Commentary on Parashat Vayechi, Genesis 47:28-50:26
In this week’s Torah portion, Jacob blesses his children. But instead of blessing his son Joseph, he blesses Joseph’s children, Ephraim and Menashe: “So he blessed them that day, saying, ‘By you shall Israel invoke blessing, saying: God make you like Ephraim and Menashe.’” (Genesis 48:20).
Today, many people bless their sons on Shabbat evening with this verse, and bless their daughters that they be like Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel, and Leah. Both are followed by the priestly blessing.
Rabbi Yaakov Emden, an 18th-century German scholar, explains that unlike other blessings mentioned in the Torah, where two hands would be placed on the head of the person receiving the blessing, Jacob blessed both his grandchildren at the same time, placing one hand on each of their heads. This may be because the offspring of Ephraim and Menashe would cause the Jews to worship idols, and God wanted to temper the blessing a bit. But the gesture is also profoundly egalitarian. Jacob was concerned that jealousy might arise among the brothers and so he blessed them at the same time.
Jacob has learned from his own children the consequences of fraternal jealousy, so he blesses his grandchildren where they are, regardless of their faults and whatever will come of their lives (or their offspring’s lives). Perhaps this is why this moment has become the archetypal blessing for children in Jewish tradition. It is a blessing not merely of hope for what will come, but one of deep acceptance of those who stand before us and their power to learn from past mistakes.
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The form of our Friday night blessing really contains two blessings. The first is a blessing to be like certain role models, setting up something to strive for. The second is simply that God should be with you. One could look at it another way. The priestly blessing, in its original context in the Temple, channels divine blessing through the priests; it doesn’t originate with the priests themselves. Jacob’s blessing, on the other hand, is, in the manner of patriarchal blessings in the Torah, born of an intimate connection with God and an ability to understand what blessing is most appropriate in a given situation.
So the priestly blessing can be seen as more than mere encouragement, but rather as a fervent desire that the parent can channel divine blessing and provide the best for the child. The blessing to be like Ephraim and Menashe may be more encouragement than a vision for what the child will be in the world. It is taking on Jacob’s understanding of his grandchildren, blessing them for who they are and not for who he wants them to be.
