Kabbalah Library

294) “And he said, ‘Name me your wages, and I will give it.’” What is “And I will give it”? That wicked one said, “I see that Jacob is looking only at females, and therefore he will work for me. This is why he said, “Name me your wages” [here “Name” is spelled the same as “female” in Hebrew], meaning your reward will be a female, as in the beginning. “And I will give it” means “Say which female you were looking at and I will give her to you, you will work for me for her.”

295) “And Jacob said, ‘You shall not give me anything.’” Jacob said, “Absolutely not, for all that I did, I did for the glory of the Holy King, and not for my own lust. Hence, you shall give me nothing because this was never my intention.”

296) “And he removed that day the he-goats.” This is as it is written, “O Lord, who may abide in Your tent? … He who walks with integrity, and works righteousness, and speaks truth in his heart.” “He who walks with integrity” is Abraham, for when he was circumcised he was called “whole,” “And works righteousness” is Isaac, and “Speaks truth” is Jacob. Jacob certainly clung to the quality of truth, so why did he peel the rods with Lavan, as it is written, “Then Jacob took fresh rods … and peeled … them”?

297) Indeed, Jacob was testing the hour of luck in all the actions that he took, since man is permitted to test his time before he returns to his land. If his luck endures for him in what he does, good. If not, he will not set out until he has a stroke of luck. This is so because nourishments do not depend on merit, on purification of the vessels, but on luck, the coarseness of Malchut on which the middle line—whose root is the Dikna [beard] of AA—comes out.

Also, the land of Israel is the Malchut when she dresses Ima, whose vessels are very pure, for this is not luck for Israel. Hence, there was a need to draw luck while he was still abroad, before he returns to the land of Israel. And he drew it with the rods that he made.

298) Thus, he did not do it to take something from Lavan for free. Rather, he did everything in truth and in a complete desire. Moreover, he received permission for all that from Lavan. It is written about that that he replied to him, “I have observed the signs and the Lord has blessed me for your sake.” This is so because Lavan made several spells and tested his luck to see if he was succeeding because of Jacob. Each month, he found one hundred flocks, one hundred sheep, and one hundred goats added to his herd because of Jacob, and this is why he permitted him.

299) One thousand flock, one thousand sheep, and one thousand goats did Jacob add to him each and every month. It is written, “For you had little before I came and it has increased to a multitude, and the Lord has blessed you wherever I turned.” The blessing above is no less than a thousand of each kind. There were a thousand flocks, a thousand sheep, and a thousand goats. Wherever there is a blessing from above, it is no less than a thousand, until Lavan’s wealth increased into great wealth because of Jacob.

Lavan’s root is the left line of Bina. Before Jacob came to raise MAN and draw the middle line, he is darkness. It is written about Lavan, “I have observed the signs and the Lord has blessed me for your sake.” It is also written, “For you had little before I came.” This is so because before Jacob came, he had little because he was dark for absence of Hassadim. When Jacob, who is ZA, came and extended the middle line to him, then, “And it has increased to a multitude, and the Lord has blessed you.”

This is so because through Jacob, the three lines came out in Bina, for three come out of one. And then Lavan gained the Sefirot from Bina, which are the number 100, or of Aba, which are the number 1,000. But Jacob—who is the middle line—and not Bina, took only the level of ZA, whose number is 10.

300) When Jacob wished to receive his reward he found only ten of each kind, since he was the middle line, ZA, whose Sefirot are tens. Jacob regarded it as great wealth because he received the Daat in the Rosh, he saw the difference, how much of Lavan’s he took, meaning of what he was giving to Lavan with his merit.

And all this came to Jacob only thanks to those rods that he placed in the flock. This is so because the rods are the coarseness of Malchut, from which the screen of Hirik is erected. By the force that reduces the left line from GAR to VAK, by that force he unites it with the right line, and this diminution from GAR to VAK is called “an arm.” All this came to Jacob only by the force of those rods, where by drawing the middle line on the screen of the rods and the elicitation of the three lines in Bina, as three that come out of one, Jacob, too, was rewarded with the three lines, as one who is rewarded with three.

301) Come and see how the wholesome Jacob troubled after Lavan. It is written, “And he set three days’ journey.” He brought him all this wealth, and this is why Lavan did not wish that this would be Jacob’s rewarded, as was the condition he had made with him, but took ten of this kind and ten of that kind and gave to him. He told him, “Take these, and if they procreate, as it is written, ‘speckled and spotted,’ you will thus have your reward,” taking ten of each kind. It is as it is written, “And you have changed my wages ten times,” ten of this kind and ten of that kind.

“Times” comes from the word “stealing” [in Hebrew], as it is written, “And your father has mocked me, and changed my wages ten times.” With those ten, he was exerting after the Creator and blessed Him. And all that Lavan agreed on with Jacob, he went back on his word and took everything from Jacob until the Creator pitied him and took of Lavan by force, by the force of the screen of Hirik, which is the rods, which diminish the left line from GAR to VAK.