Parsha Summary
Yaakov's Dream
Yaakov Comes to Lavan
Birth of the Tribes
Yaakov's Wands
Yaakov Flees
Parashat VaYetze: Why Did Yaakov Pass On Leah?
After Lavan tricked Yaakov and gave him Leah, he justified his action by saying that in Charan the oldest daughter gets married first. Surely Yaakov knew this, so why did he insist on Rachel instead of Leah in the first place? True, Rachel was the prettier one, but Chazal tell us that the pasuk, Sheker HaChein V'Hevel HaYofi (false is grace and vain is beauty- the beauty of that chein and yofi itself is praiseworthy to the one who masters yirat Hashem) could be attributed to Leah, and Yaakov Avinu did not choose his wives based on appearance.
Rav Yehonoson Eibshitz answers that Leah's eyes were swollen from tears, since she was supposed to marry the older Esav while her younger sister Rachel was supposed to marry Yaakov. However, Esav did not seem too interested in Leah, as she was not pretty because of all her crying, which she did intentionally to sabotage the shidduch.
Yaakov planned on marrying both Rachel and Leah. However Yaakov knew that if he stepped in and married Leah first, Esav will no doubt come calling for the pretty Rachel. He, therefore, wanted to marry Rachel first and then with Esav out of the picture, marry the abandoned Leah after that.
-Revach
