{"id":40283,"date":"2018-07-09T18:50:20","date_gmt":"2018-07-09T15:50:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wall\/wall-48\/"},"modified":"2022-04-17T15:47:26","modified_gmt":"2022-04-17T12:47:26","slug":"wall-48","status":"publish","type":"wall","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wall\/wall-48\/","title":{"rendered":"chapter-Torah-Genesis-48"},"parent":0,"template":"","acf":{"type":"chapter","wall_id":"48","date":"20251104","book":"Genesis","chapter":"48","chapter_main_number":"48","books_group":"Torah","posts":[{"order":1,"id":"40042","color":"#faeed8","size":"1","name":"Genesis 48 - Judy Hammond ","post_title":"Genesis 48 - Judy Hammond","slug":"genesis-48-judy-hammond","old_id":"40042","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":34686,"post_title":"Soundcloud","slug":"soundcloud","old_id":"34686","first_name":"","last_name":"","description":"","short_description":"","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":34656,"alt":"","title":"491","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","width":300,"height":300,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","medium_large-width":300,"medium_large-height":300,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","large-width":300,"large-height":300,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","1536x1536-width":300,"1536x1536-height":300,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","2048x2048-width":300,"2048x2048-height":300,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","post_full_size-width":300,"post_full_size-height":300,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","home_baner-width":300,"home_baner-height":300}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"48","type_929":"4","show_author_image":true,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"","post_main_content_content":"","post_main_content_image":"","post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"The Audio Bible","tile_main_caption":"Genesis 48","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"read by Judy Hammond","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":"","tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"https:\/\/soundcloud.com\/929-bible\/genesis-chapter-48-read-by-judy-hammond","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Genesis","chapter":"48","chapter_main_number":"48","date":"20251104","wall_id":"48"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":2,"id":"103904","color":"#f7e9e9","size":"2","name":"Like Ephraim And Menashe: The Power Of A Grandparent\u2019s Blessing ","post_title":"Like Ephraim And Menashe: The Power Of A Grandparent\u2019s Blessing","slug":"like-ephraim-and-menashe-the-power-of-a-grandparents-blessing","old_id":"103904","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":101758,"post_title":"Naomi Bromberg Bar-Yam","slug":"naomi-bromberg-bar-yam","old_id":"101758","first_name":"Naomi ","last_name":"Bromberg Bar-Yam ","description":"Naomi Bromberg Bar-Yam is a social worker and advocate in maternal and child health. She explores her work and life through Torah drashot, rituals and children\u2019s stories.","short_description":"Naomi Bromberg Bar-Yam is a social worker and advocate in maternal and child health. She explores her work and life through Torah drashot, rituals and children\u2019s stories.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":101760,"alt":"","title":"-62028435af471--62028435af472Naomi Bromberg Bar-Yam.jpg","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/02\/62028435af471-62028435af472Naomi-Bromberg-Bar-Yam.jpg.jpg","width":361,"height":449,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/02\/62028435af471-62028435af472Naomi-Bromberg-Bar-Yam.jpg-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/02\/62028435af471-62028435af472Naomi-Bromberg-Bar-Yam.jpg-241x300.jpg","medium-width":241,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/02\/62028435af471-62028435af472Naomi-Bromberg-Bar-Yam.jpg.jpg","medium_large-width":361,"medium_large-height":449,"large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/02\/62028435af471-62028435af472Naomi-Bromberg-Bar-Yam.jpg.jpg","large-width":361,"large-height":449,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/02\/62028435af471-62028435af472Naomi-Bromberg-Bar-Yam.jpg.jpg","1536x1536-width":361,"1536x1536-height":449,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/02\/62028435af471-62028435af472Naomi-Bromberg-Bar-Yam.jpg.jpg","2048x2048-width":361,"2048x2048-height":449,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/02\/62028435af471-62028435af472Naomi-Bromberg-Bar-Yam.jpg.jpg","post_full_size-width":361,"post_full_size-height":449,"home_baner":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/02\/62028435af471-62028435af472Naomi-Bromberg-Bar-Yam.jpg-338x420.jpg","home_baner-width":338,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"48","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"How can we wisely bless our children and grandchildren with continuity and with breaking continuity?\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

Jacob\u2019s blessing of Menashe and Ephraim is the only story in Tanakh involving grandparents and grandchildren. It has much to teach us about how multiple generations can work together both to foster and overcome family patterns.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Joseph placed his sons carefully so Jacob could easily bless the oldest with his right hand and the younger with his left. Jacob, equally carefully, crossed his hands so that Ephraim, the younger, stayed to Jacob\u2019s left and received the blessing with the right hand. Menashe, the older, stayed to the right and received the blessing with the left hand.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

In a truly multigenerational blessing, Jacob blessed Joseph through his sons, and blessed Ephraim and Menashe through Joseph.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The power of the scene is almost lost in the details of the stage directions. Jacob blessed his grandsons <\/span>together<\/em> - they received the same blessing, inheritance, legacy from their grandfather.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

This is a sharp contrast to his father and grandfather who blessed their children separately and very differently.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Only<\/span> after<\/em> <\/span>Jacob blessed his grandsons, Joseph tried to correct his father verbally and physically moving his hands. Jacob makes it clear his action is intentional.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

I can picture Jacob giving Joseph a sidelong glance that says \u201cJoseph, boychik, you, of all people are correcting me on how to bless oldest and youngest children. Really?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Ephraim and Menashe received <\/span>and gave<\/em> <\/span>the blessing of being blessed together, breaking the destructive cycle of favoritism in the family.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Passing on the family legacy comes naturally to us. As we are blessed, we bless our children and following generations. This is a joy and privilege for grandparents.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Jacob, and his children and grandchildren teach us that overcoming a destructive pattern is not as natural. It requires a delicate and conscious choreography and the engagement of multiple generations.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

This continues when Jacob blessed each of his children individually, but in the presence of the others. Only by working together, by using the unique qualities of each child, could they succeed together to become the nation of <\/span>B\u2019nai Yisrael.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Art Scroll characterizes this beautifully:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

