The Secret of Rachel's Tomb: Why the Matriarch Was Buried on the Road

We're here for the yard site of Rahul Misha Ray Winer whose yard site is Monday night and Tuesday day this year which is Judas Kislv the 19th day of the Hebrew month of it's the day that the first kabad Reb was freed from imprisonment and it's celebrated all over the world. The fact that Dul Basmo's yard site is on this day means that there's a very special merit for this nishama for this soul happens to also be we're coming from Shabas Vayish the Torah portion that Jews all over the world just read this Shabas and in this Torah portion amazingly it speaks about Rahul and more specifically about the passing of Rahul Thomas Rael and Rachel died and she was buried on the road to Ephra which is also known as Bethlehem. And it says that her husband Jacob, our father, erected a monument to her, which is very interesting because as you remember, we were here for the yacht side of Jerome. And one of his two names, his name is Yakov Schaw. So his name is one of his names is Yakov. So we have the name Yakov right here. And what's also incredibly interesting, Binyammen right here. Beyammen. Benjamin. We have the name Benjamin which is Ray's husband Benjamin Winer which is incredible. We have all these three names right here. Rojo Beyammen and Yakov all on this one page which was part of the Torah reading the Jews all over the world just read on Shabas bas. We're here to light a candle for your yard site. We want to let you know that your son Michael Rea speaks about you often and remembers you with love. And in your honor, we're going to actually give a class about your name, the name Raul, and about the special role of Jewish mothers. And it should be for an elevation of your soul on your yard site. I want to tell you that your son, your beloved son, has a picture of you he keeps on his desk with a handwritten note. That gives him a lot of strength. Be strong. God made you. God loves you. When your son reads those words, he thinks of you and your love. You have a lot to be proud of. And may your soul have an aliyah and elevation on your yard site. This is Michael's silent brother Ker Yakov Shaw. And you see here the stone is freshly cleaned. Welcome to this special class. As you saw, this is dedicated to the yard site of Rahobas Misha, whose yard site is Yudis, the 19th day of the Hebrew month of Kisv, which of course is known all around the world as an incredibly special day. It is the day called, the new year, theidic new year, because it's the day that the alterba, the firstb was freed from imprisonment. So we're going to learn this class in memory and in honor of Rahul Bas and in honor of all Jewish mothers everywhere and especially all ra. So if you are a ra or you know a ra or you are a Jewish mother or you know a Jewish mother please enjoy this class. Okay. Rahul is one of the four matriarchs. We have four matriarchs. We'll enumerate them. Uh Sara who was the first Jewish mother. She was the wife of Abraham. Sarah the wife of Abraham. Then we have Rifka or Rebecca the wife of Yitzk or Isaac. And then we have Rahul and Leia who were sisters and they were the wives of Yankino our forefather Jacob. Now, why was Jacob married to sisters? Long story short, because their father, Lavven, was a tricky guy. Yaniv wanted to marry Raul. He immediately was taken with her. He was spiritually drawn to her. He knew that his lot was with her, and we'll talk a little bit more about that. And he worked seven years to marry her. He worked [snorts] as a shepherd for his father-in-law. Um, and then love and pulled a fast one. He was a shifty guy. And he married Leia first to Yonke, saying, "Well, Leia's the older sister, and we don't marry the younger sisters before the older sisters, so sorry. If you want to marry the younger sister, you could do that, too. But you're going to have to work for me another seven years." Okay? Which which Yankee did. And because of his great love for Raul, it says that those uh years of work were just like days in his eyes. Now let's talk about the first appearance of Rahul. We'll sort of go through chronologically. Rahul first appears when Yankeev arrives in the place called Kurin. Kurin was the town where Lavven, the aforementioned Loven, who was not a good guy. He was sort of like the local, you might call him uh the the burger meister. He was in charge of the town. He was sort of like the local uh landowner and uh basically a gangster. He was he he was sort of a gangster. And uh when Yankeev arrives, he's fleeing from his murderous brother Asov or Esau. And he he comes there because his his mother Rifka Rebecca told him, "Go back to where I come from. Go back to Kuran um and