*Vayeitzei: Monday: How Beautiful*
_“And when Jacob saw Rachel…and Jacob kissed Rachel.”_ This is a story of love at first sight. Jacob feels that Rachel is the twin soul that is waiting for him. Subsequently it is written in the Torah, _“And Rachel was beautiful of form and beautiful of appearance”_. Was Jacob attracted to Rachel because of her beauty? Yes. There is a very deep point here, as the Rav the Maggid of Mezeritch explains. Jacob embodied the character trait of *tiferet*, splendor, “the _tiferet_, splendor, of Israel.” As such, he has a particular sensitivity to identify points of splendor and beauty in the world. When Jacob sees Rachel’s beauty, external beauty that reflects inner beauty, he immediately identifies with this beauty and knows that Rachel is his soul-mate.
Jacob also correlates to the trait of emet, truth, as is written, “Give emet, truth, to Jacob.” Truth comes from above, demanding that we ‘straighten out’ according to the Divine yardstick. Beauty, however, ascends from below. Something beautiful in the world catches our eye. Jacob connects truth and beauty, thus achieving perfection. This is beautifully hinted at in gematria: *אמת* _(emet)_ plus *יפי* _(yofi)_ = *ישראל* Israel (the name that expresses the loftiness of Jacob).
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