The first time we meet Leah is on her wedding day, when she was fraudulently given to Jacob. Everyone talks about the injustice done to Jacob, but no one mentions for a moment the injustice done to Leah, a woman who knew from the get-go that her husband prefers someone else, and that the someone else is her younger, prettier sister, Rachel. A complex situation, to say the least.
A woman finding herself in such a situation could easily succumb to depression, loss of trust, self-hatred and a deep sense of insecurity. Who among us would want to marry a man who did not really love her?
From the moment Jacob discovers the deceit, which is the morning after the wedding, he is entirely engrossed in renewed negotiations with Laban in order to marry Rachel.
No one considers Leah, almost as if she is a commodity that her father decides to trade in, with the purpose of extorting from Jacob a commitment to many more years of service in his household. It was true that in those days women...
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