Vayetssei

The Real Beracha.

Leah Was Commended for Recognizing “I Have Received More Than I Deserve” Upon the birth of her fourth son, Yehudah, Leah said, “This time I will thank Hashem” [Bereishit 29:35]. Rashi explains that Leah expressed special gratitude because she had now given birth to more than her share of Shevatim. “Now that I have received more than my portion, it’s time to express my gratitude to Hashem”. What is the meaning of the statement that Leah received more than her share? Our Rabbis explain that Leah made a simple mathematical calculation. She divided twelve future tribes by four wives and arrived at the result of three tribes per wife. Now that she had her fourth son, she offered praise to Hashem. The Rabbis praised Leah for her recognition that she owed a debt of gratitude to the Almighty. Although Leah’s recognition that she owed a debt of gratitude is certainly praiseworthy, this teaching of our Rabbis doesn’t seem to make sense. Who deserves more praise — the person who receives his or her proper share and feels indebted to Hashem, or the person who receives more than his or her fair share and feels indebted to Hashem? Obviously, the first person is more deserving of praise. There is a very interesting observation from Rav David Kviat (Maggid Shiur in the Mir Yeshiva, New York): The praiseworthy aspect of Leah’s behavior here was that she viewed what she received as “more than her fair share”. It is the nature of human beings to view that which they receive in life as something that they had coming to them. “This is what I deserve.” If my friend is earning $100,000 a year and I am earning half a million dollars a year, it may not be so easy to recognize my great fortune. It is easy to think “I’m smarter than him, I’m more clever than him, I earned this on my own — it was coming to me and I deserve it!” The novelty of Leah’s comment is that we see that a person can step back, look at a situation objectively and come to the conclusion that “I am getting more than I deserve”. This is not our normal tendency. The normal tendency is to view life as either “I am getting less than I deserve” or “I am getting my fair share.” The person, who lives their life with the attitude that he always says “I have gotten more than I deserve,” is indeed a praiseworthy person.