In this week’s Parsha Yaakov went to Padan Aram to his Uncle Lavan. Yaakov wanted to marry Rachel and offered to work seven years for her. Lavan fooled Yaakov and gave him Leah as a wife. Yaakov then married Rachel a week later and worked another seven years for Lavan.
The Passuk tells us that Hashem saw that Leah was hated (Hashem scrutinizes the actions of great people, and the Passuk writes that there was some level of hate even if it was so fine). Hashem blessed Leah with having children and Leah merited being the mother of six tribes.
Rachel was childless after ten tribes were already born. Rachel went to Yaakov and said, “give me children, otherwise it is as if I am dead.” The Passuk writes that Yaakov got angry at Rachel and replied sharply, “Am I in the place of Hashem that refrain you from having children?”
The Ramban asks what was wrong with Rachel’s request that he should daven for her? We find that Eliyahu Hanavi and Elisha Hanavi prayed for strangers to have children.
The Ramban answers that Yaakov felt that Rachel was relying on his prayers. Yaakov told her that he has children and she doesn’t, therefore she is the one suffering and she must pray harder. Rachel saw that she couldn’t rely on Yaakov’s prayers went and davened herself until the Passuk tells us that Hashem heard ‘her’ prayers.
The Midrash writes that Hashem said, is that the way one answers someone suffering? And for that, Yaakov’s children will all stand in front of her son, Yosef.
The Chafetz Chaim explains that because Yaakov got angry at Rachel, he caused that Yosef should become a ruler in Mitzrayim and all the brothers would be under him.
The question is, if Yaakov had such good intentions and understood that her prayers would be more powerful and therefore spoke in a way that his wife would daven harder to have children, why was he punished?
We must remember that the Avos (patriarchs) and the Imahos (matriarchs) were very great Tzaddikim, way beyond our level of understanding. But even so if the Torah is here to teach us a lesson from this story.
Yaakov, with all his pure intentions, crossed a line, even if so finely, in the way he spoke to Rachel and caused her anguish. On his level, he had caused pain to his wife, and was therefore punished.
We find a similar story with Chana the mother of Shmuel Hanavi. Chana was childless for many years. Her husband Elkana had another wife Penina who had many children.
Penina teased Chana regularly about her situation. In the morning she would ask Chana, “why aren’t you washing your kids faces before they go to school?” In the afternoon, she would ask her, “why aren’t you waiting for your kids to come home?” (Yalkut Shimoni Shmuel 1-1)
The Gemara tells us that she meant Leshem Shamayim, she had good intentions. She didn’t want Chana to come to terms with her situation. She wanted to arouse Chana to daven and have a salvation.
Chana did daven and in the merited to have Shmuel Hanavi and more children. But every time Chana had a baby, Penina buried two of her children.
We see from here that dancing on someone else’s blood, even if its Kosher, with good intentions, but its someone’s blood!
And we have a proof. David Hamelech wasn’t allowed to build the Beis Hamikdash. Hashem said to David Hamelech, “you are a man of war and you poured blood, ”you killed people.”
The Gemara tells us that David Hamelech always asked the Sanhedrin (High Court) and checked out with the Urim Ve’tumim on the Choshen before he went to war.
All David Hamelech’s bloodshed was Kosher with the Hashgacha (Kosher stamp) of the Sanhedrin, but blood is blood.
The Chizkuni writes that we find the Passuk writes about the vessels of the Beis Hamikdash “pure”, The Shulchan Hatahor, the Menorah Hatehorah, but the Mizbeach was never called Tahor.
Why?
Because the blood of the Korbonos were sprinkled on the Alter. However holy the blood of all the holy Korbonos, but blood is blood.
And to us, instead of breaking people’s hearts and making them bleed “LESHEM SHAMAYIM” with only holy, pure and sincere intentions. Let us go find other Mitzvos instead!
