Spark of Jewish Experience

             In bringing the bikurim (first ripe fruits in the land of Israel which were taken to the temple and given to the Kohen), the person bringing them tells the story of our past and mentions the very first miracle, which occurred to Israel (Devarim 26:5). ‘An Armenian wanted to destroy my father’. Lavan the Armenian, wanted to uproot all by destroying our forefather Yaakov.

Lavan was the uncle and father-in-law of Yaakov, who tricked him by switching Rachel, the sister of choice, with Leah, at their wedding ceremony to Yaakov. Yaakov eventually married Rachel as well as two of her other sisters, Bilah and Zilpah. This made the number of wives at four. But Lavan made him work extra for Rachel. We see throughout the chapter that Lavan had attempted – and at times succeeded – in tricking his son-in-law.

Abarbanel explains that Lavan was the one by his actions that caused Yosef (the son of Yaakov and Rachel), to be sold to Egypt and Yaakov to go into exile in the land. It was Lavan’s evil ways, which caused the feuding between Yaakov’s sons, which led them to eventually sell Yosef to Egypt. Yaakov’s sons would simply not have been able to act that way if there had not been a drop of their grandfather, Lavan’s blood in their veins.

There were two reasons why Yaakov ran away from his home to Lavan’s house. At his parents’ request, the first reason – the potential marriage match with Rachel, and the second reason was that his older twin brother Eisav wanted to kill him. So Yaakov spent 22 years at Lavan’s house. There is the obvious question, eventually Eisav found out the whereabouts of his brother, Yaakov, so why didn’t he kill him? He didn’t pursue Yaakov until he left Lavan’s house. Why did he wait?

Eisav – with all his bravery – impressively defeated the great warrior, Nimrod, but was afraid of only one person, Lavan. Lavan was the most powerful man on earth. How, one may ask, did he succeed in reaching this position?

An additional question that should be asked – why was Lavan frantically searching for the terafim? It didn’t seem to be idol worship. Rachel stole her father’s terafim because she didn’t want him to use them. What is the significance of the terafim?

According to Yonatan ben Uziel, the zohar, and Tana debay Eliyahu, Lavan was the master of black magic and his biggest weapon was terafim. There is, according to the evil spirits, an importance to a seventh generation firstborn, and Lavan was able to figure who they are. He would murder them and sever their heads, where we would perform various acts of black magic on the body parts, manipulating it, making them talk. As a result of this ritual, he was able to reveal secrets of the world (insider trading). Lavan would have a tremendous edge on everything in life where he would take advantage in the cruelest way.

Yaakov was advised to go to Lavan’s house because Eisav was a seventh generation bechor, where it would be ill advised for Eisav to come near Lavan. Eventually, every child born comes with his own mazal. Yaakov saw the ability to withstand his brother, Eisav, with the birth of Yosef.

Man has the power to bring kedusha and evil to the world; it’s his choice. But one thing he should realize, he is going to be accountable for everything.