A few quotes of interest:
When evening came, he [Laban] took his daughter Leah and brought her to him [Jacob]; and he cohabited with her….When morning came, there was Leah! So he said to Laban, “What is this you have done to me? I was in your service for Rachel! Why did you deceive me?” Laban said, “It is not the practice in our place to marry off the younger before the older. [Genesis 29:23-26]
Meanwhile Laban had gone to shear his sheep, and Rachel stole her father’s teraphim [household idols]. [ibid. 31:19]
In the evening they came to lead her [Leah] into the bridal chamber and extinguished the light. … The whole of that night he [Jacob] called her ‘Rachel’, and she answered him. In the morning, however, “there was Leah” Said he to her: ' What, you are a deceiver and the daughter of a deceiver! ' ‘Is there a teacher without pupils,’ she retorted; ‘did not your father call you " Esau ", and you answered him! So did you too call me and I answered you! “So he said to Laban What is this you have done to me? I was in your service for Rachel! Why did you deceive me?” Laban said, “It is not the practice in our place to marry off the younger before the older. [Genesis Rabbah 70:19]
My former rabbi, Arnold Goodman, points out that Jacob and Rachel seem to be part of a cycle of deception. Jacob deceives Israel by pretending to be Esau, and in return he is deceived by Leah. Rachel is also victimized by her father (who "dumps" her by substituting Leah as Jacob's bride) and, perhaps in retaliation, deceives him by stealing his idols and lying about it (Gen. 31:33-35).
Jacob, Leah and Rachel are all occasionally economical with the truth (to put it charitably). Yet they are the parents of the Jewish people, constantly mentioned in our prayers. The Torah is trying to tell us that nobody's perfect - that even our great leaders can be dishonest once in a while. By giving us this message, perhaps the Torah is creating an extra safeguard against idolatry, reminding us that no leader, spiritual or political, is infallible.
Posted by lewyn
at 2:47 PM EST