\u201cFar from breeding disunity, \u2026 their separate missions were to bring them together, because they were like the spokes of a wheel: Though the spokes point in different directions they are all part of the same wheel and essential to its function. So too, the tribes of Israel. Their roles would be different \u2026 but all would contribute their talents and accomplishments to the national mission of serving God\u2026\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The next family narrative is Moses, Aaron and Miriam. Moses was the youngest child and the leader. The three siblings worked together throughout their lives to lead B\u2019nai Yisrael to freedom and responsibility.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

How will we wisely bless our children and grandchildren with continuity <\/span>and<\/em> with breaking continuity?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

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In a scene that has echoes of Isaac's blessing to Jacob, Joseph is informed that his father is gravely ill. He rushes to Jacob\u2019s bedside and brings his two young sons, Ephraim and Menasheh with him. Jacob goes to bless the boys and swaps his hands so the eldest is given the lesser blessing. He then tells Joseph that his two boys will be treated as if they were members of the original twelve tribes, thereby increasing Joseph\u2019s portion to two. Why does Jacob swap hands and why does he elevate Joseph\u2019s two sons?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

We do not know anything about Joseph\u2019s two sons except for the fact that they existed. There is no indication of one son being a rebel or the other being homely. They were both sons of the same mother. One did not sell the birthright to the other. The text does not provide any hint as to why one would be preferred over the other.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The answer to the first question then may be as simple as family history. Abraham had two sons, the younger son received the blessing. Isaac had two sons, and the younger son there also received the blessing. Perhaps Jacob believed that this was the way the Abrahamic tradition should go. But then why elevate them as well?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The answer to that may come from Jacob\u2019s introduction to the blessing. \u201cAnd Jacob said to Joseph:<\/span><\/p>\r\n

\u2018El Shaddai, who appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan, blessed me\u2026I will make you fertile and numerous, making of you a community of peoples; and I will assign this land to your offspring to come for an everlasting possession;\u201d (verse 3).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

This incident happened when Jacob had the dream with the angels right before he left Canaan. God appeared to him and told him that he would have numerous offspring and that they would return to the land. This was an important message for Jacob as he was about to leave Canaan, something his father never did. Now, faced with two sons born outside the land of Canaan, Jacob recalls that blessing. By elevating them to Jacob\u2019s direct offspring, he is proclaiming the message that even these two boys, born outside the land of Canaan, have just as much a right to the land.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

God\u2019s blessing followed Jacob outside the land, and now encompasses his two grandchildren outside the land as well.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

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She is the author of four books. Her poems, articles, short stories and photography have appeared in anthologies and various publications in Israel, USA and India, including Arc, Back to Joy: Little Reminders to Help Us Through Tough Times, The Deronda Review, Prosopisia, Poetica, and the International Literary Review. Ruth holds a Masters Degree from the Creative Writing Program of Bar Ilan University and leads the Pri Hadash Women\u2019s Writing Workshop in Jerusalem. \r\nShe is a member of the Israel Association of Writers in English\r\nVisit her website at http:\/\/jerusalemlives.weebly.com\r\n","short_description":"Ruth Fogelman is a poet, and lives in Jerusalem\u2019s Old City. ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":35832,"alt":"","title":"Ruth Fogelman","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Ruth-Fogelman-.jpg","width":969,"height":973,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Ruth-Fogelman--150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Ruth-Fogelman--300x300.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Ruth-Fogelman--768x771.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":771,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Ruth-Fogelman-.jpg","large-width":969,"large-height":973,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Ruth-Fogelman-.jpg","1536x1536-width":969,"1536x1536-height":973,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Ruth-Fogelman-.jpg","2048x2048-width":969,"2048x2048-height":973,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Ruth-Fogelman-.jpg","post_full_size-width":969,"post_full_size-height":973,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Ruth-Fogelman--418x420.jpg","home_baner-width":418,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"48","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Unseen, I press my nose to the latticework...\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

\u2026and Israel strengthened himself and sat upon the bed.\u201d Genesis 48:2<\/p>\r\n


\r\nUnnoticed, I peer through the lattice
\r\nas my husband presents our two sons
\r\nto their grandfather, Jacob,
\r\nwho, though weak, sits up in his sick bed.<\/p>\r\n

With what words will he bless our boys
\r\nbefore his death?
\r\nWith what words will he bless
\r\nthe sons of his beloved?<\/p>\r\n

I gaze, astonished as he crosses his hands
\r\nabove their heads.
\r\nWhy not place your right hand
\r\nupon my firstborn\u2019s head?<\/p>\r\n

Unnoticed, I press my ear to the laced screen.
\r\nWhat words pass between my Zophnat and his father,
\r\nhis ripeness of years set in his long, silver beard,
\r\ntheir hardship, hieroglyphs engraved upon his brow?<\/p>\r\n

Unseen, I press my nose to the latticework.
\r\nMy husband lifts his father\u2019s hand
\r\nand each fervently shakes his head.
\r\nMy stomach tightens \u2013<\/p>\r\n

Can it be
\r\nthat our younger receives the firstborn\u2019s blessing
\r\nlike Jacob, himself the younger twin
\r\nwho received the blessing of the firstborn?<\/p>\r\n