look for some uh for some kinsmen, look for some family." Now, unfortunately, his family there were was was the aforementioned love and who was was not a good guy and and Yakov did get tricked. But Yakov appears in in Kurin and basically uh there are a bunch of shepherds hanging around in the middle of the of the day and Yakov says, "What are you guys doing? It's a very uh like long lunch break you're taking over here." So he they say, "Well, actually, we're waiting for all the shepherds to assemble because there's a uh giant boulder on top of the well. They would keep the boulder on top of the well for security so people wouldn't steal the water. Um, and but it's so heavy we can't remove it until all of us congregate. So we're waiting for everyone to congregate. Then we'll all push the the boulder off and we'll draw water and then we'll leave. And so Yankov says to them, "Do you know Loveven?" They said, "Of course we know Loving. He's famous gangster over [laughter] here. Uh do you know uh do you know uh you know is is is he well how is he? Yeah. You know he's doing he's doing pretty well indeed. He was a he exploited everyone in there in the town. Uh and then all of a sudden they said oh and here is his daughter Raul coming with the sheep. Rahul um did not have a mother. She was raised by her father. And because she didn't have a father, I mean, she didn't have a mother, um, she was forced to sort of rely on uh, her father for things that usually you would say girls might rely on their mother. Um, but also she didn't have brothers, at least at this point, she didn't have brothers. And Lavven who was again not a good guy. He would make Rahul work as his shepherdess which I you may not understand this but shepherds at least in biblical times and and I think for many generations afterwards as well uh were not considered very scrupulous individuals. There's many reasons why shepherd culture is sort of like a low-life culture. That's just the way that it's described. And the point is that it was a sign of neglect, like outright parental neglect that Loven would even send his daughter Raul among the shepherds. At any rate, Raul uh arrives and Yakov immediately is taken with her. He knows that his soul is bound up with her. Um he removes the boulder single-handedly. The boulder that they're waiting for the whole uh community of shepherds to come push off the the Well, he removes it single-handedly. He's a starker. He's a strong guy. And and then he goes over to Raul and it says that he kissed her and he cried. Now why was he crying? So one interpretation, one explanation is that of Rashi who says that he foresaw that she will not be buried with him. He knew immediately that his lot is with her. And he also knew that for whatever reason they would not be buried as a couple. They would not be buried together. And we're going to speak much more about that because that's a very important aspect of the life of Raul. The fact that she was not buried with Yankee. Where was Yankeev buried? In the famed Maras Maka cave of Mahella inv where there's four famous couples buried. Adam and Eve, Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebecca, and Jacob. But Jacob with Leia, not Raul. Where's Raul buried? [gasps] By the side of the road, and we're going to talk about that why she was buried by the side of the road. At any rate, let's continue. Um, I told you before that Loveven pulled a fast one. So, here's the deal. Yankeev knew that Rahul I mean Yakov knew that Loveven was going to pull a fast one. So Yankeev actually discussed this with with Raul and they made a plan. They made a plan in order to um sort of preempt any uh any shenanigans. And the plan was this. They had a code. They had set up a code. So because Yanke knew that Love was going to try to trick him. And he even knew he might try to trick him by swapping the brides. So Yankee and Rahul came up with codes with a secret code that if you give me these codes at the wedding, I'll know it's you because only you will know these codes. So they had these special code set up. So how did he still get tricked? Ro saw what was going down. She saw that her father was bent on swapping her for her sister Leia. She wasn't going to be able to stop that. She understood that she's not going to be able to stop it. But what will happen is that Leia will be humiliated because Yian will will catch her because she won't know the codes and right there in front of everyone, she'll be rejected. And as difficult as this was for Rahul, she gave her [snorts] sister the codes because she didn't want her sister to be humiliated. You could say that was very nice to her sister. wasn't so nice to her future husband. Okay, I I I hear