I would like to make an observation/question here.
Laban is shown as a trickster, a selfish, dishonest, manipulative, cowardly and double-faced character. Which is the stereo-type that anti-semites have of us.
Could it be that as Abraham, Rebecah, Leah and Miriam come from this family, when we become de-spiritualized people see us like them? Or we fall into that kind of bad behaviour?

The Gemmarah says that when one calls others names, it's usually a fault which they have. i think that the antisemetic people that sees Jews in these fashion, concentrating on those amoung us that might have these traits, I think it's more of a mirror image of what he is really like but wants to pass these traits onto others (to say that it's not him when it's really is him.)

Even laban tried to paint Yaakov at the end as being dishonest, running away, when it was really his only choice.

Hi Rav,
I agree with the Gemarah.
By no means am I justifying the anti-semites, nor am I agreeing with them.
I just think that because of the fact that Laban and his daughters are "family", this image ends up being associated with us when we dissasociate ourselves from HaShem.

Actually, thinking of it a bit more. I'd say that this week's Parshat gives the two options for the Jew, stay in Laban's land (Galut) and become like him, or follow HaShem's call and become Israel.

Shalom All,
I don't believe that after three thousand years, we need worry about whether anti-semites are looking at the stories in the Bible to figure out what to call us!
Quite the contrary, anyone that even gives the story a quick glance, should see that we seperated ourselvs from that behavior.

Besides what the Rabbi quoted, I would only add that the midrash says that anti-semetism in Egypt first reared its ugly head when the Jews attempted to assimilate! So, I would hazard to say, that if you look carefully at the attacks against us, you will see that they take the form of whatever excuse we are using to try and insinuate ourselves the society around us.

That is, in communist Russia, they accused us of being captalists, because we were trying to join the communist way. Etc. Etc.