\r\nAn earlier version of this poem appears in Ruth\u2019s book, Cradled in God\u2019s Arms<\/em><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":60847,"alt":"","title":"2sam18-double","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam18-double.jpg","width":1920,"height":1280,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam18-double-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam18-double-300x200.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":200,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam18-double-768x512.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":512,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam18-double-1024x683.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":683,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam18-double.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1024,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam18-double.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1280,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam18-double-1200x800.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":800,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam18-double-630x420.jpg","home_baner-width":630,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"929 Poetry Corner","tile_main_caption":"The Blessing","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Unseen, I press my nose to the latticework....","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":60847,"alt":"","title":"2sam18-double","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam18-double.jpg","width":1920,"height":1280,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam18-double-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam18-double-300x200.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":200,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam18-double-768x512.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":512,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam18-double-1024x683.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":683,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam18-double.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1024,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam18-double.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1280,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam18-double-1200x800.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":800,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam18-double-630x420.jpg","home_baner-width":630,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Genesis","chapter":"48","chapter_main_number":"48","date":"20251104","wall_id":"48"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"362","name":"Poetry","old_id":"762"},{"term_id":"504","name":"Blessing","old_id":"904"},{"term_id":"523","name":"Joseph","old_id":"923"}]},{"order":5,"id":"40402","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"The Book Ends Surprisingly, With Brotherhood ","post_title":"The Book Ends Surprisingly, With Brotherhood","slug":"the-book-ends-surprisingly-with-brotherhood","old_id":"40402","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":39783,"post_title":"David Menachem","slug":"david-menachem","old_id":"39783","first_name":"David ","last_name":"Menachem","description":"Rabbi David Menachem is a musician, author, and paytan (poet in the style of medieval religious poetry called piyutim). He is a graduate of both an Ashkenazi haredi yeshiva and the Zionist Mercaz Harav Yeshiva and is best known as a performer of Sephardi liturgical songs and for his interfaith work with Muslims.","short_description":"Rabbi David Menachem is a musician, author, and paytan (poet in the style of medieval religious poetry called piyutim).","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":1284,"alt":"","title":"\u00a9\u05e6\u05d9\u05dc\u05dd \u05d0\u05d5\u05e4\u05d9\u05e8 \u05d3\u05e8\u05e2\u05d9","caption":"\u00a9\u05e6\u05d9\u05dc\u05dd \u05d0\u05d5\u05e4\u05d9\u05e8 \u05d3\u05e8\u05e2\u05d9","description":"\u00a9\u05e6\u05d9\u05dc\u05dd \u05d0\u05d5\u05e4\u05d9\u05e8 \u05d3\u05e8\u05e2\u05d9","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/48-3-e1536738737930.jpg","width":366,"height":419,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/48-3-e1536738737930-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/48-3-e1536738737930-262x300.jpg","medium-width":262,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/48-3-e1536738737930.jpg","medium_large-width":366,"medium_large-height":419,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/48-3-e1536738737930.jpg","large-width":366,"large-height":419,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/48-3-e1536738737930.jpg","1536x1536-width":366,"1536x1536-height":419,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/48-3-e1536738737930.jpg","2048x2048-width":366,"2048x2048-height":419,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/48-3-e1536738737930.jpg","post_full_size-width":366,"post_full_size-height":419,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/48-3-e1536738737930.jpg","home_baner-width":366,"home_baner-height":419}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"48","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Why do we bless our sons that they be like Ephraim and Menasheh? Because they were the first brothers that got along\u2026.","post_main_content_content":"

Jacob saves his greatest blessing for his grandchildren Ephraim and Menasheh. In his words, he establishes them as a paradigmatic blessing \u201cBy you shall Israel invoke blessings, saying, God make you like Ephraim and Menasheh.\u201d (Genesis 48:20). It was not for naught that they merited this blessing. They are the first brothers from the beginning of human history that do not hate or envy each other.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The Book of Genesis tells of the challenge of establishing the quality of human brotherhood: \u00a0Cain and Abel, Isaac and Ishmael, Jacob and Esau, Joseph and his brothers. Joseph took significant steps to repair their brotherhood. With his sons, it worked. \u00a0Here, Jacob repeats the \u201cmistake\u201d with his grandchildren. Again, he prefers the younger brother over the older brother. He puts his right hand on the head of the younger Ephraim and his left hand on the head of the elder Menasheh. In this act, he acts almost like the prophecy that was told to his mother during her pregnancy: \u201cTwo nations are in your womb, two separate peoples shall issue from your body; one people shall be mightier than the other, and the older shall serve the younger\u201d (Genesis 25:23).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Joseph attempts to correct his father\u2019s mistake, \u201c\u2018Not so, Father,\u2019 Joseph said to his father, \u2018for the other is the first-born; place your right hand on his head\u2019\u201d (Genesis 48:18). \u00a0Jacob explains his preference \u201cyet the younger brother shall be greater than he, and his offspring shall be plentiful enough for nations\u201d (Genesis 48:19). Menashe the first-born hears this piercing sentence and nevertheless, there is no trace of hatred in his heart about Ephraim, his younger brother.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":85040,"alt":"","title":"ps69-other brother","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/ps69-other-brother.jpg","width":1920,"height":1920,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/ps69-other-brother-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/ps69-other-brother-300x300.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/ps69-other-brother-768x768.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":768,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/ps69-other-brother-1024x1024.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/ps69-other-brother.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/ps69-other-brother.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1920,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/ps69-other-brother-1200x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/ps69-other-brother-420x420.jpg","home_baner-width":420,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"The Book Ends Surprisingly, With Brotherhood","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Why do we bless our sons that they be like Ephraim and Menasheh? Because they were the first brothers that got along\u2026.","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":85040,"alt":"","title":"ps69-other brother","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/ps69-other-brother.jpg","width":1920,"height":1920,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/ps69-other-brother-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/ps69-other-brother-300x300.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/ps69-other-brother-768x768.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":768,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/ps69-other-brother-1024x1024.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/ps69-other-brother.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/ps69-other-brother.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1920,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/ps69-other-brother-1200x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/ps69-other-brother-420x420.jpg","home_baner-width":420,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","old_create_date":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","links":false,"send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Genesis","chapter":"48","chapter_main_number":"48","date":"20251104","wall_id":"48"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"381","name":"love","old_id":"781"},{"term_id":"504","name":"Blessing","old_id":"904"},{"term_id":"561","name":"Brothers","old_id":"961"}]},{"order":6,"id":"40404","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Jacob Takes Leave of Joseph ","post_title":"Jacob Takes Leave of Joseph","slug":"jacob-takes-leave-of-joseph","old_id":"40404","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":34243,"post_title":"Moshe Sokolow","slug":"moshe-sokolow","old_id":"34243","first_name":"Moshe","last_name":"Sokolow","description":"Dr. Moshe Sokolow is Associate Dean of the Azrieli Graduate School of Jewish Education and Administration, Yeshiva University, and teaches a weekly class in parashat hashavu`a at Lincoln Square Synagogue. He is the author of TANAKH: An Owner\u2019s Manual (Jerusalem: Urim\/Ktav, 2015).\r\n\r\n","short_description":"Dr. Moshe Sokolow is Associate Dean of the Azrieli Graduate School of Jewish Education and Administration, Yeshiva University","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":34244,"alt":"","title":"sokolow","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/sokolow.jpg","width":302,"height":300,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/sokolow-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/sokolow-300x298.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":298,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/sokolow.jpg","medium_large-width":302,"medium_large-height":300,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/sokolow.jpg","large-width":302,"large-height":300,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/sokolow.jpg","1536x1536-width":302,"1536x1536-height":300,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/sokolow.jpg","2048x2048-width":302,"2048x2048-height":300,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/sokolow.jpg","post_full_size-width":302,"post_full_size-height":300,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/sokolow.jpg","home_baner-width":302,"home_baner-height":300}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"48","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"The sheer unexpectedness of it all","post_main_content_content":"

