Unequaled Diligence
Now, one of the witnesses who will come to testify at the end of days will be a character from this week’s sedrah. It’s our old friend Lavan. ןָבָל ‡ֹבוָי – “Let Lavan come,” says Hashem, בֹ ֲ̃ﬠַי לַﬠ „יƒעָי¿ו – “and he should testify about the greatness of Yaakov.” It means that Lavan is the one who was placed le’umas Yaakov – it was by means of Lavan that Yaakov became great.
Now we would think just the opposite. If you asked us, we would have said that Yaakov achieved his greatness because he was the yoshev ohalim; he was fortunate enough to sit in the tents of great people. He sat in the tent of his great parents, Yitzchok and Rivkah. And in addition to that, he was fourteen years in the tents of Shem v’Eiver; and during those years his diligence was unequaled. ‡ּהוַה םֹו ָּ̃מַּב בַּכׁ¿ ּ̆ƒיַו – The first time in fourteen years that he laid down to sleep was after he left the yeshivah (Vayeitzei 28:11, Rashi). In the yeshivah he slept only on his elbows at the table; he didn’t lay down in a bed – he was afraid he might sleep too much.
Now, learning with hasmadah for fourteen years like that is quite an accomplishment. If any one of us would remain fourteen years in Mirrer Yeshiva, we would become somebody; fourteen years in the old Mir in Europe we would be a bigger somebody. But to listen to shiurim for fourteen years from that great tzaddik, Eiver? If Eiver would come here tonight and we’d hear one shiur from him we’d go home with something tremendous; we’d be different people altogether!
Source of Greatness
And so where did Yaakov become great? Where did he become Yaakov Avinu? There’s no doubt in our minds. It was in these tents in which he dwelled! What happened after that? After that, it was downhill from there. He had to make an undercover escape and he ended up in the house of Lavan. It was some house; Lavan was as mean and crooked as could be.
For us it would have been like a sojourn in Gehenim; we couldn’t have taken it more than a week. But Yaakov took it for twenty years. And so in such a house it seems to us that there’s not much chance for spiritual achievement.
But at the end of days we’re going to find out just the opposite. When Hakadosh Baruch Hu will search for a witness to testify about Yaakov’s greatness it’s Lavan who is going to be called in. Not Yitzchok and Rivkah. Not Shem v’Eiver. Now, I’m sure they’d have good things to say, very good things. Yaakov became prepared in those tents. If it wasn’t for those years, if it wasn’t for those teachers, Yaakov wouldn’t have succeeded with Lavan. But it’s in the house of Lavan, that’s where he achieved his greatness. In that most unlikely place, the most unlikely place to accomplish anything spiritual, that’s where Yaakov became great.
Getting From The Go-Getter
How great? Let’s hear a report of the progress that he made in the house of Lavan. Listen to what Yaakov said at the end of his sojourn in that house: הָח¿פׁƒ ̆¿ו „∆ב∆ﬠ¿ו ן‡ֹˆ רֹמוֲחַו רֹוׁ ̆ יƒל יƒה¿יַו ... יּƒ ̇¿רַּ‚ ןָבָל םƒע – “I lived with Lavan and I acquired there oxen and donkeys, flocks and servants and maidservants” (Bereishis 32:5-6). You remember, in our sedrah Yaakov came to Lavan penniless; he had nothing. And now he was leaving Lavan with tremendous wealth. Herds, flocks, servants!
Now, to get property out of the house of Lavan was an especially big achievement because Lavan wasn’t the kind of man who let anybody get any property. Lavan was out for property himself. Lavan loved one thing; besides himself he loved one other thing. Money!
You remember when Lavan saw the jewelry that Eliezer had given to Rivka? It says (Bereishis 24:30) יםƒ„ƒמּ¿ˆַה ̇∆‡¿ו ם∆זּ∆נַה ̇∆‡ ֹ̇‡¿רּƒכ, when he saw the rings and the bracelets, so Lavan said “Welcome, you blessed of Hashem.” So we see what Lavan blessed for. Lavan lived for business. And so for Yaakov to leave with so much property, with herds and flocks and servants, that’s a big accomplishment.
Acquiring The Glorious Future
But the Medrash tells us that there are hidden meanings in these achievements. Yaakov acquired more than property in the house of Lavan. He took other things too, more important things. So let’s look at that possuk again and see how Chazal explain it.
רֹוׁ ̆ יƒל יƒה¿יַו – So Chazal tell us, zeh Yosef, there I acquired a Yosef. Yosef is called shor in Tanach, רֹכוּ¿בֹלו רָ„ָה ֹרוֹוׁ ̆, and the possuk here is hinting to that. It doesn’t mean only that he gained a little boy named Yosef. Yosef means to have another shevet, to have a Menashe and Efraim, and all the greatness that eventually came from Yosef.
