Rachel's Argument Before the King
After the Churban, when the Avos and Moshe could not move Heaven, Rachel stood up and pleaded for her children.
A story ofRachel Imeinuרחל אמנוProfile ›
The Midrash in Eicha Rabbah describes the moment after the Beis HaMikdash was destroyed and Israel was sent into exile. Hashem's mercy seemed to be closed. Avraham came forward and spoke of his willingness to offer his son, and Yitzchak and Yaakov each pleaded their own merits. Moshe Rabbeinu came forward as well, and still the decree stood.
Then Rachel Imeinu rose and said before Hashem that she had a claim of her own. Her father had planned to give Leah to Yaakov, and Rachel had known it, and she had given her sister the signs. She had not been jealous, and she had not let Leah be shamed.
If she, flesh and blood and dust, had held back her jealousy and done this, she said, how could the living and enduring King be jealous of idols that have no life, and send her children away into exile?
The Midrash concludes that Hashem's mercy was stirred at once. He told her to hold back her voice from weeping, for her work would be rewarded and her children would return to their own border. This is the verse the navi Yirmiyahu records, and it is why Jews have turned to Rachel in every generation of exile.
Source: Eicha Rabbah, Pesichta 24; Yirmiyahu 31:14-16
Rachel's plea to Hashem rested on one thing: that she had mastered her own jealousy. Today, choose one person whose success or good fortune stings a little. Silently wish them well, perhaps in a short tefillah for them by name. If you can, add a concrete act, such as a warm message or a compliment that you mean. Jealousy often fades when we give something away. You may find that the effort changes how you stand before Hashem, and the way you ask Him for what you need.