Yaakov and Sheep
The story of Yaakov’s life is personified by these two aspects—being a child and serving G-d with sheep. Before Yaakov came to Charan he was completely immersed in Torah. Studying its wisdom was his sole pursuit. The Torah tells us the following, concerning Yaakov’s character:
Text 8
And the youths grew up, and Esav was a man who understood hunting, a man of the field, whereas Yaakov was an innocent man, dwelling in tents.
Bereishis 25:27
Rashi comments on the expression that Yaakov dwelled in tents, and tells us that his dwelling in tents was in “the tent of Shem and the tent of Ever.” During this period, he studied Torah in the two schools of learning at the time. We find, that after Yaakov left his parents’ home, he did not go immediately to the house of his uncle Lavan either. Instead, he went to study Torah for fourteen years in the school of Ever.
This is the way Yaakov was expressive of the son-personality. However, afterwards, Yaakov left the school of Torah study and traveled to Charan; leaving the comforts of spirituality, for a life of toil and hardship. The adversity that he faced in Charan was both in a physical and spiritual sense. He physically toiled with all his strength in his work, and was spiritually exposed to the depravity of Charan’s environment.
The Torah tells us, that when Yaakov came back to the land of Israel he instructed his messengers to tell Esav, “So shall you say to my master, to Esav, 'Thus said your servant Yaakov: I have lived with Lavan, and I have tarried until now.’”
Text 9
“I have lived(גרתי),” has the numerical value of 613. That is to say, “I lived with the wicked Lavan, but I kept the 613 commandments, and I did not learn from his evil deeds.”
Rashi, Bereishis 32:5
It is specifically there, in Charan that—notwithstanding the tremendous disinterest from G-dliness that flourished in the home of Lavan—Yaakov raises the first Jewish family, with the birth of the twelve tribes. It is specifically in Charan that his nullification to the Almighty is expressed to the utmost degree.
This is the reason the wealth that Yaakov amassed was in the form of sheep. Sheep connote the spiritual heights that Yaakov attained through his humility towards G-d’s. It was for this reason that Yaakov became exceedingly wealthy in Charan—for when a person is nullified before G-d, they are able to reach a level that transcends all boundaries of nature.
