Lavan agreed to Yakov’s request to marry his younger daughter Rachel if Yaakov first worked for him for seven years. After the seven years were up Lavan switched Rachel for his older daughter Leah. When Yaakov realizes this he protests. Lavan responds:
לֹא־יֵעָשֶׂה כֵן בִּמְקוֹמֵנוּ לָתֵת הַצְּעִירָה לִפְנֵי הַבְּכִירָה׃ מַלֵּא שְׁבֻעַ זֹאת וְנִתְּנָה לְךָ גַּם־אֶת־זֹאת בַּעֲבֹדָה אֲשֶׁר תַּעֲבֹד עִמָּדִי עוֹד שֶׁבַע־שָׁנִים אֲחֵרוֹת׃
It is not the practice in our place to marry off the younger before the older. Wait until the bridal week of this one is over and we will give you that one too, provided you serve me another seven years. (29:26-27)
Yaakov accepts. After the week he is given Rachel as his wife too and he begins a second set of seven years to work for Lavan.
Why did he agree to work more? He had already worked for Rachel! That was the original deal and it was Lavan who broke it.
As a matter of fact, when Yaakov asked to marry Rachel he said:
אֶעֱבׇדְךָ שֶׁבַע שָׁנִים בְּרָחֵל בִּתְּךָ הַקְּטַנָּה
I will serve you seven years for your younger daughter Rachel. (29:18)
Rashi asks what reason was there for mentioning all these detailed descriptions of Rachel? He answers citing the Midrash that Yaakov knew that Lavan was a deceiver. He said to him, “I will serve you for Rachel”: and should you say that I mean any other Rachel out of the street, therefore I say “your daughter”. Should you say, “I will change Leah’s name and call her Rachel”, I say “your younger one”. In spite of this, all these precautions didn’t help. If Yaakov made it clear who he wanted to marry, why should the fact that he is also married to Leah due to Lavan’s connivance create new obligations on him. For Rachel.
Even Lavan’s excuse was bad. If the problem was that the younger daughter doesn’t marry before the older one, nothing stopped Lavan from marrying off Leah to another man before the seven years of Yaakov’s work were done!
Rabbi Dovid Feinstein, of blessed memory, answered that Yaakov agreed to work another seven years to marry Rachel for Leah’s sake! If Yaakov would have insisted on marrying Rochel because he had worked for her already, Leah’s self esteem would have been shattered. She would say to herself that her husband was ready to work seven years for her sister but they weren’t worth it for her. Therefore Yaakov agreed to work for another seven years to show that the seven years of work he did was worth it for Leah and now he would do another seven for Rachel.
Yaakov was ready to do this even though it meant remaining in the spiritually hostile environment of his father in law’s home instead of going back to the holy atmosphere of his father Yitzchak. But it was all worthwhile to uphold the dignity of his wife Leah.
What an important lesson this is for us to value the dignity of another person and be sensitive and careful in our everyday speech and actions about someone else’s feelings.
Shabbat Shalom!
Yitzchak