Parashas Ki Savo · Passuk from filename
Torah Temimah points to Sifrei.
English: “An Aramean [sought to] destroy my father” — this teaches that Yaakov went down to Aram only into a state of wandering and distress, and the verse counts it against Lavan the Aramean as though he had destroyed him.
R’ Eliezer #1 — Ribbui (inclusion). the Torah treats Lavan’s intent to uproot Yaakov as if it had been carried out, and frames Yaakov’s descent as a forced exile rather than a settled sojourn.
Chazal learn that the declaration of bikkurim begins by recalling how fragile Israel’s beginnings were: Yaakov was pursued and unsettled, yet Hashem preserved him. The mention of Lavan highlights divine kindness that turned a potential destruction into the start of a great nation.