Why did Yaakov kiss Rachel when he met her? Why did it not constitute a lack of modesty?
Ramban: She was only a little girl. 1
Ramban (citing the Ibn Ezra): Neshikah followed by the prefix 'Lamed' ("va'Yishak ... l'Rachel") denotes kissing on the hand or on the shoulder, and not on the mouth. 2
Seforno: Refer to 29:12:1:3.
Tosfos ha'Shalem (1, from Bereishis Rabah 70:12): It was due to kinship. Malbim - it was not due to lust. He cried!
Yaakov reached the level of Adam ha'Rishon before the sin. 3 Adam and Chavah were not ashamed to be naked, for they had no thoughts of physical pleasure.
Tosfos ha'Shalem (6): He did not kiss her! "Va'Yishak" is an expression of Teshukah (desire).
Age five, as the Ramban will explain later in the Parshah.
Mishbetzos Zahav (to Shmuel II 14:33): "But Rashi explained the words "va'Yenashek Lo" (Lavan kissed Yaakov), to feel if he hid jewels in his mouth - refer to 29:13:2:1! He kissed him on the jaw, not on the mouth.
This is how Pri Tzadik (Pinchas 4) explains why Yaakov was unashamed to say (Bereishis 29:21) "give to me my wife, and I will have Bi'ah with her." Seforno (see 30:16:2:1) says so about intimacy of all the Avos and Imahos.
Why did Yaakov cry?
Rashi #1: Because he foresaw that Rachel would not be buried together with him.
Rashi #2: Because, unlike Eliezer who arrived in Charan laden with gifts, he had come empty-handed. 1
Seforno: He cried because he did not merit to marry her in his youth, in which case he would have already had many children.
Tosfos ha'Shalem (2, from Bereishis Rabah 70:12): He saw people whispering to each other "he brought lewdness to here!"
Tosfos ha'Shalem (5): It was due to the afflictions of Yisrael and of Mashi'ach ben Yosef [which he saw through Ru'ach ha'Kodesh].
Rashi: This was because Esav sent his son Elifaz after him to kill him. Only, because Elifaz grew up on the lap of grandfather Yitzchak, took pity on Yaakov, when he pleaded with him to spare his life. And, in order to carry out his father's instructions, he acted upon Yaakov's advice, and took from him everything that he had with him - and a poor man is considered dead.
QUESTIONS ON RASHI
Rashi writes: "A poor man is considered as if dead." Why is this so?
Gur Aryeh: Life intrinsically means living independently, without dependence upon other people. Similarly, "One who hates gifts shall live" (Mishlei 15:27). 1
