After working at Laban’s ranch for 14 years, Jacob was anxious to return home, to the Land of Israel. Laban, however, was not eager to let his nephew go. “I have observed the signs,” he told Jacob, “and God has blessed me for your sake” (Gen. 30:27).
The Talmud (Berachot 42a) points out that Laban’s good fortune was not due only to Jacob’s industriousness and hard work. “Blessing comes in the wake of a Torah scholar,” the Sages taught. The very presence of a saintly scholar brings with it blessings of success and wealth.
Yet, this phenomenon seems unfair. Why should a person be blessed just because he was in the proximity of a Torah scholar?
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