Yaakov dwelled in the land of his father’s sojourning. (Bereishis 37:1)
Yaakov sought to dwell in tranquility, but the trouble of Yosef jumped on him. (Rashi on v. 2)
Yaakov Avinu wanted to dwell in tranquility when he finally came back home after decades in the house of Lavan. He noted that Avraham dwelled in tranquility. Although Avraham was imprisoned for ten years, and then underwent other nisyonos, culminating in the Akeidah, from that point on he enjoyed tranquility and underwent no tests or troubles. And Yaakov noted that Yitzchak, as well, dwelt in tranquility in his home, confident that nothing bad will happen to him. So Yaakov felt that he deserved to dwell in tranquility, too.
And why didn’t he merit tranquility , despite the fact that both his father and grandfather did? Was he less deserving than them?
Yaakov’s midah is Torah. יעקב איש תם יושב אוהלים – “Yaakov was a man of wholeness, dwelling in the tents [of Torah].” Thanks to this midah he merited a boundless estate, greater than all the estates of his forefathers. Avraham’s estate has a limit. Avraham’s trait is chesed, and a person can achieve a state of satisfaction from the acts of chesed that he performs. Yitzchak’s trait was Tefilah, and Tefilah, too, is something a person can acquire. A person can reach a state where he picks up a siddur and the siddur “speaks” to him.
None of this is true with Torah learning. It has no end and no limit and no bounds. This is the estate of Yaakov Avinu, which belongs to all those who toil in Torah learning. “Anyone who occupies himself with Torah learning for its own sake merits the estate of Yaakov” (Tanchuma, Zos Haberachah 5).
