RABBI WEIN ON PARSHAS VAYETZEI

Rashi points out for us in the beginning of this week’s parsha (really at the conclusion of last week’s parsha) that Yaakov stopped at the study house of Shem and Ever for fourteen years on his flight from Eisav to his uncle’s house in Aram. This seems to be a strange stopover at first glance. How will the instruction that he received in the school established by Shem and Ever contribute to his survival and success at the house of Lavan, the master conniver and duplicitous character? The question is phrased in a more current if blunter fashion in the Talmud itself – of what value are the Torah students to society at large?