that. But you you sense from this the sensitivity, the compassion, and and more so the self-sacrifice of Rahul. She gave up her own happiness in order to protect her sister's feelings, which was one of the great uh attributes of Rahul. And we're going to speak about this later u because it comes back this theme comes back her self-sacrifice specifically in this way to protect her sister's feelings. Okay. Now Rahul uh does eventually marry uh Yankeev. And here's the thing she is infertile. Now many of the matriarchs in fact all of the matriarchs were were infertile or experienced a long period of infertility until their prayers were finally answered. Leia was very fertile. Uh Leia was uh giving birth right away and um Rahul [clears throat] was very uh hurt by this that Leia was having so many children. Now this is not a this is not a class about Leia, but as an aside, I just want to mention that according to some commentaries, the reason that Leia was blessed with fertility was because she knew that she was the second best. because she knew her husband favored her sister and she felt rejected in that sense. So, Hashem sort of placed her uh for her hurt feelings by making her uh fertile and giving her many many children. But let's return to Rahul. So, Rahul's not having children and she's desperate to have children. And finally her prayers are answered and she has one child. His name is Ysef or Joseph. And what's so interesting is that the matriarchs knew they were all prophetesses. They had prophecy. They knew that there were going to be tribe 12 tribes of Israel. Meaning meaning the 12 tribes. Where does that come from? 12 tribes uh tribes of Israel. It comes from the 12 sons of Jacob. Jacob has 12 sons. each one had of a tribe. Okay, so they knew that there was only going to be 12 tribes. Joseph is the 11th son. As soon as Joseph is born, Rachel Rahul says Ysef Lee Bain Aer. She says a prayer. She gives birth to she's been infertile all these years. She gives birth now to a son, Ysef or Joseph. And immediately she says, she called him Ysef. Ysef means add to me. She says to Hashem add to me bane a another son which is an you can call it we might call it kadusha holy insolence but after all those years of waiting to have a child and finally she has a son and what's her prayer immediately when her son is born give me another son but this is actually held up as a very virtuous attribute of raul that when it comes to accomplishing things, holy things, which bringing the the uh 12 tribes into the world is obviously extremely holy. We should never be satisfied. We should always strive for more. And every accomplishment should spur us on to want the next accomplishment. And that's the lesson here. Ysef Lee bain a give me another son as soon as the first one is born. And she did. She had one more son. There were remember there was only 12 tribes. Joseph was the 11th. There was only possible to be one more and she gave birth to Binyammen or Benjamin and that is a very sad story because Rahul passed away in childbirth when she was giving birth to Binyammen. And it's interesting we mentioned that this class is in honor of Rahul Basak whose yard site is Utes Kisliff. What's interesting is that the shabas before we read Jews all over the world shs all over the world read paras and there in paras it's very uncanny uh we read just getting to the page Um, it's Genesis 35 verse 16. So, here it is. Um, actually it's verse 17. I'm sorry. Chapter 35:1 17. It was when she had difficulty in in giving birth. She was having difficult in giving she had a difficult birth. And then the ver next verse verse 18 her soul left her because she died. She called him Ben which actually means son of my affliction or pain. The pain of uh leaving this world unable to raise her children. Vinyomin but his father that the baby's father meaning Yankee for Jacob named him Biny or Benjamin. Next verse 19 died, passed away and she was buried on the side of the road by on the way to Ephat he base lo that is base leim or Bethlehem. Now what's interesting is I mentioned before she was buried on the side of the road. [snorts] She was not buried in the Marasa Marlo, the cave of Melo, which is a huge uh shrine. I I mentioned the four prominent couples were buried there. That it's what it's considered the second holiest site in all of Judaism, only second to the Western Wall, to the location of the uh temple. But Rahul was not buried there. Where was she buried? on the side of the road. Just some random place on the side of the road. Why? Because that's where she passed away. That's where she was buried. And seemingly this is a terrible insult that one of the matriarchs of our people, not only she wasn't buried