HOW AND WHY TO BLESS THE CHILDREN

Parashat Vayechi

Tevet 14, 5783 / January 6-7, 2023

Torah: Genesis 47:28 - 50:26 (Chazak, chazak, v’nitchazeik)
Haftarah: 1 Kings 2:1-12

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This d'var torah is offered for a refuah shleimah for Chanah Bella bat Kreina and Devorah bat Feigel.

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Lunch and Learn meets Tuesdays at 12:30 PM on Zoom and Facebook Live. We're continuing to read and discuss the Midrashic collection Ein Ya'akov. 
 
On January 10, we'll be at BT Shabbat 32a (last line) - page 129 of Ein Ya'akov (Glick edition) Volume 1 -  "תניא רבי נתן אומר:" - "We are taught that R. Nathan says:” 
 
Ein Ya'akov (Glick edition) is available for on-line reading or as a downloadable PDF at: 
https://hebrewbooks.org/9630 

A pointed Hebrew text version with different pagination is available at Sefaria: 

https://www.sefaria.org/Ein_Yaakov?tab=contents 
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Rabbi Van Leeuwen has a blog which you should read at: 
https://rebjasonblog.wordpress.com/blog/ 

Dr. Steve Pearlman writes up the "Midrashim of the Week", which you should read at: 
https://midrashsrp.wordpress.com 
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HOW AND WHY TO BLESS THE CHILDREN

And (Jacob, aka Israel) blessed them that day, saying, "In you shall Israel bless, saying, 'May God make you as Ephraim and Menashe'" ... Genesis 48:20

This is the beginning of the blessing over sons. For both sons and daughters, the rest of the blessing is the same - the threefold blessing of the Kohanim (Numbers 6:24-26). Why do we start the blessing of the sons this way? What's so special about Joseph's sons? Indeed, the blessing for daughters starts out, "May God make you like Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel and Leah." Why not bless sons with "Abraham, Isaac and Jacob"?

"Jacob Blessing Ephraim and Menashe" - Antonio María Esquivel, 1832

The Yalkut Yehudah (Yehudah Leib Ginsburg, Russia and US, 1888-1946) addresses this, in part. He says that Jacob was a prophet who foresaw the exile of his descendants. He knew that their Jewishness was endangered. Therefore, he said that sons should be blessed to be like Ephraim and Menashe - the first Jewish men who were born, raised and educated in exile (Egypt), in spite of which they remained faithful Jews (Jacob says, "Like Reuben and Simeon, they shall be mine." - Gen. 48:5) And here we are today, keeping the faith, though we are born, raised and educated outside of the Land of Israel.

But what about daughters? Why are they blessed in the names of the four ancestral mothers? I believe it has to do with several points. First, they also were born outside the Land of Israel, in Haran. Second, Jewish tradition teaches that mothers are the ones who instill religious practice and belief in children, because they are their first teachers. In addition, the Midrash teaches that it was the women who kept the men's spirits up during the days of slavery in Egypt. Finally, according to tradition, it is the women who maintain the Jewishness of the home, particularly with regard to kashrut and Shabbat observance (e.g., Sarah was the first to kindle Shabbat lights). So our daughters are blessed in the names of the Matriarchs.

Of course, all of this is irrelevant - unless you make it a regular practice to bless your children on Shabbat and Yom Tov evenings, and to follow the teaching of the Yalkut Yehudah! Whether your children are like Ephraim and Menashe, or like Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel and Leah, bless them every Shabbat evening - keep the faith, baby!

Shabbat Shalom!

Rabbi Richard A. Flom, Rabbi Emeritus
Temple B'nai Hayim/Congregation Beth Meier

"שתיקה כהודאה דמיא"

"Silence in the face of wrongdoing is consent.”

BT Yevamot 87b

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