Louis Orzech from Toronto, Ontario wrote:

Dear Rabbi,

In Parshat Vayeitzei, Rachel had at least 3 days to destroy the idols she took from her father. Why didn't she?

Dear Louis Orzech,

The verse says: "Yaakov didn't know that Rachel had stolen them." Nobody, not even Yaakov, knew that Rachel had taken her father's idols. Obviously, Rachel was trying to conceal her action from everybody. Consequently, she could only get rid of the idols when she was out of sight of the others. For the first three days after leaving Lavan's house, Jacob's camp was on the move in order to put as much distance between themselves and Lavan as possible. Therefore, Rachel had no opportunity to rid herself of the idols.

Sources:

• Bereshit 31:32