Last week marked the anniversary of the passing of Rachel who, along with Sarah, Rebecca and Leah, is one of the matriarchs. Although her sister Leah and their handmaids also gave birth to the leaders of the tribes of Israel, Rachel is considered to be the mother of all Jews. Throughout her life, Rachel faced many challenges and showed persistent faith and self-sacrifice which the hallmark of Jewish women.
Rachel was the daughter of Laban who was not a righteous man and who tricked her husband Jacob. Laban promised him the privilege of marrying Rachel if he worked for him for seven years. However, he gave Jacob Leah instead of Rachel and covered her face with a veil so he wouldn’t realize that he was marrying the other sister. When Jacob discovered what had happened, Laban forced Jacob to work another seven years to marry Rachel. This is why, in the Jewish tradition, the groom puts the veil on the bride rather than waiting for her to walk out with a veil already on; the groom should make sure he is marrying the right woman! On the other hand, the reason the veil is worn in the first place is to represent the fact that there are many hidden aspects to the person we are marrying.
Rachel could not have children at first, and saw her sister Leah bear many sons before
G-d blessed her with Joseph and Benjamin. However, while giving birth to Benjamin, she passed away. Rachel was not buried with the other patriarchs and matriarchs in Hevron, but was buried instead close to Bethlehem. Many years later, Rachel’s son Joseph admitted to Jacob that he resented the fact that his mother was buried on the way while they were traveling and not in the cave with the other matriarchs. The Chassidic interpretation for the reason Rachel was buried along the way was to give comfort to the Jews as they were being led away in exile after the destruction of the Temple. Rachel sacrificed the honor of being buried in Hevron so she could console her children in their hour of need. This represents the qualities of a Jewish mother, who is willing to sacrifice a certain degree of honor and pleasure, even if it is spiritual, for the sake of her children. The Lubavitcher Rebbe has said that this quality of self-sacrifice is the reason people are considered Jews if born to a Jewish mother.