Why Leah's Eyes Were Tender and Rachel Gave Away the Signs

"And Leah's eyes were tender" (Genesis 29:17). The interpreter of Rabbi Yochanan said before him, "Leah's eyes were weak." He said to him, "Your mother's eyes were weak! And what is 'tender'? Tender from weeping." For such were the conditions, that the elder would marry the elder and the younger the younger, and she would weep and say, "May it be Your will that I not fall into the hand of the wicked one." Rabbi Chunya said: Prayer is powerful, for it annulled the decree, and not only that, but she preceded her sister. Rabbi Yonatan said: What did our father Jacob see, that he took the birthright from Reuben and gave it to Joseph among his other sons? The birthright was fitting to come from Rachel, as it is written, "These are the generations of Jacob: Joseph" (Genesis 37:2). But Leah preceded her with mercy [prayer], and because of the modesty in Rachel, the Holy One, blessed be He, restored it to her [Rachel through Joseph]. And why did Leah precede her? Because it is written, "And Leah's eyes were tender." What is "tender"? If you say literally tender [weak], is it possible? Scripture did not speak in disparagement even of an unclean animal, as it is written, "and of the animals that are not clean" (Genesis 7:8) [using a longer, gentler phrase]; would Scripture then speak in disparagement of the righteous woman? Rather, it means that her gifts were long-lasting [a play reading 'tender' as 'long']: priesthood, Levitehood, and kingship. Rava said: It is truly literal "tender," yet it is no disgrace to her but praise, for she would hear people saying that Rebekah has two sons and Laban has two daughters, the elder for the elder and the younger for the younger. And she would sit at the crossroads and ask people: What are the deeds of the elder? "He is an evil man and robs people." What are the deeds of the younger? "He is a wholesome man, dwelling in tents." And she would sit and weep until her eyelashes fell out. And this is what is written, "And the LORD saw that Leah was hated" (Genesis 29:31). What is "hated"? If you say literally hated, is it possible? Scripture did not speak in disparagement of an unclean animal, and so on. Rather, the Holy One, blessed be He, saw that the deeds of Esau were hateful in her sight, and so "He opened her womb" (Genesis 29:31). And what was the modesty in Rachel? It is written, "And Jacob told Rachel that he was her father's kinsman" (Genesis 29:12) but was he not her father's sister's son? Rather, he said to her, "Will you marry me?" She said to him, "Yes, but I have a deceitful father, and you cannot prevail over him." He said to her, "What is his deceit?" She said to him, "I have a sister older than I, and he will not marry me off before her." He said to her, "I am his brother in deceit." And is it permitted for the righteous to conduct themselves with deceit? Yes, as it is written, "With the pure You show Yourself pure, and with the crooked You show Yourself shrewd" (2 Samuel 22:27). He gave her [secret] signs. When Laban brought in Leah, Rachel thought, "Now my sister will be shamed," and she handed the signs over to her. This is what is written, "And it came to pass in the morning, that behold, it was Leah" (Genesis 29:25), implying that until then it was not Leah; rather, because of the signs that Rachel handed to Leah, he did not recognize her until that moment. Of this Scripture says, "He withholds not from the righteous, and with kings on the throne" (Job 36:7).