The parting between Jacob and Joseph occupies this entire chapter of 22 verses, while Jacob\u2019s parting from his eleven other sons (chapter 49) takes up only 28 verses altogether. Quantity does not always outweigh quality but it does invite comment.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

To me, Jacob\u2019s most illuminating remark to Joseph is: \u201cI never expected to see your face again, yet God has enabled me to see even your children\u201d (48:11). The key to Jacob\u2019s prolonged parting from Joseph is the sheer unexpectedness of it all. During the 22 years of Joseph\u2019s absence from home, Jacob surely had ample time to observe his remaining sons and come to reasonable and long-lasting conclusions about their character strengths and weaknesses. All of these find expression in the terse\u2014albeit poignant\u2014observations that characterize his last will and testament to them.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Joseph, however, not to mention his sons, reached maturity outside of Jacob\u2019s ken. Hence, all of their activities and proclivities came as a welcome surprise to him, evoking the sort of expansive, hyperbolic commentary that so often, in our observation of human experience, accompanies astonishment.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

A Sidebar<\/span>: <\/span>Rachel\u2019s Tomb<\/span><\/em><\/p>\r\n

Jacob\u2019s reference to his burial of Rachel \u201con the way to Efrat, that\u2019s Bethlehem\u201d (48:7) uses the qualifier <\/span>kivrat eretz<\/span><\/em>, a term that Rashi interpreted to mean a considerable distance and with which interpretation Nahmanides initially agreed.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

However, upon his arrival in the Land of Israel (in 1267), Nahmanides discovered for himself that Rachel\u2019s tomb was situated in Bethlehem proper, prompting him to acknowledge his error and revise his commentary.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

With all due deference to Nahmanides\u2019s willingness to admit his initial mistake, we need not necessarily infer from this that his final interpretation is correct. Indeed, 1 Samuel 10:2 places Rachel\u2019s tomb on the Benjamin-Judah border north (!) of Jerusalem, a problem already considered by the Midrash (Bereishit Rabbah 82).<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":103944,"alt":"","title":"-625595a1ee007--625595a1ee00agen48-time to say goodbye 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Jacob asks Joseph to bring his children near so that he can bless them. What follows next is described in painstaking detail:<\/span><\/p>\r\n

He blessed them that day, saying: \u201cIn your name will Israel pronounce this blessing: \u2018May G-d make you like Ephraim and Manasseh.\u2019\u201d So he put Ephraim ahead of Manasseh. (48: 13-14, 17-20).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

It is not difficult to understand the care Joseph took to ensure that Jacob would bless the firstborn first. Three times his father had set the younger before the elder, and each time it had resulted in tragedy. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

Jacob knew two things. He knew that the stay of his family in Egypt would not be a short one. The other thing Jacob knew was his grandsons\u2019 names, Manasseh and Ephraim. The combination of these two facts was enough.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Joseph named his firstborn Manasseh, saying, \u201cIt is because God has made me forget all my trouble and all my father\u2019s household.\u201d The second son he named Ephraim, saying, \u201cIt is because God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction.\u201d (41: 50-52) The past was a bitter memory he sought to remove from his mind. But as time passed, Joseph began to feel quite different emotions. By the time his second son was born, Joseph had undergone a profound change of heart. By calling him Ephraim, he was remembering what, when Manasseh was born, he was trying to forget: who he was, where he came from, where he belonged.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Jacob sought to signal to all future generations that there would be a constant tension between the desire to forget (to assimilate, acculturate, anaesthetize the hope of a return) and the promptings of memory (the knowledge that this is \u201cexile,\u201d that we are part of another story, that ultimate home is somewhere else). The child of forgetting (Manasseh) may have blessings. 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\u201cWith you, Israel will bless, saying, \u2018May God make you like Ephraim and like Menasheh,\u2019\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

And so it is to this day. But what\u2019s so special about Joseph\u2019s sons?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The answer is in the names of Joseph\u2019s two sons and the circumstances of their birth. Joseph had become the prototype of the successful assimilated Jew. \u00a0He had risen to a position of power in Egypt and married a high-born Egyption wife. He had no reason to think he would ever see his birth family again, and little desire to go looking for them. After all, they had sold him into slavery. Even his father\u2019s role in it was unclear.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Joseph named his first born Menashe as a sign that \u201cGod has caused me to forget [nishani<\/em>] all my toil and all my father\u2019s house,\u201d and his second, Ephraim, for \u201cGod has made me fruitful [hifrani<\/em>] in the land of my affliction.\u201d Joseph\u2019s sons would have been raised as Egyptian noblemen, given an Egyptian education, and grown up rubbing shoulders with the upper crust of Egyptian society. And yet, Jacob later takes Joseph\u2019s sons as his own, giving them an inheritance with his own sons.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

We often say: \u201cYou are Jewish if your grandchildren are Jewish.\u201d Of all the tests we have to face as a people, none are as difficult as the test of success. More Jews have been lost to assimilation in those countries that welcome Jews than have been lost to pogroms, massacres, and genocide in hostile lands.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Of all of Jacob\u2019s descendants, only Joseph had faced the test of success in a foreign culture. Only he had lived in a secular society and maintained his cultural identity. Perhaps, with the wisdom of old age, Jacob saw that Joseph\u2019s inoculation to the pleasures of Egyptian society had immunized his sons as well; they too would resist the pressures of assimilation and remain true to their heritage.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Only with the assurance that we can live among strangers and remain true to ourselves can we grow from a family to a nation. For this reason, Joseph\u2019s sons, Menashe and Ephraim, represent the future of the Jewish nation.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

And this is what we wish upon our own children: that they rise to the challenge of being a light to the nations\u2014living and working in the broader world\u2014but never losing the special connection to their heritage and mission.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

