Living with Laban – Vayyetzei
Jacob spent twenty years with Laban – one of the hardest periods of a tragic life.
Summing it up, he said, Im Lavan garti – “I lived with Laban”, and Rashi adds the rabbinic play on words based on the letters of garti, V’taryag mitzvot shamarti – “and I observed the 613 commandments”.
Not even the idolatry and amorality of Laban could deflect Jacob from remaining true to the Jewish principles with which he had been brought up.
How modern this thought is! You hear all the time that it’s simply too hard to be observant when the environment is against you. But to use the expressive Australian phrase, this is a furphy. If you make up your mind that you will remain faithful to Shabbat, or kashrut, or tefillin, or anything else, you do it.
Do you really have to fly out on an overseas trip on a Saturday? Do you really have to eat whatever is put in front of you? Do you really need to give in to anything and everything for the sake of a quiet life?
The answer is that if you believe in Judaism you will stick by your principles. You might have to organise your life a little more carefully, but you can do it.
You can live anywhere, even in Laban-land, and still uphold the taryag mitzvot. And people will respect you for it.
