Blog Post

27
Nov

Mr. and Mrs. Wonderful

Mr. and Mrs. Wonderful

On the corner of main street

 Just trying to keep it in line

You say you wanna move on and

You say I’m falling behind…

 -The Killers

 

In this week’s Torah portion Jacob flees from his brother, Esau, who is understandably upset over losing both his birthright and blessing to Jacob in a most unkind manner. Jacob takes up residence with his uncle, Laban. Before meeting his uncle, Jacob chances upon Laban’s daughter, Rachel and straight-away falls in love with her. Jacob works for Laban and when asked what he would like for his wage, Jacob requests Rachel’s hand in marriage. Laban tricks Jacob and he ends up with Rachel’s older sister, Leah. He also marries Rachel but has to work for another term of seven years for her.

The Torah makes it clear who wins the beauty contest between these two sisters. “Leah had weak eyes, but Rachel had a beautiful figure and appearance.” Rachel isn’t just another pretty face, but as the Torah mentions, she is at the top of her Orange Theory fitness class as well.

But everyone has their strengths and talents, so even though Rachel has the looks, Leah is the wife that provides Jacob with six strapping sons – half of whom will become the twelve tribes of Israel. On the other hand, Rachel is barren for years until she finally gives birth to Joseph and then again to Benjamin.

Clearly these two women have more differences than similarities. In fact they can be viewed as symbolizing two very different qualities that a man looks for in a woman. 

One the one hand, there is the Rachel-wife who epitomizes youth and beauty, romance and “chemistry”. She is the beshert, the true soulmate that every man longs for and the woman of his dreams. She has a sense of mystery and she knows that this is crucial to keeping her man guessing… and keeping him interested. Rachel-wife doesn’t become boring or predictable but always keeps an eye on their early romance, knowing that she must regularly revisit it and remind her man of it.

Then there is the Leah-wife. She creates a future with the children she bears and is a pragmatic go-getter and homemaker who can balance a myriad of details. She is a pillar of strength who can nurture every facet of the lives of her children, husband, guests and home life. She may be less inclined to spend time at the day-spa or shopping in Aventura Mall but she can sure get the job done. You can rely on her to keep kids and home, clean, healthy and happy. 

Although the Rachel-wife and Leah-wife seem so different – opposites almost – the truth is that a marriage needs both for a successful relationship. All the Rachel-like romance and laughter in the world will disappear into frustration and resentment if everyday needs are not met. When that happens, the walks on the beach and the romantic dinners become silly exercises of hollow Hollywood scenes where plastic smiles cannot mask the pain of disappointment and animosity. 

On the other hand, if marriage is only the Leah-like pragmatics, then the relationship becomes flat, colourless and stale. A wife is not about being a good cleaning lady, nanny or car-pooler. He will lose interest, she will mirror that indifference and they will settle into a bland routine where they stay together for the sake of the kids – or maybe not – as each offers platitudes of how they grew apart.

Needless to say, this duality similarly applies to hubby as well. Mr. Provider, mortgage and car payment-maker is equally flat, meaningless and boring if the highlight of his week is balancing the check-book and cleaning out the garage. On the other hand, Mr. Sensitive who understands her feelings, smells nice and looks like he just walked out of the latest GQ mag, and just wants to spend oodles of time exploring the details of her day, will grow tiresome to her after a while. She will probably react to his over-interest with, “Uh, no thanks, I have girlfriends for that. Why don’t you go run along and fix something? Isn’t there a football game on?”

Guys need to make sure that just as they would want their wives to be the Leah/Rachel combo pack, they need to embody the pragmatic, wise, future-looking Jacob with the hairy, ruddy, testosterone, passionate Esau personas. Leah/ Rachel wants a Jacob/Esau. And let’s not forget that Jacob dressed up and hence took on the personality of his brother Esau, didn’t he? He was both.

When husband and wife strike a balance to become Jacob/Esau and Rachel/Leah and understand that they each need to incorporate both types of personalities into their lives, then Happiness, Love and a marriage that will last and remain fresh and exciting is bound to follow.

 

Slippin’ in my faith until I fall

  You never returned that call

  Woman, open the door, don’t let it sting

  I wanna breathe that fire again

‘Cause I don’t shine if you don’t shine

 

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