in the family plot, so to speak, but she's just buried randomly in some anonymous place in the middle of nowhere. It's not even a normal place. Okay. So now you have to understand the significance of this because it is very very deep. [snorts] But I want to take you to decades later. Now Rah was 36 when she passed away. Many people don't realize how young she was. She was only 36. But I want to take you to decades later. Yankeev Jacob himself is about to pass away and he's living in Egypt. If you remember that there was that whole period of separation where Joseph was in Egypt and they didn't know where he was and they became reunited and they lived together in Egypt because Joseph was viceroy in Egypt. Now I'm talking about the very end of the book of Genesis. Okay, towards towards the very end um Jacob's on his deathbed. He calls Joseph in and he says to he says to him, "Swear to me, you will not bury me here in Egypt. You must bury me in the holy land and not just anywhere in the holy land. You must bury me in mara and meaning to say listen to this. Jacob's makes Joseph swear you have to bury me in that family plot in the holiest place um in that in that holy grave where where where the matriarchs and the patriarchs are all buried. Now immediately Joseph has a question. If it's so important that you father be buried in that place and nowhere else, then I'm very curious. Why wasn't my mother buried there? Not that God forbid Joseph had any resentment. These are holy people. That's that's not the kind of mentality they had. He was just confused. He was legitimately confused. If indeed it is so important that you, father Jacob, are making me swear that you must only be buried in that spot because of its importance, then why was my mother not buried there? And then we learn something exceedingly beautiful. Jacob reveals to Joseph the reason why Rahul was buried on the side of the way. It was again her self-sacrifice. remember her self-sacrifice when she gave the codes to her sister. She gave away the secret codes on what was supposed to be her wedding night. So remember her self-sacrifice. Again, we see the self-sacrifice of the Yiddish Mame. [snorts] She allowed herself, not only allowed herself, she consented to be buried. She knew, remember from the very beginning, they all knew this was going to happen. When Jacob first met her, he cried because he knew this was her destiny. Her destiny was to be buried on that anonymous spot on the side of the road. Why? Rather than being buried in a magnificent holy site, she was buried on the side of the road because that was the very road that over a millennium later when when the temple the first temple was destroyed by the Babylonians and the Jewish people were led out of the holy land and led into captivity in Babylonia. They passed by that way and Rahul, Mama Rahul saw them and cried for them and prayed for their return so that they were returned from their from their exile and they came back home. So the fact that she was buried where she was buried was because she wanted to be there for her children over a thousand years later when they needed her when they were going into exile. And there's an incredible midrash over here. It's from um lamentations uh midrash lamentations rabba which uh lamentations is the book of a which we read on tishabove which is the anniversary of the destruction of the temple both temples and it conveys the following story [snorts] that when the Jewish people were being led into exile Abraham our father came before God and said please return them do it for me I was ready to sacrifice my And apparently Abraham's pleas were not sufficient. And the answer was no. Next, Isaac, the ne the second of the patriarchs, he gets up and he says, "Do it for me. Return my children from exile for me. Bring them back out of Babylonia. Bring them back to their homeland for me because I was ready to put myself out as a sacrifice." And apparently the answer was no. Jacob gets up. He's the third of the patriarchs. He says, "Do it for me. I worked. I toiled all those years in the house of loving my my my my shifty father-in-law and I I was taken advantage of and do it for me. And the answer is no. Misha Rabenu our teacher Moses gets up and he says I took care of the Jewish people in the desert and I didn't even get to enter the land. Remember Misha Rabenu was buried outside of the land. Do it for me. And the answer was no. The answer was no. Rahul gets up and she says to Hashem, "I understand that the Jewish people are being punished right now and sent into exile. The temple was destroyed. They're being sent into exile. And I understand that the reason is because of of their lack of loyalty to you, oh