ספר בראשית

Genesis 29,5., “He said: ‘do you know Lavan son of ‎Nachor, etc.?’” If we wish to read an allegorical meaning into ‎Yaakov’s question to the shepherds: “where are you from, my ‎brothers,” and their reply: “we are from Charan,” we must refer ‎to the Zohar I 147, as well as the last Rashi on ‎‎Parshat Noach where Rashi refers to an inverted letter ‎נ‎ at the end of the word ‎חרן‎, [something that at the time ‎of Minchas Shay, (Rabbi Yedidyah Shlomoh Rafael Minortzi of ‎Mantua) was apparently still found in the Torah scrolls, Ed.] ‎‎[The common denominator of both commentaries appears to be ‎that the word ‎חרן‎ is an allusion to the attribute of Justice, ‎suggesting that in that place such concepts as ‎רחמים‎, mercy, ‎something beyond strict justice was unheard of. Ed.]‎‎Rashi there quotes an opinion according to which G’d ‎related to mankind primarily with the attribute of Justice until ‎the time of Avraham and his benevolent activities on earth. ‎Yaakov enquired from the shepherds (who had demonstrated ‎strict Justice by not trusting anyone not to take more than his ‎fair share of water from the well unless he had been watched over ‎by his colleagues) if they had not heard that there are also other ‎yardsticks by which mankind could be judged, i.e. the attribute of ‎Mercy. The reply of the shepherds appeared to have been in the ‎negative when they emphasized that their home was ‎חרן‎. Yaakov ‎persisted in asking how it could be possible to live like that. The ‎word (name) ‎לבן‎, is perceived as the opposite of ‎חרן‎, so that ‎Yaakov’s question ‎השלום לו‎, “is he well?” had a double entendre, ‎referring also to his spiritual well being. According to this the ‎shepherds replied: ‎שלום לו‎, “he is physically and spiritually well.” ‎The shepherds used the reference to his daughter Rachel as proof ‎or rather as the cause that he was spiritually at peace, i.e. that his ‎daughter Rachel was a major factor in this. They may have hinted ‎without being aware of this, at Rachel’s future role near the ‎throne of G’d as an advocate on behalf of her people in exile. ‎‎(According to the Sefer Chassidim, Rachel’s spirit intervenes ‎with G’d whenever the Jewish people face special problems. She ‎possessed this power thanks to her good deeds while alive on ‎earth).‎