Hi everyone. Have a good week. 😊 Here are some interesting thoughts from the Torah portion on Jacob and Laban. I am sure you all familiar with it. Gen. 42:4 - 36: 43😇 Gleaned thoughts from the goat flock business between those two. Jacob needed wisdom to keep from being defrauded by his idol worshiping father-law, who really didn’t want Jacob to leave and return to Canaan. Verse 27: Laban said, “I have learned by divination that it is on your account that G-d has blessed me.” We have these possibilities of a relationship with our Almighty beloved G-d, Redeemer, Creator. One - parent-child type relationship and the other Shepard-flock relationship. In the parent-child, relationship we love G-d like a child loves a parent, a parental relationship with authority figure who gives me what I want. Tender loving feelings , yet with a sense of being completely independent. In the Shepard-flock relationship we are simply not aware of ourselves as being an independent individual, that’s impossible, we are deeply connected, in a flock, to our Shepard. Like sheep being led by a Shepherd, we become humble and self-effacing.