On the road to exile, Rochel Imeinu’s tears mingle with our prayers
There are so many people to see when on visits to Eretz Yisrael — aunts, uncles, cousins, friends. Everyone comes with their own list. But there’s one name that appears on everyone’s list: Mamma Rochel.
The kever will be especially crowded this week, on her yahrtzeit of 11 Cheshvan, but day or night, you can always see throngs of people coming to daven and cry, knowing that their mother is always there to listen and to advocate for them in Heaven. How did Rochel Imeinu acquire this special role? What is the significance of her burial site? Why has it been a place for tefillah for thousands of years?
One of the most cryptic stories in Sefer Bereishis regards the dudaim flowers that Reuven brought as a gift to his mother Leah. Rochel Imeinu requested that Leah give her some of the flowers. An exchange was made: Rochel would receive the dudaim, and Leah would give birth to two more of the shevatim — becoming the mother to the majority of the tribes — and be buried alongside Yaakov Avinu in Me’aras Hamachpeilah. Rochel would lose these gifts, but gain the dudaim. Chazal comment that Rochel and Leah each lost and gained — and that the exchange was of equal value.
How can we understand this? What was the deeper significance of the flowers that made them outweigh these two incredible privileges?
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