What Ya’akov needed in his life was a mirror, someone or something to show him the greed and selfishness of his own heart. He needed to be able to see the inner-workings of his own selfish heart, in order to move on past this time of trials in his life. This was provided for him in the person of Lavan.... How can we apply this Torah lesson to our lives today? We already know that the Torah itself works in our lives as a mirror, highlighting the “way in which we should walk”—a way that should be pleasing to our heavenly father. In fact the book of James (whose Hebrew title is Ya’akov), informs us that the man who “looks into the mirror of the Torah” and fails to heed its instruction (do what it says), is like a man who beholds his face in a real mirror, walks away, and immediately forgets what he just saw (James 1:21-25). But sometimes HaShem uses everyday experiences to act as his mirror of truth, showing us exactly where we need to concentrate our energies of correction.