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Teaching · Parshas Toldos

Rachel Comes With the Flock

The Berditchever reads the arrival of Rachel with the sheep as a sign that she silences the accusers and brings peace above.

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At the well, Yaakov's questions to the shepherds end with the verse that Rachel, Lavan's daughter, is coming with the sheep. The Kedushas Levi reads this as a hint. The sheep are Klal Yisroel, a holy flock, and because Rachel comes with them she constantly cancels every prosecuting voice above, so that there is peace in Heaven. He adds that a time of trouble for Israel is when Rachel comes and cries out, until all their troubles are annulled, and he points the reader to the sefer Chasdei Hashem for a story on this. In his reading, a word from the shepherds' conversation about Lavan opens a window onto a Heavenly truth: the mother of Israel is always walking beside her flock.

Source: Kedushas Levi, Bereishis, Vayetzei, section 21 (on Bereishis 28:5)

Practical lessonTurn your worry into a prayer

The next time anxiety about your children, your family or Klal Yisroel keeps you awake, do what Rachel does: turn the worry into words before Hashem. Say it plainly in your own language, name each person, and ask Him for mercy. Then, once you have spoken, try to put the matter down for the night. Tears and honest tefillah are never wasted, and you are joining a mother who has never stopped praying for her children.

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