Page:A Jewish Interpretation of the Book of Genesis (Morgenstern, 1919, jewishinterpreta00morg).pdf/270

252 to the name of Rachel when he called unto her during the marriage? But Leah's answer, as related by the rabbis, silenced him forever. "Is there a teacher without a pupil?" she asked. "I merely profited by thy instruction. When thy father called thee Esau, didst thou not answer, 'Here am I'?" Then Jacob understood that he had been dealt with but in the same manner as he had dealt with his own blind father and his own brother; he could not complain. As the sage of old said, "The deceiver will himself be deceived". Sadly, but with the consciousness that it was deserved, Jacob accepted Leah as his wife, and then entered upon another period of seven years' hard service for Rachel.

The wise rabbi of old had said not merely that ''One good deed causes another good deed", but also "And one evil deed causes another evil deed". So it was with Jacob, in the evil deed as well as in the good. For the deception which he had practiced upon Isaac and Esau had been only paralleled by, and had in a way justified the deception put upon him by Laban and Leah. Nevertheless God, in His justice, lets no evil deed go unpunished. We can easily see that Jacob's dislike of Leah, even though she was his wife, and all the unhappiness this brought her, were but the just punishment for her part in deceiving her husband. That which is gotten through deceit can never bring happiness. The end can never justify the means. We have seen this in the case of Jacob's getting the birthright and the blessing. We see it again here in the story of Leah.

We may be sure, however, that God had allowed Jacob to be deceived in this cruel manner, not merely as a punishment for the deceit he had himself practiced, but still more, as a test of his real worth, and to measure the change which had come over him during these seven years. On the whole it would seem that Jacob had stood this test well. He had realized that this was but a fit return for his own deception, and had accepted Leah as his wife, if not lovingly, at least \n