In the fourth Aliyah of this week’s Parashah, the Parashah discusses the building of the Shevatim. Interestingly, despite the Aliyah mainly being about Rachel and Leah, it starts with Reuven picking the Duda’im for Leah. The Torah says this story happened after Leah had already had four of her eventual six sons. She was distraught that she wasn’t having any more and was temporarily infertile. Reuven realized that Leah was unhappy and knew that the way to stop her pain was to end the cause. He therefore went and got the Duda'im because he knew they had the unique medicinal capabilities to help her give birth, and she would no longer have to be barren and sad anymore. This is the first of many times Reuven demonstrates his Tzidkut and tries to prevent his parents, particularly his mother, from suffering. At the age of four or five, he understood that Leah was upset that she was no longer having kids. The Pasuk, therefore, emphasizes that Reuven actively went out to find the Duda'im because he knew that they would help out his mother. In doing so, he shows flashes of some of his most praiseworthy character traits. He shows his wisdom because he understood that Leah was upset that she was the secondary wife, and he knew that these Duda'im would help her give birth and help her emotional well-being. We also see his kindness, as he was compassionate toward his mother’s suffering and went out of his way to help her. This shows that Reuven’s later sin with Bilhah was only out of love for and a sense of commitment to his mother. This is also similar to how when she names him, she says that he will be named Reuven because “Hashem saw my suffering, and now my husband will love me.” He brought these to his mother because he knew that the most important thing to her was the ability to build up Bnei Yisrael. We see this again when he prevents Yosef from being killed because he says that he did so to prevent Ya’akov from suffering when he finds out that Yosef died. All of these stories show how Reuven had extraordinary intelligence, both emotional and technical. This story of the Duda'im teaches Reuven’s incredible compassion and intelligence, which we should all draw upon in our daily interactions to figure out how to help those around us.