In our Torah portion we find the source of a widespread practice among Jewish parents. It is customary in many families that many parents bless their sons on the Sabbath eve with the formula: ‘May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh’– a text that appears for the first time in our Torah portion.

And so we read in the Torah:

And Jacob blessed Joseph’s sons:

According to our Rabbis, "the term "that day" refers to the day, whenever it is, that Jewish parents would wish to bless their children. Whenever such days arrive, they will use the text of Jacob's blessing. Targum Yonasan explains that the term alludes to the day when a newborn child is circumcised, and Sephardic communities pronounce Jacob's blessing on such occasions".

Commentators through the ages dealt with the following question: Why does Jacob institute a blessing for the generations to come, which includes Joseph’s sons as a model to follow? Wouldn’t it be more appropriate to say, "May God make you like Abraham, Isaac and Jacob", following the formula we use for our daughters, "May God make you like Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel, and Leah?"

One of the most accepted explanations "for the choice of Ephraim and Manasseh as the models for all future generations is that they demonstrated the strength to maintain their Jewishness in the face of the hostility and temptation of Egyptian culture and society. Jewish parents, especially in exile, have ample cause to hope that their children show comparable commitment to their heritage" (Stone Chumash, Artscroll)

However, if that would be the main reason for Jacob’s choice, Joseph would be more appropriate as a model to follow, since he too grew up in the same foreign culture, under difficult circumstances and withstanding many pressures, and still remained loyal to his family and his heritage. Moreover, Jacob spent more than 20 years away from his family and without any guidance was able to choose the right path.

A second interesting explanation, brought by Rabbi Alexander Zuszha Fridman in his book Ma’ainah Shel Torah, is that Manasseh did not became jealous after finding out that his younger brother Ephraim preceded him in the blessings. As you may remember that was not the case before, like in the case of Cain and Abel, Isaac and Ishmael, Jacob and Esau and Joseph and his brothers. According to this commentary, by blessing our children after Ephraim and Manasseh, we emphasize our desire that jealousy and envy won’t be counted among their feelings.

My Torah partner, Rabbi Gedaliah Machlis – May he live a long and healthy life- shared with me –in our weekly study session- a third powerful insight for Jacob’s choice of Ephraim and Manasseh.

According to Rabbi Machlis, the reason for Jacob’s choice should be found in the words that he said to Joseph, before the actual blessing took place:

We see that "The blessing included a major change in the composition of the Jewish people, in that Jacob elevated Manasseh and Ephraim to the status of his own sons" (Stone Chumash, Artscroll)

The children of Israel, the foundations of the Jewish people, were Jacob’s twelve sons. By natural means, no one else could be counted among them, since you were born Jacob’s son or you were not.

Ephraim and Manasseh did something that transcended their nature. They elevated themselves so much that deserved to be counted among Jacob’s sons, although they were not Jacob’s sons.

Ephraim and Manasseh remind us that we are not condemned by our nature, that we can elevate ourselves, too. By saying to our children, each Shabbat eve ‘May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh’, we tell them that they too can aspire to be counted among the children of Israel.

Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were the chosen ones (each of them in different circumstances and through a combination of inherited and acquired attributes). Jacob’s twelve sons – the children of Israel- come after their father as the natural heirs of Israel’s mission. However, Ephraim and Manasseh, interrupted this natural and expected succession of great names and the responsibilities associated with them, and taught us that each of us can become special, even if we were not born special.

Ephraim and Manasseh symbolize the capacity of achieving greatness without being predestined for such greatness.

When we bless our children with the formula ‘May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh’, we are actually telling them: ‘you also can elevate yourselves, you also can achieve greatness. We tell them that, although we are products of the circumstances, we have the ability to transcend these circumstances, like Ephraim and Manasseh did in the past.

May God make us like Ephraim and Manasseh!

Shabbat Shalom!