Beyond the Letter of the Lawv

In this week’s Torah portion, Jacob marries first Leah and then Rachel, who are sisters. The Torah itself prohibits a person from marrying two siblings, so what was Jacob doing?

A simple answer is that the Torah had not been given at Mount Sinai yet. The problem with this answer is that our Sages teach us that the Patriarchs observed all of the commandments of the Torah, even before it was given, as a personal stringency, which they took upon themselves. If this is the case, the question remains as to how Jacob could have married two sisters?

One answer is that although the Patriarchs and Matriarchs kept the Torah meticulously, they only kept it on a level of personal stringency - like a vow a person takes upon themselves in order to further their spiritual quest - and not as an obligation from G-d. Jacob had promised to marry Rachel and she was fully expecting this to happen, indeed, they had both waited seven years for it. For him to refuse to marry her, because of his personal stringency, would have caused her great distress. Since the laws of the Torah were not commanded before Mount Sinai but were observed as a voluntary stringency, he had no right to preserve his own self-imposed piety at somebody else’s expense.

The Torah guides us in our everyday lives and lays down the Commandments by which we live. Sometimes they are not so easy to keep, but we still endeavour to do so. However, when it comes to going beyond the letter of the law, imposing stringencies, this is very admirable provided it does not harm another human being. To conduct oneself with additional piety, beyond the basic demand of the Torah, but at somebody else’s expense, is not to be encouraged. Another person’s needs must always take precedence over our own quest for higher spirituality and not G-d forbid suffer because of our self-interests. Indeed, helping another person at one's own 'expense' is in itself going beyond the letter of the law.