Parsha Pearls
וְעֵינֵי לֵאָה רַכּוֹת And the eyes of Leah were soft... (Bereishis 29:17)
Quoting the words of Chaza”l, Rashi explains that Leah’s eyes were soft due to crying, because people would say that Yaakov, the younger son of Rivka will marry Rachel, the younger daughter of Lavan; while Eisav, the older son of Rivka, will marry Leah, the older daughter of Lavan. Targum Yonasan ben Uziel tells us that Leah’s eyes were soft from crying and praying to Hashem that she should not end up marring Eisav. Thus, Leah’s tears were tears in tefilla. This is the lesson that our mother Leah has taught us - pray with tears.
Interestingly, Targum Onkolos does not translate the word רַכּוֹת as “soft”. He translates it as “beautiful”. Thus, according to Onkolos, the verse reads, “And the eyes of Leah were beautiful...” Perhaps, there is no disagreement between Targum Onkolos and Targum Yonasan ben Uziel. The Torah is simply teaching us that to our Father in Heaven, beautiful eyes are those that are filled with tears during tefilla.
Keep this important lesson from our mother Leah in mind before every tefilla. Especially since we have the mesorah from our sages: וערי דמעה עא ננעעו “The gates of tears are always open!” [Berachos 32b]
