This Week’s Torah Portion: Vayechi – וַיְחִי (Genesis 47:28–50:26)
“So, he blessed them that day, saying, “By you shall Israel invoke blessings, saying: God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh.”
To this day we bless our children, and we tell them –
“May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh.”
When we say to our children, May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh,” we miss what Jacob is trying to say to his sons. When we say to our children, God will make you ‘as Ephraim and Manasseh’, we wish them that ‘Ephraim and Manasseh’ will be their role models.
This is not what Jacob told his grandchildren. He said to them, God will make you like Ephraim and Manasseh. which is their name. He blessed them to be what they were meant to be, to realize their individuality.
Parsha Vayechi – וַיְחִי Torah Summary:
Jacob blesses his grandchildren Ephraim and Manasseh. (48:1-20)
Jacob’s twelve sons gather around his deathbed, and each receives an evaluation and a prediction of his future. (49:1-33)
Joseph mourns his father’s death and has Jacob embalmed. Jacob is buried in Hebron in the cave of the field of the Machpelah in the land of Canaan. (50:1-14)
Joseph assures his concerned brothers that he has forgiven them and promises to care for them and their families. (50:15-21)
Just before he dies, Joseph tells his brothers that God will return them to the Land that God promised to the patriarchs. The Children of Israel promise Joseph that they will take his bones with them when they leave Egypt. (50:22-26) Vayechi – וַיְחִי
“So, he blessed them that day, saying, “By you shall Israel invoke blessings, saying: God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh.”
To this day we bless our children, and we tell them –
“May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh.”
When we say to our children, May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh,” we miss what Jacob is trying to say to his sons. When we say to our children, God will make you ‘as Ephraim and Manasseh’, we wish them that ‘Ephraim and Manasseh’ will be their role models.
This is not what Jacob told his grandchildren. He said to them, God will make you like Ephraim and Manasseh. which is their name. He blessed them to be what they were meant to be, to realize their individuality. Vayechi – וַיְחִי
Jacob blesses his grandchildren Ephraim and Manasseh. (48:1-20)
Jacob’s twelve sons gather around his deathbed, and each receives an evaluation and a prediction of his future. (49:1-33)
Joseph mourns his father’s death and has Jacob embalmed. Jacob is buried in Hebron in the cave of the field of the Machpelah in the land of Canaan. (50:1-14)
Joseph assures his concerned brothers that he has forgiven them and promises to care for them and their families. (50:15-21)
Just before he dies, Joseph tells his brothers that God will return them to the Land that God promised to the patriarchs. The Children of Israel promise Joseph that they will take his bones with them when they leave Egypt. (50:22-26)