Rahel Imenou - Rav Elie Lemmel

Among our matriarchs is Rachel, Rachel, the one we call Rachel Imeinu, Rachel our mother. Rachel holds a very special place in the history of the people of Israel. Rachel is the one who, at heart , was able as a mother to set aside her own story so as not to hurt another. Everyone knows the story of Rachel, who finds herself confronted by a father who decides that it is not she who will marry Jacob, but her sister.

Rachel manages to do the unimaginable: to put aside her own feelings so as not to shame her sister. Obviously, the story does not end there. We know it, and Rachel and Jacob will give birth to the tribes, to the children of Jacob. But what is fundamental is to remember that when we celebrate the memory of Rachel, we must remember the essential quality that was hers.

To be able to be mevaater, to be able to yield. Yielding is…but sometimes, you know, we gain so much when we are capable of yielding . It is not simple because, quite simply, we are often too focused on ourselves, on what we want for ourselves. I ask you, can I do it, too?

In the same way, obviously, it is an enormous task, a colossal task, but it can start with small things, and that is how we truly manage to grow and connect to the memory of this woman, this mother of the people of Israel, who teaches us this fundamental lesson. There you have it.