עקידת יצחק — ויהיו בעיניו כימים אחדים באהבתו אתה

Q — Why did God arrange that Lavan could deceive Yaakov, leading to four wives? Why were the seven years "like a few days" — when longing should make time feel long? Why was Rachel kept barren until after Leah and the maidservants bore children, and what did Rachel mean in naming Bilhah's sons?

A — Laziness reveals that a thing is unimportant to a person; diligence reveals belief in its worth. Yaakov's tireless labor — seven years, then seven more, then six — shows the supreme value he placed on building the house of Israel, the four mothers corresponding to the four directions and the twelve tribes. The years felt brief because he "bought cheap" what he loved. Rachel was delayed because she neither helped her sister nor prayed for herself; her sons' names encode her recognition of both causes, teaching that even the matriarchs' household was governed by middah-k'neged-middah.