(Cover art: Rembrandt - Jacob Blessing the Children of Joseph,\u00a0WGA19117<\/span>: <\/span>https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Jacob_Blessing_the_Sons_of_Joseph)<\/span><\/a><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":40420,"alt":"","title":"Jacob Blessing Ephraim and Manasseh, by 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\u201cYour father is ill\u201d (Genesis 48:1). The story of father Jacob\u2019s life closes almost as it began with an unusual event. After he carefully directed his heirs what to do with him after his death, \u201cwhen I lie down with my fathers, take me up from Egypt\u201d (Genesis 47:30), after he made them swear \u201cplace your hand under my thigh as a pledge\u201d (Genesis 47:29), after he transmitted the commandment and the reward \u201cI will assign this land to your offspring\u201d (Genesis 48:4). After all these clear instructions, he drives everyone crazy and mixes up the blessings between those who are to receive the blessings.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

That\u2019s the end. It is meant to teach that a person who, as a young man, overstepped and stole the first-born\u2019s blessing, will overstep in his old age in the same way, from what is acceptable to what is exceptional, from the tradition to a deviation from it.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

But, if at the beginning of the road the theft was justified, rich with reasons, instincts, sibling rivalry, and the desperate need for the birthright, and if at the start we found apart from a rich motive a powerful engine, i.e. a mother who was pushing and urging strongly--at the close of Jacob\u2019s life, with the blessing of the grandchildren Ephraim and Menasseh, we find no motive. No reason is given for Jacob switching the blessings. No one demands the switch.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Just the opposite. The troubled father, Joseph, tries to prevent Jacob from doing this the whole time. \u00a0\u201cWhen Joseph saw that his father was placing his right hand on Ephraim\u2019s head, he thought it wrong\u201d (Genesis 48:17).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

At first Joseph tries to stop him physically \u201cso he took hold of his father\u2019s hand to move it from Ephraim\u2019s head to Menasseh\u2019s\u201d (ibid.). Afterwards, he tries to prevent him with words, \u201c\u2018Not so, Father,\u2019 Joseph said to his father, \u2018for the other is the first-born; place your right hand on his head\u2019\u201d (Genesis 48:18).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

It, of course, did not help Joseph due to his father\u2019s old habits and his ability to see well into the future. \u00a0\u201cI know, my son, I know. He too shall become a people, and he too shall be great. Yet his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his offspring shall be plentiful enough for nations\u201d (Genesis 48:19).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

That is the reason. It is about the future.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The rationale that stands behind this reason, which was also the case at the beginning, when he stole the birthright, \u201cyour brother came with guile and took away your blessing\u201d (Genesis 27:35), is the call of the future, i.e. the guidance of the Omnipotent One.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Jacob\u2019s summary statement fits this understanding. It is the prayer for the future of a stranger who will die in the land of his exile. \u201cThen Israel said to Joseph, \u2018I am about to die; but God will be with you and bring you back to the land of your fathers\u2019\u201d (Genesis 48:21).<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":103932,"alt":"","title":"-625588df59fc4--625588df59fc5gen48-future star dream 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He is an activist advocating for moral limits on Israeli arms exports, and on behalf of African refugees, and a proud husband and father of 5. He received his rabbinical ordination from Yeshivat Chovevei Torah in New York, and from the Israeli chief rabbinate.","credit":"","image_url":"","short_description":"Rabbi Avidan Freedman is the Rabbi of Hevruta, the Shalom Hartman Institute's post high school program for Israelis and North Americans, and an educator in the institute's high school. ","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":33860,"alt":"Avidan Freedman","title":"Avidan Freedman","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avidan-Freedman-e1532029306365.jpg","width":856,"height":1024,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avidan-Freedman-e1532029306365-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avidan-Freedman-e1532029306365-251x300.jpg","medium-width":251,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avidan-Freedman-e1532029306365-768x919.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":919,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avidan-Freedman-e1532029306365-856x1024.jpg","large-width":856,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avidan-Freedman-e1532029306365.jpg","1536x1536-width":856,"1536x1536-height":1024,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avidan-Freedman-e1532029306365.jpg","2048x2048-width":856,"2048x2048-height":1024,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avidan-Freedman-800x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":800,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avidan-Freedman-e1532029306365-351x420.jpg","home_baner-width":351,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"48","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"A revolutionary message of human empowerment and responsibility","post_main_content_content":"

Brothers fight. From the very first brothers of humanity, this has been a constant theme in the book of Genesis, and the dominant theme in what Jacob calls his \"short, bad\" life. And from the first brothers of Genesis until the last ones, the fight is the same, and the Torah's message is the same. It is a revolutionary message that God tried to teach Cain, and one that Jacob has come to appreciate over the course of his bitter experiences.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Jacob's troubles were born of the (mis)understanding that birth order and birthright are determinative. He comes out trying, unsuccessfully, to claw his way to first, and when that doesn't work, he resorts to deception and manipulation. Whatever it takes so that the blessing of the birthright will be his.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

In his blessings to his grandsons, Jacob reveals that his understanding has changed fundamentally. Neither birth order nor blessing are responsible for success. The blessing does not determine its recipient's fate, it merely reflects it. It is descriptive, rather than determinative. Jacob's justification for placing his right hand on Ephraim is not that he wants thereby to <\/span>make<\/b> him greater, but rather that he <\/span>will<\/b> be greater.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

What will make him greater? History's heroes and anti-heroes of Ephraim, Joshua bin Nun, the daughters of Zelophehad , Jeroboam ben Nabat, provide the answer. They are self-made men, and women, who rise to greatness not merely in the absence of hereditary privilege, but in contradiction to it, and even in revolt against it.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Man was created as an individual, the rabbis teach, in order that no one human can claim superiority over another. With the first first-born, the possibility that biology will create hierarchy enters human consciousness, and it is immediately and categorically rejected by God. All it takes is three short words, ten letters to capture the Torah's revolutionary message of human empowerment and responsibility. \"<\/span>Im Teitiv, Se'et<\/span><\/em>\" (Genesis 4:7).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Do better, and succeed. A simple message with the power to overturn empires and to change lives that the world is still struggling to hear.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":103941,"alt":"","title":"-6255918e70395--6255918e70396gen48-improve 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","post_main_content_content":"

