follows his intent. It is therefore for this reason that he calls Joseph " to my son, to Joseph (Gen 47,29) because in Joseph the action and intent of his relation with Rachel were absolutely correct.
He blesses him with strength and vigor, but says that this blessing is "unstable" because you arose from the sleepings of your father referring both to his conception, and the way in which he changed the order of Jacob's sleeping in Bilhah's tent.
רש"ר הירש בראשית כ"ט:ל"ב
אולם בלידת בנה השלישי, חשה לאה שחוסר השוויון נמחק לגמרי, והיא הביעה את בטחונה המלא כי מעתה יחסיה עם בעלה יהיו טהורים ואמיתיים: "ילוה אישי אלי". ואכן, "לוה" או "הלוה" מציין התקשרות קרובה בין שני אנשים, בה כל אחד רואה את עצמו כ"לוה" לגבי השני, וחש שהוא חייב את אושרו לשני. לכן מובן מדוע דוקא יעקב "קרא שמו לוי" ולא לאה. הייתה בכך עזות מצידה, אילו קראה היא את השם; אבל כאשר השם יצא מפיו, הייתה זאת ההודאה המתוקה ביותר.
משום כך, כשנולד הבן הרביעי, היא כבר לא ראתה את עוללה כאמצעי להשגת אהבת בעלה במידה רבה יותר, שכן זו הייתה כבר כולה שלה. עתה יכלה פשוט לשמוח בבנה, וכאם מאושרת קראה: "הפעם אודה את ה' ", על מתנתו בלבד. "על כן קראה שמו יהודה".
With the birth of Levi, Leah felt that the inequality of relationship between herself and Jacob was completely removed, and she expressed her complete faith that now the relationship with her husband would be pure and true :"my husband will accompany me" The word "LAVAH/HILVA" expresses a close relationship between the two - both feel that they are borrowing from one another (LOV'E =love!) and feels that they owe their wealth to the other spouse.
It is therefore understood why specifically Jacob called his name "Levi" and not Leah. There would be a certain brazenness if she called her son Leah; but once the name came from his mouth, that was the sweetest thank you in the world for her.
As a result of this, when a fourth son was born, she no longer saw her distress as a reason to gain further love from her husband, because it was already all hers. Now she was able to simply be happy with her son, and like an enriched woman she says "now I will thank G-d" for the present that he has given me.