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BEREISHIT

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Lavan's claim that โ€œthe daughters are my daughters, the sons are my sonsโ€ is still the pitch every generation hears for raising children and running a business its own way instead of the Torah's.

Part of Bereishit

A short devar Torah on Lavan's declaration to Yaakov, read as the voice of the yetzer hara pressuring a Jew to modernize how he raises his children and to bend the rules in business. Because Yaakov refused to listen, he merited raising the shevatim โ€” a model for building a family Hashem can be proud of.

Audio Transcript
Lavanโ€™s Claim Over Family and Flock

week's parsha, we learn in the Torah that Lavan said to Yaakov, \"ื”ื‘ื ื•ืช ื‘ื ื•ืชื™ ื•ื”ื‘ื ื™ื ื‘ื ื™ ื•ื”ืฆืืŸ ืฆืื ื™.\" The girls, the daughters are my daughters. The sons are my sons. The sheep's my sheep. In other words, he claimed that it all belongs to him. And the Rabbi learned out from here a strong lesson. Lavan represents the yetzer hara. Bichlal, there are a lot of Lavans in the world that try to convince Yidden not to do the right thing, and they say to Yidden, \"When you raise your children, your sons and your daughters, you have to raise it my way. You have to raise it in a modern way. How could you raise them they should be like the old-fashioned people of from from years ago, like the fathers and our grandfathers? You have to do things different, they should be modernized.\" And then, ื•ื”ืฆืืŸ ืฆืื ื™ means, ืฆืืŸ represents the work, the business. You could learn Torah, but when it comes to business, you have to act my way. What's my way? You have to cheat, you have to do other things which are not so proper. And that's the way he wants you to do. So the

Rabbiโ€™s Lesson on Raising Children Properly

Rabbi says a Yid has to remember that this is the claim of Lavan. And because Yaakov did not listen to Lavan, that's why he raised the shevatim. And every Yid like that, if he doesn't listen to this Lavan, and he raises the sons and the daughters in a, by the the way it used to be always, in the proper old-fashioned way, and in business he behaves in ืขืœ ืคื™ ืชื•ืจื”, according to the Torah way, without any things which are not allowed to be done, then you raise a family that Hashem is proud of. And if all Yidden reach that, do that, then this'll bring ืžืฉื™ื— ืฆื“ืงื ื• ื‘ืงืจื•ื‘ ืžืžืฉ.

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