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How can the Torah (תורה) describe Rochel as jealous when jealousy is a destructive trait? The shiur distinguishes two types of kinah: unhealthy desire for what belongs to others versus the mitzvah (מצוה) to safeguard what is rightfully yours. Rochel's jealousy was healthy — Leah was displacing her from the relationship and family portion that was properly hers.
Rabbi Zweig addresses a fundamental question from Parshas Vayeitzei: how can the Torah (תורה) describe our matriarch Rochel as jealous of her sister Leah when jealousy is presented throughout Tanach and Chazal as one of the most destructive character traits? King Shlomo describes it as burning coals, and the Mishna teaches that jealousy removes a person from the world. The question becomes even sharper when considering that Rochel and Leah are held up as the actual mothers of the tribes, playing an even more direct role than Sarah and Rivka in establishing the Jewish people. The answer begins with understanding the Hebrew root of jealousy — kinah — which shares its root (kuf-nun) with kinyan (acquisition) and koneh (to acquire). This linguistic insight reveals that jealousy is fundamentally about possessiveness and the desire to acquire. When a person wants to possess what belongs to someone else, this is indeed a severe psychological illness that destroys a person from within. However, the Torah also commands jealousy in certain contexts, such as the mitzvah (מצוה) for a husband to be jealous (vekinnei es ishto) if his wife is unfaithful. This cannot be an unhealthy emotion if it is a mitzvah.
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Bereishis 30:1 (Parshas Vayeitzei)
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