Genesis 48 recounts how Jacob blesses Joseph's two sons, Menashe and Ephraim. Both Jan Victors' painting (c.1635) and Owen Jones' illustration portray a reclining Jacob whose hands stretch forward to bless his grandchildren, while their father, Joseph, looks on. The artists, though, differ in their rendering of the garb and age of Joseph's sons and the positioning of Jacob's hands. These choices reflect varying interpretations of both textual and larger conceptual issues.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

\"\"<\/p>\r\n

Victors dresses Jacob and family in contemporary garb. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

\"\"<\/p>\r\n

Jones, on the other hand, portrays Joseph and his sons in Egyptian garments and accessories. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

This relates to a question regarding Joseph's religious outlook after being sold. Did he raise his sons according to the customs of Jacob and his ancestors or were they assimilated into Egyptian culture and society? What about Joseph himself? To what extent had he acculturated? The midrash Genesis Rabbah suggests that Joseph maintained his religious identity throughout his time in Egypt, but the verse's explanation of Menashe's name, \u201cGod has made me forget completely my hardship and my parental home,\u201d (Genesis 41:51), might suggest otherwise. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

For fuller analysis, see: <\/span>http:\/\/alhatorah.org\/Blessing_Ephraim_and_Menashe_in_Art<\/span><\/a><\/p>\r\n

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A Pittsburgh native, he graduated from Haverford College in Pennsylvania. Dr. Bleiberg received an M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Toronto. He is the author of several books and articles on ancient Egyptian economy, Egyptian coffins, and the Jewish minority in ancient Egypt and ancient Rome.","short_description":"Dr. Edward Bleiberg is Senior Curator of Egyptian, Classical, and Ancient Near Eastern Art at the Brooklyn Museum.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":40025,"alt":"","title":"Edward_Bleiberg_335W","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Edward_Bleiberg_335W-e1537039197728.jpg","width":182,"height":204,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Edward_Bleiberg_335W-e1537039197728-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Edward_Bleiberg_335W-300x280.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":280,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Edward_Bleiberg_335W-e1537039197728.jpg","medium_large-width":182,"medium_large-height":204,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Edward_Bleiberg_335W-e1537039197728.jpg","large-width":182,"large-height":204,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Edward_Bleiberg_335W-e1537039197728.jpg","1536x1536-width":182,"1536x1536-height":204,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Edward_Bleiberg_335W-e1537039197728.jpg","2048x2048-width":182,"2048x2048-height":204,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Edward_Bleiberg_335W-e1537039197728.jpg","post_full_size-width":182,"post_full_size-height":204,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Edward_Bleiberg_335W-e1537039197728.jpg","home_baner-width":182,"home_baner-height":204}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"48","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"","post_main_content_content":"

https:\/\/youtu.be\/WEVwqP5qro4<\/p>\r\n

Dr. Edward Bleiberg, Senior Curator of Egyptian, Classical, and Ancient Near Eastern Art at the Brooklyn Museum<\/p>\r\n

Dr. Aaron Koller, Associate Professor of Near Eastern and Jewish Studies, Yeshiva University<\/p>","post_main_content_image":"","post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"929 At The Museum","tile_main_caption":"Brooklyn Museum: Age Like an Egyptian","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"How old was old in Ancient Egypt?","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":"","tile_preview_video":"https:\/\/youtu.be\/WEVwqP5qro4","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","old_create_date":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","links":false,"send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Genesis","chapter":"48","chapter_main_number":"48","date":"20251104","wall_id":"48"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"369","name":"Visual Arts","old_id":"769"},{"term_id":"555","name":"Archaeology","old_id":"955"}]},{"order":14,"id":"40408","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Ephraim To His Grandfather: A Sonnet ","post_title":"Ephraim To His Grandfather: A Sonnet","slug":"ephraim-to-his-grandfather-a-sonnet","old_id":"40408","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":36669,"post_title":"Yakov Azriel","slug":"yakov-azriel","old_id":"36669","first_name":"Yakov ","last_name":"Azriel","description":"Yakov Azriel, who lives in Israel, has published five books of poetry in the USA and hundreds of poems in journals and magazines. His poems have won twenty-two prizes in international poetry competitions, and he has twice been awarded fellowships from the Memorial Foundation for Jewish Culture.","short_description":"Yakov Azriel is an English language poet who lives in Israel","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":36670,"alt":"","title":"Yakov.Azriel.Photo","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Yakov.Azriel.Photo_-e1533158407668.jpg","width":1099,"height":1519,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Yakov.Azriel.Photo_-e1533158407668-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Yakov.Azriel.Photo_-e1533158407668-217x300.jpg","medium-width":217,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Yakov.Azriel.Photo_-e1533158407668-741x1024.jpg","medium_large-width":741,"medium_large-height":1024,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Yakov.Azriel.Photo_-e1533158407668-741x1024.jpg","large-width":741,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Yakov.Azriel.Photo_-e1533158407668.jpg","1536x1536-width":1099,"1536x1536-height":1519,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Yakov.Azriel.Photo_-e1533158407668.jpg","2048x2048-width":1099,"2048x2048-height":1519,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Yakov.Azriel.Photo_-e1533158407668-868x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":868,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Yakov.Azriel.Photo_-e1533158407668-304x420.jpg","home_baner-width":304,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"48","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Rest now, Zeidie, immerse yourself in sleep","post_main_content_content":"

\"And he [Jacob] blessed them that day, saying, 'By you will Israel bless, saying, 'May God make you as Ephraim and Menasheh \u2026.\" (Genesis 48:20)<\/span><\/p>\r\n

