Our Gemara on Amud Aleph offers a logical proof that voice recognition is a halachically valid way of verifying identification. Otherwise, how would a blind man ever be permitted to marry his wife? (Surely it’s not reasonable for him to continuously rely on other’s testimony.)

In Bereishis (29:25) Yaakov is tricked by Lavan, discovering the morning after the wedding, that the woman in his bed was Leah, and not Rachel: “And it was in the morning, behold she was Leah…” Rashi comments, quoting Megillah (13b): and at night it wasn’t Leah? Rather, Yaakov anticipated that Lavan would try to swindle him so he gave Rachel particular signs to verify it was her. Yet, Rachel could not see her sister humiliated like that and she gave those passwords to Leah. Indeed at night she seemed to be Rachel. 

Merafsin Igra (Vayetze) asks, why did Yaakov even need signs? According to our Gemara he should have been able to identify her based on her voice? He answers, Rachel and Leah were sisters and they were so similar that their voices matched.

There is an interesting commentary from Daas Zekeinim Mibaaley Tosafos that notes the phrase in Hebrew “Hiy Leah - she was Leah,” and it offers commentary on Yaakov’s life and consequences:

We are told the following in Bereishis Rabbah 70,19: All night long people were singing “Ha-Layah,” which sounded like Hallelah, praise her, but if one listened closely it was saying, “Ha,” behold, “Hiy Leah,” she is Leah. The townsfolk were hinting to Yaakov that he was being swindled.

Yaakov did not suspect that he was being tricked when Leah answered though he addressed her as Rachel, because he had the agreed upon code words. In the morning when he found out that he had been tricked by Leah, he complained to her, “Trickster, daughter of a trickster! At night I say Rachel and you answer, in the morning I say Leah and you answer!” (This is the scriptural emphasis “In the morning, behold she is Leah.”) Leah responded that she had learned from Yaakov himself to do this, as when Yitzchok had asked him if he was his firstborn son Esav, he had answered to his father misleadingly, “It is I. Esav is your firstborn.” This is when Yaakov began to hate her, as is reported in verse 31, “And God saw that Leah was hated.”

There are two features about this Daas Zekeinim. It is quite a criticism of Yaakov. Not only is he getting payback for his own trickery, but he is then depicted as hating Leah for calling him out. I couldn’t say it if Daas Zekeinim didn’t say it, but essentially this is a story of consequences and payback for difficult choices Yaakov made in his life. I think the lesson to consider is that even if you must do something, and you have all the justifications, including God (see ibid 27:33) and your mother (27:13), on your side, the actual negative consequences may still be unavoidable. Yaakov may have had good reason to appropriate the blessing of the firstborn, but it seems he paid a price.

Another idea that comes about through the Midrash is that the townsfolk were dropping hints that Yaakov was not noticing. I would like to imagine that the townsfolk were a intimidated by Lavan and couldn’t directly warn Yaakov. Such as dissidents who live in a country where freedom of speech is censored, so they must hint at what they are saying but not say anything directly. Or maybe it was all a big joke for them and they had fun hinting, and watching Lavan squirm as he fretted that Yaakov might pick up on the scam. In any case, I don’t think it would be incorrect to state that Yaakov was overconfident, because he had the secret code words.

Therefore, no matter what types of subtle indications, Yaakov had a predetermined mindset that biased his perceptions. This is an important lesson to always be mindful and pick up on cues. The more sure we are that we are right about things, the more likely we are to miss something important.

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Translations Courtesy of Sefaria, except when, sometimes, I disagree with the translation

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Rabbi Simcha Feuerman, Rabbi Simcha Feuerman, LCSW-R, LMFT, DHL is a psychotherapist who works with high conflict couples and families. He can be reached via email at simchafeuerman@gmail.com