God, because they brought foreign gods into their their worship. They worshiped foreign gods. And that is a betrayal. That is an absolute act of betrayal that they broke their bond with you and they worshiped foreign gods, idols, God forbid, says Rachel. However, please understand something. On my wedding night, what was supposed to be my wedding night, I gave the secret codes to my sister so she wouldn't be embarrassed. And I brought my competition into my household. I brought a co-wife into my household. And I had to live with that. And if I could do that, if I ca, if I could overlook bringing my own competition into my household, then God who is infinite, you can overlook the fact that your children brought your competition, so to speak, these false gods, these idols into your home, into your house. Do they have to be punished? Fine. So punish them. They they'll go into exile, but bring them right back. Bring them right back to their homeland. And that's what happened. And it's a beautiful verse in the book of Jeremiah, the prophet Jeremiah who describes this. It's very poetic. There are songs that are written through these words. uh verse uh chapter 31. Jeremiah chapter 31 vers 15 and 16 we read actually uh verse start I'm sorry start from verse 14 chapter 31 verse14 Hashem says, "A voice is heard on high." The sound of crying, of gasping. It is Rahul crying for her children. She refuses to be consoled for her children. She won't be appeased. She won't stop crying. And the verse continues in the next verse, verse 15. Hashem tells her, "There is reward for your deed." Meaning you were successful. You will get your prayers granted. You mamul the quintessential loving mother who cries for her children and says, "Please forgive them. Please be kind. Please be gentle with them and please for their return to their home your prayers will be answered. So we see Rahul is the quintessential loving mother who will do anything for her children. She sacrificed for her children. She sacrificed her happiness. She said even in her in her life and even after her life she continued to sacrifice. She put herself on the side. She put her children first like a real mother does. And this is this is the the personality of Rahul. And anyone who has that name Rahul is very fortunate because we know in Jewish tradition that a name gives power. It bestows power. That the characteristics of the person who has that name are bestowed on the one who carries that name, the namesake. >> [snorts] >> I want to mention just one more thing and that is that although Rahul was not buried in Maris and in the holy spot her grave cave rail Rachel's tomb has become a holy spot in its own right and this itself by the way teaches you something marvelous about women men have to go to shul and davin just part of Jewish life women are not uh obligated in communal prayers They can go to synagogue, but they don't have to. Men have to go. So, a man is interesting. He has to go to the holy places. He has to go to shul. If you don't go to shul, you're going to become disconnected. God forbid. So, a man has to go to the holy places. A woman though can take a regular place like a home and make that holy and make it even holier than synagogue. The power of a woman is, see, a man has to go to a synagogue because that's the holy place. um a woman can stay at home and turn the home from an ordinary place to a holy place and even holier than a synagogue. And we see that the survival of the Jewish people in exile over 2,000 years was not because of our synagogues, but because of our homes. Not because of synagogues run by Jewish men, by rabbis, but by the Jewish homes run by by by Jewish mothers, by women. The continuity of the Jewish people was all always about the Jewish mother as the mainstay of the home, the foundation of the home, giving over a Jewish identity to our children with love, with compassion, with gentleness, with with with nurturing, with care. And so we see the symbolism is so powerful. Ro was buried in a plain ordinary place, but now she turned that plain ordinary anonymous spot on the side of the road into a shrine. And over the millennia, how many thousands and thousands of her children of Raul's own children have come to that spot and prayed and poured out their hearts in prayer. And we pray that Hashem grant the prayers of our mother Rahul who's continuing to cry for us and begging that Hashem return us to our homeland and return us to reinstate us to our days of glory and to rebuild the temple as in times of old and even greater than anything that ever existed. May it be now with the coming of Messiah. Thank you for watching this class. Again, this is dedicated to the memory of Robas Mosha Hakin.