Embracing life’s Leah

Is your life today the way you had dreamed it would be?

The Torah tells us that our forefather, Jacob, loved Rachel. Jacob was captivated by Rachel’s beauty and character, and so he dedicated himself to seven years of arduous work to earn her hand in marriage. Yet, on his wedding night, through what seemed like a cruel twist of fate, he was given Leah instead. Leah wasn’t who Jacob had chosen, and not the bride he had dreamed about or wished for. Jacob did subsequently marry Rachel too, but the story leaves us, his descendants, with a profound lesson about life, expectations, and divine purpose.

Jacob’s experience is a reflection of our own journey. Like Jacob, we all have our “Rachel” – the dream future we envision for ourselves – a beautiful, perfect life aligned with everything we believe we deserve. We work hard, invest effort, and set our sights on this ideal. But often, life doesn’t unfold as planned. Instead of the “Rachel” we worked for, we find ourselves with “Leah” – a life filled with challenges, imperfections, and struggles we never anticipated. Leah’s very name means “exhaustion” and “anxiety”.

At first, this can feel profoundly disheartening. We question why, after all our efforts, G-d has given us a reality so far from our dreams. Yet, as Jacob’s story reveals, it’s precisely in embracing the “Leah” in our lives that we fulfil our greatest potential and achieve our true purpose.

Leah may not have been the wife Jacob initially wanted, yet she became the mother of six of the 12 tribes – half of the Jewish nation. It was through Leah that Jacob’s ultimate mission, to become the father of the Jewish people, was most actualised. Leah’s children, such as Levi and Yehudah, became central to the spiritual and royal leadership of the Jewish people. Without Leah, Jacob’s vision of building the Jewish nation wouldn’t have come to fruition.

While we may long for a “Rachel” life, it’s often the “Leah” moments, those filled with challenge and imperfection, that push us to grow, to discover our strength, to contribute in ways we never imagined, and to become the people we are truly meant to be. Our mission in life is rarely achieved through ease and perfection; the struggles, unexpected detours, and unplanned circumstances shape us and propel us toward our greatest achievements.

And yet, the story doesn’t end with Leah. Jacob ultimately married Rachel as well, and she, too, became a mother of the Jewish people, contributing two central tribes to the nation. When we embrace the life Hashem has given us – our “Leah” life – and use it to fulfil our divine mission, we see that Hashem then grants us our “Rachel”, our original hopes and dreams.

Jacob’s life reminds us to trust Hashem’s plan, even when it feels like our dreams are slipping away. By embracing the “Leah” which we are given and finding purpose in it, we discover that our “Rachel” was part of the plan all along. Ultimately, both are gifts, each essential to fulfilling our unique mission in life.