אור החיים — ויתרוצצו הבנים בקרבה

Q — Rashi explains that Rivka, feeling the pain of the pregnancy, regretted having prayed for a child ('למה זה אנכי מתאוה ומתפללת'). Or HaChaim finds this unthinkable — would a tzadeket come to despise her pregnancy over pain?

A — Or HaChaim reads 'ויתרוצצו' as 'crushing' — the babies were pressing so violently that the pregnancy was failing and she feared a miscarriage. Her cry 'אם כן למה זה אנכי' means: if I am to lose this child, why am I pregnant at all — 'why have I labored in vain'? She went 'לדרוש את ה'' not to complain of pain but to ask for mercy to sustain the pregnancy. Tzadikim never protest suffering, knowing the ultimate purpose lies in eternity.