Yaakov blesses Ephraim and Menashe, Yosef’s sons, and lays his right hand on the younger one.
The story
Yaakov, also called Israel, sees Yosef’s sons and asks who they are. Yosef answers his father: They are my sons, whom God has given me here. Yaakov says: Please bring them to me, and I will bless them.
קָחֶם־נָא אֵלַי וַאֲבָרְכֵם
Bereshit 48:9
Yaakov’s eyes have grown dim with age, and he cannot see. He brings them close to him, kisses them and hugs them. Then Yaakov says to Yosef: I never expected to see your face, and now God has shown me your children too.
וְהִנֵּה הֶרְאָה אֹתִי אֱלֹהִים גַּם אֶת־זַרְעֶךָ
Bereshit 48:11
Yosef takes them from beside his knees and bows to the ground. He brings both near: Ephraim with his right hand, towards Yaakov’s left, and Menashe with his left, towards Yaakov’s right. Yaakov reaches out his right hand and lays it on the head of Ephraim, the younger, and his left on the head of Menashe, the firstborn.
Yaakov blesses Yosef and says: May the God before whom my fathers Avraham and Yitzchak walked, the God who has been my shepherd all my life to this day, the angel who rescued me from all harm, bless the boys. May my name and my fathers’ names be recalled in them, and may they multiply greatly in the land.
Yosef sees his father put his right hand on Ephraim’s head, and is displeased. He grasps his father’s hand to move it to Menashe’s head, saying: Not so, my father, this is the firstborn. His father refuses: I know, my son, I know. He too will become a people and grow great, but his younger brother will be greater.
He blessed them that day, saying: Israel will bless by you, saying: May God make you like Ephraim and like Menashe. And he put Ephraim before Menashe.
Words from the verse
יִשְׂרָאֵלthe people, Yaakov’s descendants
יְשִׂמְךָmay He make you
What it teaches: Passing on the tradition
Receiving the tradition from parents and elders and passing it on to the next generation.
Yaakov hugs his grandsons and blesses them, asking that his name and his fathers’ names be recalled in them. This is how a tradition is passed down: what one generation received reaches the next, through a hand laid on the head and words of blessing. Many parents still bless their sons on Friday night with words from this verse.
A question to sit with
What blessing, kind word or tradition did you receive from a parent, grandparent or teacher, and to whom would you like to pass it on?
Questions about the story
What does Yaakov say he never expected to see?
Yosef ruling over Egypt
Yosef’s brothers
Yosef’s face
Answer
c. Yosef’s face
Yaakov tells Yosef he never expected to see his face, and now God has shown him Yosef’s children too.
On whose head did Yaakov place his right hand?
Menashe, the firstborn
Ephraim, the younger
Yosef, his son
Answer
b. Ephraim, the younger
Yosef brought Menashe near at Yaakov’s right, but Yaakov reached his right hand to the head of Ephraim, the younger, and his left to Menashe’s.
The lesson
A grandfather’s blessing to his grandsons can become a tradition for generations.
For this week
This week, on Friday night or any evening, try placing your hand on the head of a child in your family and blessing them in your own words.
From the sources
Rashi explains how Israel will bless by means of Ephraim and Menashe: “one who comes to bless his sons will bless them with their blessing.” A father who comes to bless his son will say to him: May God make you like Ephraim and like Menashe.
The verses are from Miqra according to the Masorah (Wikisource, CC BY-SA 4.0), via Sefaria, without the cantillation marks. On this site the four-letter Name is written ה׳.
