Vayetzei
Lavan
said to him (Jacob), “If you will indulge me, I have learned by divination that
the Lord has blessed me on your account.”
30:27
I have
realized that all of my blessing is only because of you; and should you depart
I will revert to being as deprived a pauper as before. It will then be as if you had not worked for
me at all, as all the fruits of your labor and whatever I have profited will
turn to naught upon your departure. For
such an eventuality I did not give you my daughters.
Malbim (19th
Century)
Lavan would
like to keep him as a servant; preferably for no other payment except his
keep…he now talks to Jacob like a true crafty villain who affects piety. He does not admit that he would like to keep
Jacob simply because of the efficient services he has rendered him. He feels that such practical considerations
would have to be paid for, and if one has gone so far as to praise such skills,
they would have to be paid well indeed.
For this reason he affects extreme piety, and, just as do those today
who, having cast off all genuine piety, turn to superstition and think
them…religious….
Samson
Raphael Hirsch (19th Century)
I am
absolutely convinced that my good fortune during the last fourteen years
commenced with your arrival at my doorstep…I have duly noted that I have
derived far greater riches through my livestock than is customary. I know that this must be due to your
presence.
Sforno (15th Century)
Now it
is possible that Lavan used the teraphim
for idol worship…But not all teraphim were for the
purpose of worship…they also divine with them in order to gain knowledge of
future events…People of little faith set them up for themselves as gods…
Ramban
(13th Century)
This
seems unfair. Why should a person be
blessed just because he was in the proximity of a Torah scholar?...The presence of a Torah scholar will inspire even a
morally corrupt individual to limit his destructive acts…
Abraham
Isaac Kook (20th Century)
Because Lavan reasoned that he had indeed been blessed through
Jacob’s presence, it must have been God’s will to have Jacob stay with him all
these years. God therefore must have
condoned his (Lavan’s) own behavior during these
years.
Moshe Alshich (16th Century)
Why does
our tradition view Lavan as a scoundrel? Does not Jacob also deceive? In the end, Lavan’s
excuse ifs family, a fine, noble justification, but there is no evidence he
ever risked anything for them. His
method was to grab as much as possible. Lavan emerges from every deception with an added
bonus: an extra workhand
at no cost. Indeed, Lavan
may be able to rationalize, but his true color is clearly revealed; the color
of greed. Jacob, on the other hand, understood that entering the tent and
pretending to be Esav would lead to inevitable exile. He was pressed on by his mother, Rebecca, and
her prophetic vision of the future, but the immediate result of his deception
was fleeing into the night…Jacob deceives Esav for the sake of heaven, Lavan deceived Jacob for the sake of self.
Shlomo
Riskin (contemporary)