And Lavan arose early in the morning and kissed his sons and daughters and blessed them. Lavan went and returned to his place. And Yaakov went on his way, and angels of G-d met him. (31:1-2) There is some difficulty here. What is the connection of Yaakov’s leaving the house of Lavan to Yaakov meeting angels? To give some understanding to the Parsha: We note that Lavan kisses his offspring and blesses them. It seems that Lavan finally acted like a passionate father and sent them off with his best wishes. Yet until then he was an arrogant father full of shady behavior, especially to his son-in-law Yaakov, who found no mention of Lavan taking proper leave of! Of course they left on bad terms. After all, Yaakov endured endless hardships in Lavan's house for over 20 years. Firstly, living with and working for his father-in-law Lavan, Yaakov agreed to earn Rachel's hand by working as a shepherd for 7 years, only to have Lavan switch daughters on him at the marriage ceremony, putting Leah in Rachel's place. Lavan then forced Yaakov to work a second 7 years for Rachel before keeping his part of the agreement. Then when it came time to get paid for his services, Yaakov wanted his payment in sheep, but Lavan changed their agreement time after time. After 20 years, Hashem tells Yaakov the time had come to return to the land of Canaan. Yaakov and his household leave secretly, only to be pursued by Lavan. Yet Yaakov doesn't complain and accepts all his difficult trials. How did Yaakov survive these ordeals?
The answer can be found in the verses 31: 4-5:
Yaakov sent and called Rachel and Leah to the field, to his flocks. Here Yaakov is revealing his secret to his wives: And he said to them, "I see your father's countenance, “that he is not disposed toward me [as he was] yesterday and the day before”, but the G-d of my father was with me. Yaakov knew that he had a purpose in going to Charan and realized that there would be great obstacles and hardships to endure. This was a tremendous and arduous test, and only by passing these tests would he merit having 12 noble sons, the Shevatim/tribes. Lavan’s behavior was a plan set up by Hashem. Yaakov was a master of his inner strength. The Torah attests, that he was very righteous. He understood what Hashem wanted from him. He knew that he had to rectify the neshama of Lavan. He also knew that he had to rectify the sheep of Lavan. This carried a great load of work and perseverance. But, Yaakov was a messenger of Hashem and was being guided all along on how to act.
Therefore, when Lavan switched his daughters at the wedding, Yaakov agreed and offered to work another seven years for Rachel. When Lavan demands he stay and work on his sheep, Yaakov agrees. Yaakov was on a mission and determined to succeed. He kept his calm and followed the guidance of Hashem. Hence, we see that when Yaakov wants to leave the house of Lavan, as he felt that he had rectified the Neshama of Lavan, Hashem still wanted him to stay and work on the sheep. This wasn’t just being a shepherd. He was mastering and serving Hashem now and working spiritually with the sheep. Therefore, he worked in the cold and heat and didn’t have to sleep much, as he was serving Hashem with Mesiras Nefesh.
Yaakov succeeded in his mission, and Hashem was happy with the results, as we see in the Posuk: "I see your father's countenance, “that he is not disposed toward me [as he was] yesterday and the day before.'" Yaakov saw that he indeed changed Lavan. He also succeeded with the sheep, as attested in the previous Posuk, when he called Rachel and Leah to the field and to the sheep. This mentioning of the sheep would have no meaning to his calling them. However, according to our insight, he revealed that he rectified Lavan and the sheep too. He continues, to say that all he had gone through was with the guidance of Hashem, and he succeeded in his mission, and now we can leave the house of Lavan. He continues, to say that all he had gone through was with the guidance of Hashem, and he succeeded in his mission, and now we can leave the house of Lavan.
Yaakov elevated himself to angelic levels. Therefore, he was able to survive a shepherd's life without sleep or shelter. He knew that Lavan was merely a pawn of Hashem, sent to test him. With this in mind, we understand the Posuk "angels of G-d met him, that “Yaakov himself” attained the level of an angel. That is the connection of meeting angels to being in the house of Lavan.
(Yehuda Z. Klitnick)
