Jacob's Tears

Dante's Vision of Rachel and Leah 1855 Dante Gabriel Rossetti 1828-1882 Bequeathed by Beresford Rimington Heaton 1940 http://www.tate.org.uk/art/work/N05228The stories of Genesis reveal the underlying hand of Providence that insists (tragically) on the bloodlines over human emotions and relationships.In the tears of Jacob we sense the intimations he already senses for the temporality of his love for Rachel as we also see in Dante’s love of Beatrice (and his eventual realization that this leads to the lev of the divine).So too,  (lehavdil) the way Norman Jewison (midrashically!) connects the love of Ronny Cammareri (Nicolas Cage) for Loretta (Sher) in Moonstruck (1987). As Loretta and Ronny go to the Met, to see Puccini’s La Boheme.... we are given Mimì’s famous “Donde lieta,” whereupon. Loretta cries. Mimì’s resignation of her love for Rodolfo echoing the way Loretta feels regarding her pending marriage and true love for Ronny. In this moment, the opera itself reflects the inner turmoil of the film’s characters.It our pericope Jacob embracing, kissing Rachel then crying is just such a tragic moment.