Parshas Vayeira
By Rabbi Dovid Zauderer
Here’s a little trivia for you today…
Q. How are the Houston Astros – who this past week became the 2022 Major League Baseball (MLB) World Series Champions – similar to or different than - Der Mama Rochel (Our Matriarch Rachel) – whose yahrtzeit (anniversary of death) was celebrated this past Shabbos on 11 Cheshvan?
A. A major difference is that while (some of) the Houston Astros may have stolen signs from competing teams in order to achieve the greatness that they strove for, our Mama Rochel freely gave her signs to her “main competitor” and thus achieved greatness.
Now for those of you who are scratching your heads, wondering what ‘signs’ I am referring to, I will explain (with the help of the Talmud, Midrash and Wikipedia, of course):
“The Houston Astros’ sign-stealing scandal resulted from a series of rule violations by members of the Houston Astros of Major League Baseball, who used technology to steal signs of opposing teams during the 2017 and 2018 seasons. For years, some individuals on other teams had suspected the Astros of stealing signs, but there was no public reporting on the subject until November 2019, when reporters Ken Rosenthal and Evan Drellich at The Athletic published an article detailing the team's activities. Mike Fiers, a pitcher who played for the Astros in 2017, told The Athletic that the organization used a video camera in the center field seats to film the opposing catcher's signals to the pitcher regarding the next pitch. Astros players or team staffers watching the live camera feed behind the dugout used various audio cues, such as banging on a trash can, to signal to the batter what type of pitch was coming next. MLB investigated the allegations and confirmed in January 2020 that the Astros illegally used a camera system to steal signs during the 2017 regular season and postseason, during which they won the World Series, as well as in part of the 2018 season. MLB found no evidence of illicit sign stealing in the 2019 season, in which the Astros advanced to the World Series, but lost in seven games to the Washington Nationals. As a result, Astros general manager Jeff Luhnow and field manager A. J. Hinch were suspended for the entire 2020 season for failing to prevent the rule violations. The sanctions against the Astros were the most severe that MLB has ever issued against a member club, and are among the most severe sanctions for in-game misconduct in baseball history.”
So much for sign-stealing baseball players …I am far more interested in the ‘signs’ that were given away by our holy Mama Rochel. Here I will let the Talmud tell the story (see Megillah 13b and Bava Basra 123a):
“As it is written: “And Jacob told Rachel that he was her father’s brother, and that he was Rebecca’s son” (Genesis 29:12). The Talmud asks: But isn’t he the son of her father’s sister? Why did he say that he was her father’s brother? Rather, Jacob and Rachel had the following exchange: Jacob said to Rachel: Will you marry me? Rachel said to him: Yes, but my father [Laban] is a deceitful person, and you cannot defeat him. Jacob said to her: What is his method of deceit of which I need be aware? Rachel said to him: I have a sister [Leah] who is older than me, and he will not marry me off before he marries her off, even if he promises that he will do so. Jacob said to her: I am his brother, i.e., equal, in deceit, and he will not be able to deceive me. That is why Jacob said that he was “her father’s brother.” Rachel said to him: But is it permitted for the righteous to act deceitfully? Jacob answered her: Yes, in certain circumstances. As the verse states concerning G-d: “With the pure You act purely, with the corrupt You act perversely”. (II Samuel 22:27). Therefore, to counter Laban’s deceit, Jacob gave Rachel secret “simanim” (signs) to prove to him that she was the one marrying him.
[Ed. note: There is a difference of opinion among the commentators as to the exact nature of the ‘simanim’ that Jacob gave to Rachel. Some suggest that she had to say to him the three mitzvos (commandments) that are special to women – (1) Niddah (Family Purity Laws); (2) Challah (removing piece of dough when baking bread); (3) Hadlakas HaNer (lighting Shabbos candles). The Chid”a writes that she had to touch his right earlobe, his right thumb, and his right big toe. -dz]
“Laban did in fact attempt to have Jacob marry Leah instead of marrying Rachel. When Laban’s associates were bringing Leah up to the wedding canopy to marry Jacob, Rachel thought: Now my sister will be humiliated when Jacob discovers that she is the one marrying him. Therefore, Rachel gave the signs to Leah. And this is as it is written: “And it came to pass in the morning that, behold, it was Leah” (Genesis 29:25). This verse is difficult, as by inference, should one derive that until now she was not Leah? Rather, through the signs that Jacob gave to Rachel and that she gave to Leah, he did not know it was she until that moment.”
The Midrash in Eichah Rabbah takes the story of Mama Rochel’s incredible self-sacrifice one huge step further:
“And not only that, but she [Rachel] laid under the bed where he [Jacob] laid with her sister, and when Jacob spoke with her - she [Leah] was silent and [Rachel] answered instead each time so that Jacob would not recognize her voice, and she acted with loving-kindness towards her sister and was not jealous of her and did not put her to shame.”
My friends, while it is most likely true that our Matriarch Rachel couldn’t hit a ball over the fence at Minute Maid Park even if you paid her … in our Jewish history books she will always be remembered as a true champion of the Jewish people, who gave her signs and her future away just to save her sister’s shame.
http://www.torchweb.org/torah_detail.php?id=733