I don\u2019t forget the stories you\u2019ve told me,<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>Zeidie<\/span><\/i>, about your childhood in the Old<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>Country: you\u2019d climb the hills of Galilee<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>On Friday afternoons alone, and hold<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>The Sabbath-bride in your arms as you\u2019d turn<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>Towards Jerusalem and sing to her. \u00a0Or<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>How you would sleep on Bethel\u2019s stones and yearn<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>To leap, to dance with the angels you saw.<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>Rest now, <\/span>Zeidie<\/span><\/i>, immerse yourself in sleep<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>The way you used to immerse yourself in<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>The Kinneret and emerge pure. \u00a0Don\u2019t weep<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>Any more, please, you\u2019ll get better, you\u2019ve been<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Sick before. \u00a0Why are you crying? \u00a0\u201cNext year<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>In Jerusalem?\u201d \u00a0I promise. I swear.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":103939,"alt":"","title":"-62558ed9218ff--62558ed921900gen48-old man grandfather 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- The Hebrew Corner - Gen 48 ","post_title":"MiliMiliM - The Hebrew Corner - Gen 48","slug":"milimilim-the-hebrew-corner-gen-48","old_id":"40438","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":34011,"post_title":"Jeremy Benstein","slug":"dr-jeremy-benstein","old_id":"34011","first_name":"Jeremy","last_name":"Benstein","description":"Dr. Jeremy Benstein is the managing editor of 929-English. He is one of the founders of the Heschel Center for Sustainability. He writes the MiliMiliM - Hebrew Corner on the site, and is the author of a book about the Hebrew language, \"Hebrew Roots, Jewish Routes: A Tribal Language in a Global World\" (Behrman House, 2019). ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"short_description":"Dr. Jeremy Benstein is the managing editor of 929-English, and is the author of a book about the Hebrew language, \"Hebrew Roots, Jewish Routes: A Tribal Language in a Global World\" (Behrman House, 2019). ","link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":34232,"alt":"","title":"Jeremy Benstein","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Presentation1.jpg","width":1280,"height":720,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Presentation1-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Presentation1-300x169.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":169,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Presentation1-768x432.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":432,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Presentation1-1024x576.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":576,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Presentation1.jpg","1536x1536-width":1280,"1536x1536-height":720,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Presentation1.jpg","2048x2048-width":1280,"2048x2048-height":720,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Presentation1-1200x675.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":675,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Presentation1-747x420.jpg","home_baner-width":747,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"48","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"\u05d9\u05de\u05d9\u05df\/\u05e9\u05de\u05d0\u05dc - Yemin\/Smol - Right\/Left \r\n","post_main_content_content":"

48:13- Joseph took the two of them, Ephraim <\/span>biyimino mismol Yisrael<\/em> <\/span>with his right hand\u2014to Israel\u2019s left\u2014and Manasseh with his left hand\u2014to Israel\u2019s right\u2014and brought them close to him.<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>14-But Israel stretched out <\/span>yemino<\/em> <\/span>his right hand and laid it on Ephraim\u2019s head, though he was the younger, and <\/span>smolo<\/em> <\/span>his left hand on Manasseh\u2019s head\u2014thus crossing his hands\u2014although Manasseh was the first-born.<\/span><\/p>\r\n


\r\nRight\/left. Oy, politics? No, actually. The political use of the terms \u201cleft\u201d and \u201cright\u201d is really quite recent, only going back to the end of the 18th Century in revolutionary France. Recent, that is, on a biblical scale of things.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Today\u2019s words come from Jacob\u2019s crossing his hands to reverse the blessings of his grandkids. Two interesting things to point out about right and left in the Tanakh. One is that right and left are directions: since straight ahead is east (see Chapter 11: \u201ckedem,\u201d<\/a> a word which means both \u201cin front of\u201d and \u201ceast\u201d), right means to the south. Left then refers to the north. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

For instance, there is Abraham\u2019s lovely invitation to his nephew Lot in chapter 13 to get out of each other\u2019s faces: \u201cIs not the whole land before you? Let us separate: if you go north, I will go south; and if you go south, I will go north.\u201d In Hebrew that is: \u201cim hasmol va\u2019emina, ve\u2019im hayemin, ve\u2019asmeilah<\/em>.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The other is that, sadly, ancient Israel didn\u2019t relate to left and left handedness any better than other ancient cultures. (Sorry to be disparaging, but as a proud southpaw, I\u2019ve got some skin in this game. By the way, notice here that in modern baseball, \u201cleft\u201d is \u201csouth,\u201d not \u201cnorth\u201d). From Latin \u201csinister,\u201d and French \u201cgauche,\u201d \u201cleft\u201d was often a disparaging term. And \u201cright\u201d was often complimentary - from \u201cdexterity\u201d to Biblical uses such as the might of God\u2019s right hand (see Psalm 118). \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

There is, though, my all time favorite left-handed Tanakh story, of Ehud ben Gera the left-handed judge. Though even there, his being lefthanded was described as being \u201citter yad yemin<\/em>,\u201d \u201chis right hand was bound.\u201d Don\u2019t know it? Check it out in Judges 3:15ff<\/a> - it is deliciously gory. His strategic advantage was that, being left-handed he hid his dagger on the opposite side, and smuggled it into a tete-a-tete<\/em> with the obese King Eglon of Moab, and thus was able to disembowel him without anyone being the wiser. But except for Ehud, being left-handed was rarely an advantage.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

We shall end with the Yom Kippur tie-in to this discussion. The book of Jonah is read on Yom Kippur afternoon, and it ends with a speech by God, who proclaims divine mercy, especially for innocent people and animals. Notice how being innocent, or naive, or simply not intellectually or morally sophisticated is characterized (4:11): \u201cAnd should not I care about Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand persons who do not yet know \u201cben yemino lesmolo<\/em>\u201d their right hand from their left, and many beasts as well!\u201d<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":103900,"alt":"","title":"-625432365347d--625432365347egen48-milim yemin smol.jpg","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/09\/625432365347d-625432365347egen48-milim-yemin-smol.jpg.jpg","width":960,"height":720,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/09\/625432365347d-625432365347egen48-milim-yemin-smol.jpg-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/09\/625432365347d-625432365347egen48-milim-yemin-smol.jpg-300x225.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":225,"medium_large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/09\/625432365347d-625432365347egen48-milim-yemin-smol.jpg-768x576.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":576,"large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/09\/625432365347d-625432365347egen48-milim-yemin-smol.jpg.jpg","large-width":960,"large-height":720,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/09\/625432365347d-625432365347egen48-milim-yemin-smol.jpg.jpg","1536x1536-width":960,"1536x1536-height":720,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/09\/625432365347d-625432365347egen48-milim-yemin-smol.jpg.jpg","2048x2048-width":960,"2048x2048-height":720,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/09\/625432365347d-625432365347egen48-milim-yemin-smol.jpg.jpg","post_full_size-width":960,"post_full_size-height":720,"home_baner":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/09\/625432365347d-625432365347egen48-milim-yemin-smol.jpg-560x420.jpg","home_baner-width":560,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"

