"And Rochel took the traphim-idols and put them into the camel's saddle and sat upon them" (Bereshit 31). Rochel sat on Lavan's idols, which she had stolen, in an attempt to hide them. Lavan did not ask her to rise when she explained to him that the way of women was on her. The Zohar reveals to us an entirely new explanation for Rochel's actions. She sat on the idols because of her utter disgust and contempt for them. The traphim-idols were like many of the other idols which had the ability to serve as mediums for predicting the future through black magic.

Rochel stole the traphim, so that Lavan could not use them to find out where Yakov had gone. In order to ensure that there would no longer be any black magic powers of impurity in the traphim-idols, Rochel sat on them, thereby mocking and degrading them. Why did she do this? Was it not sufficient merely to remove them from the house and bury them in the ground?

But the entire power of idols is based on the respect, awe and dignity that one accords to them. Attributing power to idols bestows power on them. Thus, the Zohar explains, by degrading and mocking the traphim-idols, Rochel rendered them powerless.

My Rebbe, Rav Pam ZT"L, observes that this idea of the Zohar applies similarly to various other forces which control our lives. These forces have an effect on us only as long as we ascribe significance to them. The greatest of these negative forces that control our lives is the Evil Inclination-Yetzer Harah, whose goal is to ensnare us and bring us down.
 
According to Kabala, the Evil Inclination is compared to the SEOR SHE'BISA, the yeast/rising agent of the dough. This provokes a person to "rise" in arrogance to sin in the same manner that yeast causes dough to swell and rise up. The Evil Inclination-Yetzer Harah is compared to hot air that fills one with arrogance and pride. Our goal in life is to nullify and deflate the Evil Inclination-Yetzer Harah and realize that these negative forces that control our lives are nothing more than hot air to be blown away.

The message of the traphim-idols is that we have the power to create our own reality-positive or negative.