This week's Torah portion contains the story of Jacob's life in Laban's house. As is well known, and as the Torah itself testifies, Jacob was an upright and honorable man. On the other hand, Laban was a liar. The Torah states that Laban was an Aramean, and our sages explain that we can read it as "rama'i" (reversing the letters), which means deceiver.
The question then arises: what was Jacob doing in Lavan's house? Although he had to escape from his brother Esau who sought to kill him, he could have gone somewhere else more oriented to his interests and personal life (moreover, the place where he lived for twenty years, Haran, was a place full of people like Lavan...).
To understand this, we must analyze an idea from Kabbalah. It explains that every object and situation contains within it a spark of Divinity that gives it existence. This explains the verse in the Torah (Deuteronomy 8:3) that says, "Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God," meaning that what gives life is the spark of Divinity contained in the bread, not the bread itself.
The same applies to the events one faces in life, the circumstances, the people one meets on the street, etc., everything has a "soul", a Divine force that makes the event happen.
Each person possesses a certain amount of Divine sparks that they must cultivate and refine throughout their life. One cannot do the work for another, and vice versa. It is a personal task upon which the very meaning of life depends.
This will help us understand what Jacob was doing in Laban's house (and city). Jacob had sparks of Divinity to nurture and refine in Haran and in Laban's house.
Now, after twenty years there, when Jacob escapes from Lavan's house, Lavan goes out to pursue him... If Jacob left because there was no more spiritual work to do, then why does Lavan pursue him?
There are two kinds of sparks one attracts throughout life. There are those sparks one consciously seeks out, because one recognizes the potential for holiness and goodness in an object or event. Then there are those opportunities whose potential is so high that it cannot be identified due to our limited perception. The redemption of these sparks comes to us involuntarily, involving us with objects and situations that transcend the control we exert over our lives.
It is up to us to seek, recognize and elevate these Divine sparks in all situations and objects we encounter, whether they are the voluntary and happy situations of life, or the involuntary and sometimes sad ones.
Through this recognition we will learn to find God everywhere and reveal Him, bringing this world towards its completeness, with the revelation of our righteous Messiah, NOW!.