Reply To: Let’s Work Together On 1 Middah

Silence

“And Hashem remembered Rachel, He listened to her, and He opened her womb” (Bereshis 30:22). The Sifsei Chachomim explains that whenever the Torah states that Hashem remembers someone, He remembers a good deed or deeds that the person performed in the past and subsequently grants their request. The Medrash Tanchuma notes that Hashem remembered Rachel’s silence. Yaakov wanted to marry Rachel. He sent gifts to her. Lavan intercepted the gifts and gave them to Leah instead. Rachel was quiet. The Medrash praises her silence by quoting the Mishnah (Avos 1:17). Shimon the son of Rabban Gamliel said, “All of my life I have been raised among the sages and I have not found anything better for the body than silence.” Our sages praise silence in many other ways. Rebbe Akiva said, “The fence that protects wisdom is silence” (Avos 3:17). The Gemora (Megilla 18a) writes, “The best medicine in the world is silence.” “Those who listen to insults and do not answer back are beloved by Hashem. They will grow stronger as the rising sun from morning to midday.” The Vilna Gaon zt”l writes in the name of the Medrash, “Each and every minute that a person seals his lips he merits to see the light that was hidden away (from the time of the creation of the world). This value of this reward is beyond the comprehension of any creature.”