Which brother comes first and what is the deep message hidden in the order of their names?
We read in our Parasha of two blessings by Yaakov Avinu, both concerning the two sons of his son Yosef: Ephraim and Menashe. In both, the younger son, Ephraim, precedes the first-born, Menashe.
The first of these blessings is the timeless המלאך הגואל אותי:’May the angel who redeems me from all evil bless the lads’. The Torah relates (48:13-19) that Yaakov, despite the protestations of Yosef, placed Ephraim before Menashe, who said:’this is the firstborn, place your right hand on his head’; Yaakov replied:’I know, my son, I know; he too will become a people, and he too will become great; yet his younger brother will become greater than. he.’
Immediately after this blessing, the Parasha continues:(48:20)’And he blessed them that day, saying:’By you shall Israel bless saying: ‘May G-d make you like Ephraim and like Menashe’ - and he put Ephraim before Menashe.’
The Radak comments:’And he blessed them’: he further blessed them with a separate blessing on that day, saying:’By you shall Israel bless’. ‘When one of our people wishes to bless his son, he will say:’By you shall Israel bless..’.
‘In this blessing, too, Ephraim precedes Menashe.’
The Ktav Sofer asks:’Why, in this second blessing, does Ephraim precede Menashe? Is it not the rule that מעלים בקדושה: in matters of sanctity, we proceed in ascending order - and since we have already said ‘like Ephraim’, how do we afterwards continue ‘and like Menashe’, since Yaakov Avinu said that the former would be greater?’.
He blesses us with a beautiful lesson of proper hashkafa:’It appears to me that we know that Ephraim was great in his Torah learning, which he learned from Yaakov Avinu, the pillar of Torah; Menashe, on the other hand, excelled in the affairs of the household, as our Sages relate.
‘To perform both at the same time is not possible, which is why we always need the partnership of Issachar and Zebulon - Issachar in the form of Ephraim and Zebulon in the form of a Menashe.
‘One who is not like Ephraim, and whose Torah studies are not successful, can still later be like a Menashe, earning his living honestly, be charitable and support Torah scholars. ‘However, one who is initially like Menashe, is very unlikely later to become like Ephraim.
‘Every one in Israel is obligated to educate his son to learn Torah - perhaps he will succeed, and be great in his Torah studies, but few succeed in this, as ‘a thousand enter the bet hamidrash, and only one comes out as a talmid chacham’; but, nevertheless, they all grow as G-d fearing Jews, and will conduct their activities justly and with integrity.
‘This is the father’s blessing to his son: ‘May G-d make you like Ephraim and like Menashe’, praying that he might succeed in Torah and become ‘an Ephraim’, but, should he be unable to be like him, he will, in any case, be like Menashe, to righteously conduct himself in his affairs.
‘This blessing can only be given to a young child, but not once he has grown up; then the choice is no longer open, since if he has not succeeded to be an Ephraim, he inevitably can but be a Menashe.’
The Ktav Sofer also expounds our blessing in another way:’True, a father is obligated to teach his son, Torah; but he is also obligated to teach him דרך ארץ: how to conduct himself with other people, to treat them with respect, and also teach him a profession, to enable him to support himself - but foremost, to be G-d fearing, as that is the true objective for which man exists.
‘Therefore, one should initially teach his son the ways pf Hashem - not like those who first teach their children external wisdom, and only afterwards teach them Torah, as they will not grow to fulfill their destiny. ‘We know, from our Sages, that Ephraim was great in his Torah studies,,regularly learning from Yaakov, whereas Menashe was in charge of the household, more engaged in the affairs of the world, in the physical needs of the household, and interacting with people.
‘Yaakov said:’בך: in you will Israel be blessed, saying, may you be like Ephraim and like Menashe’ - like Ephraim in Torah learning, but also like Menashe, intermingling with people, in the appropriate manner. 'This is how every father should educate his sons, but make sure to place ‘Ephraim before Menashe’ - initially in the footsteps of Ephraim, in the ways of the Torah, and only after this, also in the path of Menashe, as ‘the beginning of wisdom is awe of Hashem’.’
The Rav’s venerable father, the Chatam Sofer, offers a different understanding of this blessing:’First, it raises a fundamental question: since Yaakov Avinu placed Ephraim before Menashe, in this blessing, and said that he would be greater than his older brother, should it not have sufficed to only bless, to be ‘like Ephraim’?!
