Despite Rachel’s efforts to protect her sister, Leah still felt the pain of loneliness, as the Torah states:

And the LORD saw that Leah was hated, and he opened her womb; but Rachel was barren. וַ And Leah conceived and bore a son, and she called his name Reuben; for she said: ‘Because the LORD has looked upon my affliction; for now my husband will love me.  And she conceived again, and bore a son; and said: ‘Because the LORD has heard that I am hated, He has therefore given me this son also.’ And she called his name Shimon. And she conceived again, and bore a son; and said: ‘Now this time will my husband be joined unto me, because I have borne him three sons.’ Therefore was his name called Levi.

 Not only does the Torah bear witness that Leah was “hated,” and “afflicted,” and hoped that Yaakov would “love her,” but on the birth of Levi, she hoped that Yaakov would see her as faultless, as Rashi states:: this time my husband will be attached: Heb. יִלָּוֶה. Since the Matriarchs were prophetesses, they knew that twelve tribes would emanate from Jacob, and that he would marry four wives, she said, “From now on, he will find no fault with me for I have contributed my share in (producing) sons.”[1] [I.e., three sons were thought to be each wife’s share of the twelve.]

The medrash teaches that the fact that Leah was שְׂנוּאָה—hated, means that she acted against those who are hated; she cried and prayed that she should not have to marry the one who hates (Esav). She prayed as follows: may it be the Will of Hashem that I not be placed in the jurisdiction of the evil one. We see from here that prayer is so powerful, that it can quash an edict.[2]

The aloneness of Leah, promoted her to pray for redemption, by marrying a righteous man, instead of Esav. And through her prayers, she transformed herself, and her destiny was changed; she merited to become the wife of Yaakov and bore him six sons and one daughter.

When you are alone against the world, and your back is against the wall, your true self, emerges. Your true self is your inner will-your ratzon—what you truly desire. Prayer, in a time of despair, reveals that inner will. Out of the aloneness of Leah, her essence and true self, arose. Her true self was the wife of Yaakov and the mother of Yehudah who would be the grandfather of mashiach, Yissachar, the bearer of the yoke of Torah for all generations, and Levi, the father of all Kohanim.

[1] Breishis Rabbasi, attributed to Rabbi Moshe Hadarshan, Midrash Aggadah

[2] Breishis Rabba 71:1

This essay is an excerpt from Alone Against the World-the Torah Antidote to Loneliness, by Rabbi Yisroel Rollhttp://www.feldheim.com/authors/roll-rabbi-yisroel.html