Artwork by: Ben Schachter<\/p>","tile_top_caption":"MiliMiliM - The Hebrew Corner","tile_main_caption":"\u05d9\u05de\u05d9\u05df\/\u05e9\u05de\u05d0\u05dc - Yemin\/Smol - Right\/Left ","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"... a word from the daily chapter...","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":103900,"alt":"","title":"-625432365347d--625432365347egen48-milim yemin 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48","slug":"lessons-on-the-daily-chapter-gen-48","old_id":"40152","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":34686,"post_title":"Soundcloud","slug":"soundcloud","old_id":"34686","first_name":"","last_name":"","description":"","short_description":"","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":34656,"alt":"","title":"491","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","width":300,"height":300,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","medium_large-width":300,"medium_large-height":300,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","large-width":300,"large-height":300,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","1536x1536-width":300,"1536x1536-height":300,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","2048x2048-width":300,"2048x2048-height":300,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","post_full_size-width":300,"post_full_size-height":300,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","home_baner-width":300,"home_baner-height":300}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"48","type_929":"4","show_author_image":true,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"","post_main_content_content":"","post_main_content_image":"","post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"Lessons on the Daily Chapter - Gen 48","tile_main_caption":"Short talks by Adam Mintz and by David Silber","tile_main_caption_size":"2","tile_sub_caption":"Rabbi Silber's teachings are dedicated in memory of Joan Silverstein Meyers and Ellen Goodstein Koplow. ","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":"","tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"https:\/\/soundcloud.com\/929-bible\/sets\/genesis-chapter-48","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"2","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Genesis","chapter":"48","chapter_main_number":"48","date":"20251104","wall_id":"48"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":17,"id":"40422","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Chapter Summary - Genesis 48 ","post_title":"Chapter Summary - Genesis 48","slug":"chapter-summary-genesis-48","old_id":"40422","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":false,"related_cahpter":"48","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Chapter 48 Summary: Family Planning\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

Jacob before his death says goodbye to Joseph and his sons and establishes a last will and testament for the family that will have ramifications for generations.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    \r\n\t
  1. Jacob \"adopts\" Joseph\u2019s two sons - Manasseh and Ephraim and they are promoted from being grandsons to being sons \"Now, your two sons, who were born to you in the land of Egypt before I came to you in Egypt, shall be mine; Ephraim and Manasseh shall be mine no less than Reuben and Simeon\" (verse 5). What is the significance of this? Ephraim and Manasseh are now two of the twelve tribes of Israel, each of whom will receive an inheritance in Canaan. It can be said that there is a kind of legal declaration that Joseph is the first-born who inherits a double portion according to biblical law (two portions of land, for his two sons).<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t
  2. Jacob blesses Ephraim and Manasseh. In his blessing, he switches around (again) the birth order. \"But Israel stretched out his right hand and laid it on Ephraim\u2019s head, though he was the younger, and his left hand on Manasseh\u2019s head\u2014thus crossing his hands\u2014although Manasseh was the first-born\" (verse 14). Jacob declares that Ephraim, the younger brother, will be the leader of the two.<\/span><\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n

    Points to Ponder:<\/span><\/p>\r\n

      \r\n\t
    1. Summoning of strength. Joseph came to visit his sick father, and even the rumor of his arrival strengthens the patient. \"When Jacob was told, \u201cYour son Joseph has come to see you,\u201d Israel summoned his strength and sat up in bed\" (verse 2).<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t
    2. Jacob\u2019s excitement. Jacob, who did not believe he would see Joseph again truly gets emotional \u201cI never expected to see you again, and here God has let me see your children as well\u201d (verse 11).<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t
    3. God the Shepherd. Jacob, in personal testimony about the experience of constant providence, says that God for him is like a shepherd watching over him in all his wanderings. \"The God in whose ways my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, The God who has been my shepherd from my birth to this day\" (verse 15).<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t
    4. The blessing. The blessing to Manasseh and Ephraim, the boys, is a blessing that Jewish boys and girls have been blessed with since then, in the the bedtime prayer, in the blessing that it given children on Simchat Torah, and other times: \"The Angel who has redeemed me from all harm\u2014 Bless the lads. In them may my name be recalled, And the names of my fathers Abraham and Isaac, And may they be teeming multitudes upon the earth\u201d (verse 16).<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t
    5. Shechem. \u00a0At the end of the chapter in a verse that is not entirely understood, but which apparently links Joseph to Shechem, we read: \u00a0\u201cAnd now, I assign to you one portion more (literally, \u201cShechem echad\u201d) than to your brothers, which I wrested from the Amorites with my sword and bow\u201d (verse 22).<\/span><\/li>\r\n<\/ol>","post_main_content_image":{"id":86314,"alt":"","title":"Points to ponder","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","width":1000,"height":1000,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-300x300.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-768x768.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":768,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","large-width":1000,"large-height":1000,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","1536x1536-width":1000,"1536x1536-height":1000,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","2048x2048-width":1000,"2048x2048-height":1000,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","post_full_size-width":1000,"post_full_size-height":1000,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-420x420.jpg","home_baner-width":420,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"The Daily Summary","tile_main_caption":"Points to Ponder: Genesis 48","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Insights and questions for personal reflection and group discussion","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":86314,"alt":"","title":"Points to ponder","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","width":1000,"height":1000,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-300x300.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-768x768.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":768,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","large-width":1000,"large-height":1000,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","1536x1536-width":1000,"1536x1536-height":1000,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","2048x2048-width":1000,"2048x2048-height":1000,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","post_full_size-width":1000,"post_full_size-height":1000,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-420x420.jpg","home_baner-width":420,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","old_create_date":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","links":false,"send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Genesis","chapter":"48","chapter_main_number":"48","date":"20251104","wall_id":"48"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false}],"hide_acf":true,"home_image":false,"home_posts_title":"","posts_home":[],"home_posts":false,"static_cube_title":"","static_cube_brief":"","static_cube_color":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wall\/40283"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wall"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/wall"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40283"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}