(2012/5772)

In this week’s Parashah, we read the story of Ya’akov’s Berachah to Efrayim and Menasheh. Ya’akov is ill, and a messenger brings word to Yosef that his father is on his deathbed. Yosef then goes, collects his sons, and hurries off to Ya’akov’s side to be with him in his last moments. Ya’akov musters his strength, and then gives Efrayim and Menasheh the famous Berachah where he places his left hand on Menasheh’s head and his right on Efrayim’s head. Yosef sees this and, assuming that his father made a mistake and forgot that Menasheh was the elder son, attempts to switch his father’s hands and put the right hand on Menasheh’s head and the left on Efrayim’s head. Ya’akov is adamant in his choice and returns his hands to their original position, saying that Efrayim will become the greater of the two.

When parents bless their sons, they say that they should be like Efrayim and Menasheh, implicitly praising Menasheh for not questioning his grandfather’s decision. Why is this? Is this praise really justified? How could Menasheh have argued with his dying grandfather?

Many answer that this is in contrast to every single group of siblings that came earlier in Sefer Bereishit. In every instance before this, the children do not live in harmony. The first example of this is Kayin and Hevel. Kayin is jealous of his younger brother so he kills him. Ya’akov experiences a similar instance of this with Eisav. When Ya’akov receives Yitzchak's blessing, Eisav is ready to kill him. Yosef's brothers sell him into slavery in Egypt when he is being favored. In this case, though, Menasheh had no problem with his younger brother.

This not only explains why we bless our children in their names, but it also sets a precedent for the future. Elder brothers should be tolerant of their younger siblings and a perfect example of this is displayed by Moshe and Aharon. Moshe, the younger brother, grows up in Par’oh's palace, frees the Jews from Egypt and becomes the most important man for Bnei Yisrael as they travel in the desert. These two examples of brothers should be models from which all future siblings to should learn and on which they should base their relationships.