To achieve a Yosef could only happen after Yaakov had reached a certain degree of greatness that made him deserving of having such a son, such a future. And where did he achieve it? In the house of Lavan! Whatever Yosef means – it’s a whole conglomeration of great accomplishments and a great future – Yaakov gained that in the house of Lavan.
רֹמוֲחַו – And I also acquired a donkey. What does that signify? Besides for the donkeys that Yaakov took out of Lavan’s house, what does it mean?
So our Sages tell us that it’s Moshiach; because about Moshiach it says רֹמוֲח לַﬠ ב≈כֹר¿ו יƒנָﬠ – a humble man riding on a donkey. And so the Moshiach that will someday develop from the house of Dovid – all the achievements that the Yemos Hamoshiach will bring to our nation and to the world – was accomplished already in the house of Lavan. Yehuda, the great-great-great grandfather of Moshiach was born to Yaakov in Lavan’s house.
Cradle of Civilization
ן‡ֹˆ¿ו – I also acquired flocks there. Who was that flock that Yaakov acquired? ל≈‡ָרׂ¿ ̆ƒיוּל≈‡ ן‡ֹˆ¿ו – The Jewish nation is called the flock of Hakadosh Baruch Hu, the tzon kodashim. It means that the whole future of the Am Yisroel throughout the generations, the multitudes of kosher men and women, of pious and kindly people who are gentle as lambs, grew out of the greatness Yaakov achieved in the house of Lavan.
The possuk continues „∆ב∆ﬠ¿ו, that’s Moshe eved Hashem. Moshe was already present in the house of Lavan. Yaakov achieved so much in the house of Lavan that he became worthy of a Moshe, the greatest man who would ever appear on the face of the earth. In the house of Lavan, Yaakov gained a Moshe Rabeinu; he gained a nation that is worthy of the highest, most successful of all people.
הָח¿פׁƒ ̆¿ו – I acquired also a maidservant. It means Rus, who called herself shifchasecha, a maidservant (Rus 2:13). She declared that she is a handmaiden, she is ready to serve; to leave the gentile world and join us. And from her would come forth the House of Dovid. Yaakov became worthy of having that great woman join our people because of Lavan.
You know what the Sages are telling us? All the perfection that Yaakov achieved for himself and for his descendants was already wrapped up in the seed that was planted in that house. Not in the house of Yitzchok and Rivkah where Yaakov Avinu was at first; not in the house of Shem v’Eiver either. No. He acquired his true perfection in the most unlikely place: in the house of Lavan.
A Paragon Of Virtue
Now, Lavan was a very difficult father-in-law to live with. A shver like Lavan can be a big pain even if he lives in Australia and you’re in Brooklyn. But to live in his house?! That’s not easy. Yaakov suffered from his father-in-law, from the middos of Lavan and his lies and his treachery. And Yaakov was swallowing it. He was tolerating it and not for one week – for weeks and months and years.
If you have an employer and the employer cheats you out of your salary week after week and he does it with every kind of mean trickery, it is a masterpiece of good behavior if you can remain civil to him for a month, six months, a year. Yaakov took it in the best possible manner for so many years.
As much as Lavan cheated Yaakov and wronged him at every step, he behaved towards Lavan with the utmost loyalty. ב∆רֹח יƒנַלָכֲ‡ םֹוּיַב יƒ ̇יƒיָה – By day the heat consumed me, הָל¿יָּלַּב חַר∆ ̃¿ו – and the frost at night (Vayeitzei 31:40). Yaakov was burned by the heat, but he wouldn’t forsake the sheep in order to seek a shady spot to protect himself. In the cold frosty nights, he could have crept into his tent to save himself from being frozen. It’s cold sometimes at night in Padan Aram, very cold, and Yaakov didn’t have a stove to keep him warm. He could have crept into his tent and pulled ten blankets over him and forgotten about the outside world; but he didn’t. He couldn’t because he was working for someone else; he had a boss. It was a tremendous test of Yaakov’s character and he passed it with flying colors.
Lavan Was Not Yisro
And that’s how he became great. It’s like sandpaper on wood. I never did it but I watched once when I was a little boy how a carpenter was sanding down wood to make a piece of furniture. It’s not easy. You have to apply pressure and rub back and forth, back and forth. But that’s how it becomes polished; all the rough edges are smoothed out by means of that pressure. And that’s what happened in the house of Lavan – Yaakov was being sanded down.
Character is the same as wood. Perfection of the mind, perfection of character, is not gained easily. We need so many things to sandpaper us, to make us smooth and easy to deal with. To make us successful people, people who are good-natured, calm and patient and forgiving, we need that friction to sand us down. So Hashem sends things upon you. He sends people to sand you down.
