Rachel in Bethlehem
The Talmud tells a deep story about the reaction in heaven the day the Jewish Temple was destroyed and the Jews were exiled from Israel. On that tragic day, Moses and all the great Jewish ancestors began to plead with God to immediately cancel the decree and restore Jewish sovereignty in the land of Israel. Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Moses pleaded with God and urged Him to remember their great deeds, however the Almighty stated that the decision was final, the Temple would be reduced to rubble and the Jews would be banished from Israel. At that moment a voice is heard and it is Rachel, the wife of Jacob crying out for her children and God responds to her favorably
Rachel weeps for her children, she refuses to be comforted, …show more content…
Laban then forced Jacob to work an additional 7 years, so that he could marry his beloved Rachel. The Sages of Talmud ask, how Jacob could have been so easily tricked by Laban the swindler. The sages explain that Rachel and Jacob had developed signs so that Jacob would know that it was in fact Rachel behind the thick vail, however Rachel did not want to cause her sister Leah embarrassment and taught her the signs that were meant for her and Jacob. This caused Rachel deep pain all the years she waited for Jacob, but she never exposed that pain, so as not to ruin her sister’s happiness. It was because of that tremendous self-sacrifice that God listened to the prayer of Rachel over that of the other great Jewish ancestors and the Jewish people have eternally awarded Rachel by referring to her as “Rachel our Mother” and hundreds of thousands flock to her grave throughout the year and especially on the anniversary of her passing when a mass pilgrimage takes place. The Jewish People have never forgotten Rachel’s cry on the fateful day of the Temple’s destruction and we are certain that Rachel still remembers