Chassidus explains that spiritually, Rachel and Leah represent 2 different worlds. Rachel, who is described by her physical beauty, represents the “revealed world”. Leah represents the “hidden world”.
In our psyche, the revealed world is our capacity of speech (and action). Through speech, we reveal and communicate our hidden thoughts and feelings to others. The hidden world is like our thoughts.
The revealed world refers to our physical world, which, like our words that leave us, has a tangible sense of independent existence. This world was created by Hashem through speech. The hidden world refers to the spiritual worlds, which remain united in the hidden Divine Thought.
The hidden world of thought, where we experience our feelings and ideas more powerfully, represents our own inner work. The revealed world of speech, represents our interactions with and impact on others.
The name Yaakov is made up of the letters י-עקב. His life mission was to draw down G-dliness represented by the letter י, into the עקב (heal), referring to the lowly world. So naturally, Yaakov fell in love with Rachel. In her outward personality , Yaakov saw his life-partner in his mission of “communicating” G-dliness to others.
Yaakov ‘despised’ Leah because inner-work is more challenging and confronting. Like the name Leah, it wearies us. Yaakov felt that the service of digging deeper into oneself would take him away from his mission.
Hashem caused Yaakov to first have to marry Leah and it was Leah who bore Yaakov most of his children. The message is that whilst it may be a more difficult Avodah, if we want to truly be able to impact those around us in a meaningful way, we need to engage with ourselves first. This will be our true source of effectiveness.
