Midrasch zu Zechariah 10:2

And God came to Laban the Aramean in a dream of the night (Gen. 31:24). This is one of the occasions on which the Holy One, blessed be He, contaminated the purity of His divine glory in behalf of the righteous. It happened also when God came to Abimelech in a dream (Gen. 20:3) on Sarah’s behalf. Laban began to rebuke Jacob, saying: And now that thou art surely gone, because thou sore longest after thy father’s house, wherefore hast thou stolen my gods? (ibid. 31:30). He replied: With whomsoever thou findest thy gods, he shall not live (ibid., v. 32). At that moment Rachel’s death was decreed. Laban searched the entire tent but was unable to find them. Now Rachel had taken the teraphim (ibid., v. 34). Why did she steal them? To prevent them from informing Laban that Jacob had fled with his wives, his sons, and his flock. Do teraphim actually speak? They do indeed, as it is written: The teraphim have spoken vanity (Zech. 10:2). This is so even though you say: Eyes have they, but they see not (Ps. 115:5).

What are the Teraphim? They slay a man, a firstborn, and he is red (in colour). All that a man requires (to know) is not written here. This is impossible, since the men who dispute about the knowledge of making (the Teraphim) have increased. Everyone who follows that knowledge will ultimately go down to Gehinnom. And they pinch off his head, and salt it with salt, and they write upon a golden plate the name of an unclean (spirit), and place it under his tongue, and they put it in the wall, and they kindle lamps || before it, and bow down to it, and it speaks unto them. Whence do we know that the Teraphim speak? Because it is said, "For the Teraphim have spoken vanity" (Zech. 10:2). On that account had Rachel stolen them, so that they should not tell Laban that Jacob had fled, and not only that, but also to remove idolatrous worship from her father's house.