by Akiva Friedman
Shliach, Yeshivat Or Chaim
הַמַּלְאָךְ הַגֹּאֵל אֹתִי מִכָּל רָע יְבָרֵךְ אֶת הַנְּעָרִים וְיִקָּרֵא בָהֶם שְׁמִי וְשֵׁם אֲבֹתַי אַבְרָהָם וְיִצְחָק וְיִדְגּוּ לָרֹב בְּקֶרֶב הָאָרֶץ:
(בראשית פרק מח פסוק טז)
This very famous beracha, Birkat Habanim, is the way Yaakov chooses to bless his grandchildren, Menashe and Ephraim, before he dies. The pasuk focuses on the name, the Shem. Yaakov’s blessing is that his name, and the name of his fathers, Avraham and Yitzchak, will be “called” through Menashe and Ephraim. This means, in the simple sense, that anywhere Menashe and Ephraim go they will represent and symbolize the Avot. The Avot will live on through them.
Only four pesukim later, the Torah gives a, seemingly, very different description of Yaakov’s beracha to his grandchildren:
So he blessed them that day, saying, “By you shall Israel invoke blessings, saying: God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh.” (פסוק כ)
In the future, when the people of Israel will bless their own children they will say: “may G-d make you like Ephraim and Menashe”. Here, it seems that the blessing for Menashe and Ephraim is that they will be mentioned any time a Jew wishes to bless his child.
Initially, the beracha is described as the privilege of your name being linked with the Avot. Afterwards, the beracha is described as the privilege of your own name being a source of blessing to others. So which one is it?
Before Yaakov gives this beracha he shares with Yosef a personal experience. He tells him about the time when he too was once blessed:
And Jacob said to Joseph, “El Shaddai appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan, and He blessed me” (פסוק ג)
These words of “nostalgia” which may seem unrelated, are, in fact, key to understanding Birkat Ha’banim. Let’s take a look at the beracha that was given to Avraham, the great grandfather, when he began his journey to Eretz Kenaan:
I will make of you a great nation, And I will bless you; I will make your name great, And you shall be a blessing…And all the families of the earth Shall bless themselves by you (בראשית פרק יב, פסוקים ב-ג)
Yaakov’s personal beracha has everything to do with the beracha that is about to be given to his grandchildren. Yaakov’s beracha is what gives him the ability to now go on and further bless his children. Just like his grandfather, Avraham, was not only a blessed person but also a person with the ability to bless others.
Now, when Yaakov’s time has come, he wishes to pass this gift on: Menashe and Ephraim are being blessed with the very same blessing of their ancestors, the ultimate blessing: to become a source of blessing to others. But this blessing is possible only because of the blessing that was given to Yaakov.
From this we can understand, that despite the difference between the two descriptions of the blessing, they are actually one in the same. The strong linkage to the Avot is in itself the ability to become a source of beracha.
Many times in life, we feel we need to choose between something that will benefit us and something that will be good for others. This Parasha teaches us, that we, being the sons of Israel, don’t always have to make this tough decision. For we are being blessed with a special beracha: the ability to bless others.
Shabbat shalom!
