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The Ari once commented that Rachel is not buried where people think she is but that does not matter since so many Jews have prayed there it is as if she is there. We can make a place holy by our actions.

Simeon and Levi destroy the city of Schem for what Hamor did to Dinah. Why the entire city for what one person did? Because the rest of the people approved of Hamor’s actions. They were all complicit.

Chamor did not think that he did anything wrong in abducting and raping Dina. She was from outside his tribe and therefore fair game. The Torah teaches that this attitude was evil.

Jacob has to negotiate with Esau. Jacob has to mollify Esau so that he can enter to the Land. He treats him with the respect that Esau doesn’t deserve. He does this so that he can accomplish his goal.

Jacob stayed behind to find a small vessel. Why, if he was wealthy at this point did he worry about such a minor detail. It is to teach us to worry about the minor details while keeping our eyes on the goal.

Jacob realizes that the danger of staying with Laban is that he will become like him. He knows the best way to avoid this is to leave and return home. It should be remembered that Jacob has goals but he is a realist.

When we begin this week’s portion we see that Jacob is running from his brother who wants to kill him. He meets his uncle who wants to cheat him. Yet he is grateful for the gifts that God has given him.

Rachel steals Laban’s idols because she doesn’t want her father to worship idols. While her motive was good her action was not. We are not allowed to do the wrong thing for the right reason.

In this week’s portion we see Leah accusing Rachel of “stealing” Jacob when it was the other way around. This is to teach that Leah was so unhappy that she mistook their history.

The problem with our standing in the world is that we have to be careful of this who are nice to us to our faces but plot against us behind our backs.