27 Shvat: A Mother's Love
A MOTHER’S LOVE
Rachel was buried on the side of the road in Bethlehem by the word of G-d so that when her children would be exiled, they would pass by her grave. At that time (Yirmiya 31:14), “a voice is heard on high…, Rachel crying for children.”
And G-d replied (ibid. 15), “There is reward for your deed, says the L-rd, and the children will return to their border.”
(Introduction to Eicha Rabbah, 24)
According to the Midrash, when the Jews were led away into exile (after the destruction of the first Temple), the souls of the righteous begged G-d to secure our eventual Redemption. Avraham, Yitzchak, Yaakov, and Moshe all pleaded our case, yet G-d did not listen. It was only when our mother Rachel spoke up that G-d promised to redeem us.
Rachel’s special merit was her unconditional love and self-sacrifice for another Jew. She went to extraordinary lengths to the point of relinquishing her place in her marriage to avoid embarrassing her sister. Many years later, she gave up her burial place next to her husband so that we could pray at her grave as we were led away in chains.
We will not be redeemed in the merit of our self-sacrifice for G-d, but in the merit of our self-sacrifice to help our fellow man.
Likkutei Sichos vol. 30 pg 236
Hisvaaduyos 5749 vol. 2 pg 153
