This week's parashah tells us in great detail about how Jacob, our patriarch, worked as a shepherd.
First, to marry Leah and Rachel, then to receive his wages for years of work. Later, he begs and triples the number of his sheep, and finally, when the Torah describes all his possessions, he counts the sheep first.
Many great Jewish men were shepherds, such as Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, and King David. They chose to be shepherds because it was a peaceful occupation that allowed them to spend their time studying Torah.
We see, then, that being a shepherd is important, but why does the Torah, in this parashah, use so much time to describe Jacob's sheep in detail?
Our sages tell us that we should learn from the behavior of our patriarchs. When the Torah tells us about Jacob and his work with the sheep, it is giving us a profound message about how to serve HaShem.
The Hebrew word for sheep is Tzon, which is written Tzadik, Alef, Vav, and Nun. If we look at the first two letters of this word, Tzadik and Alef, we form the word Tze, whose meaning is "Leave!", from the verb to leave.
When the Torah tells us about Jacob and his sheep, it is telling us that Jacob's way of serving God was to go out, that is, instead of concentrating on his own needs and shutting himself up, he went out and helped others to teach them how to serve HaShem.
This is what we learn from the life of Jacob, and it is a lesson for us.
Extracted from Pelase tell me what the Rebbe says.