‘The answer can be derived from the utensils of the Mishkan, where the Table preceded the Menorah. ‘We know that the Table alludes to wealth, and the Menorah, to the Torah - yet, nevertheless, the Table preceded it. ‘This alludes to the reward of those who support Torah being greater than the reward of the learners themselves. ‘The reason for this is that the Torah is so sweet, that the sweetness they derive from it, is their reward; the supporters of Torah, do not enjoy this sweetness, and therefore act solely leshem shamayim.
‘This is why they - the Zebulons - precede the Torah scholars - Issaschar - in the blessings of Moshe Rabbeinu.
‘Ephraim and Menashe, similarly, allude to the Torah and to wealth, as Menashe was successful in the household of Yosef, whilst Ephraim was wholly engaged in learning Torah from Yaakov.
‘Our Sages, in Avot, enjoin us:’Make the Torah your main occupation’, and then, naturally, ‘your work will be secondary’. ‘Thus, if one is wealthy, he should spend more of his time in his Torah studies, than in his wealth.
‘This is the meaning of the blessing:’May G-d make you like Ephraim AND like Menashe’: like the two of them together, that you should be a Torah scholar like Ephraim, AND be as wealthy and great as Menashe - yet placing Ephraim before Menashe, Torah taking precedence over material matters.’
The Netziv adds:’Targum Yonatan writes, that this blessing is customarily recited at a brit milah, as there is no point in blessing someone who is not engaged in learning Torah that he should be ‘like an Ephraim’; similarly, in blessing one who is not engaged in the affairs of this world, a blessing that he should be ‘like a Menashe’, has little meaning. ‘Only at the time of the brit milah, when the path that the son will follow is as yet unknown, is there meaning to a blessing: ‘May G-d make you like Ephraim and like Menashe’ - that, should he choose to engage in Torah study, he should succeed ‘like Ephraim’, but should he choose to pursue the affairs of this world, he should succeed ‘like a Menashe’.
Rav Pinchas Friedman finds a direct link between brit milah, and the blessing of Ephraim and Menashe.
He expounds:’First, we need to find why unlike any other mitzvah, two brachot are said at a brit milah, the first ‘Who has commanded us on the milah’, and second:’Who has commanded us to bring him into the covenant of Avraham Avinu’.’
He brings the answer of the Belzer Rebbe, the Mahar’i, ‘the brit milah is the seal in our flesh, that Hashem has chosen us from all the peoples, and that we are His flock, and obliged throughout all our generations to serve Him and to speak His praises.
‘The Rebbe asks: Why did Hashen command that this be on the eighth day, when the child has no independent mind; would it not have been preferable to wait until he knows what is being done - on the day of his bar-mitzvah - so that he can perform it then, with proper intention, together with all his other mitzvot?
‘The answer is, that since the mitzvah of the brit milah is the foundation of all the mitzvot that a Jew performs throughout his life, Hashem wanted to teach us - lest we think that the main perfection of mitzvot is only when we understand the reason for them - that just as a Jew performs the mitzvah of brit milah - which is the very first mitzvah that he performs - without enquiry, or independent thought, so too, he is to perform all mitzvot in simple, pure faith, solely because that is the tradition that we have received from our forefathers, generation after generation, all the way to Moshe Rabbeinu, who received Torah from Sinai.
‘This is why, of all the titles, we are called Hashem’s flock - we are obligated to fulfill the mitzvot with simple emunah, like sheep who follow their shepherd’s every instruction. ‘This, too, is the underlying message of another bracha pronounced at a brit milah:’Just as he entered the brit, so too may he enter Torah, chuppah and good deeds’ - in the same manner, without enquiry, but with pure emunah, he should continue throughout his life and in his avodat Hashem.
‘The Ba’al Shem Tov sweetens our understanding, by explaining why, in our prayers, we say:’Our G-d and the G-d of our forefathers’. ‘He explains that there are two ways of serving Hashem: one way is by pure emunah, accepting that which we received from our forefathers, without enquiry; the second way is through enquiry and contemplation as to the reasons for mitzvot. ‘The first way may lead us to perform mitzvot ‘by rote’, out of habit, but protects us from attempts to sway us to stray, by sweet, but heretical, tongues, if we condition our acceptance of mitzvot on the basis of reasoning.
‘His advice is that we adopt both approaches, that our service of Hashem should be founded on the traditions we have received, but, at the same time, we should strive - as far as our minds permit us - to seek the reasons for the mitzvot.
‘This is the proper way of our individual avodat Hashem, reflected in the form of our prayers:’ Our G-d’, from our enquiries and contemplation, AND ‘the G-d of our forefathers’, from the emunah of the traditions we have received, from our forefathers.
‘We can now understand the link between the mitzvah of the brit milah AND the blessing given ‘on that day’, that the child be ‘like Ephraim and like Menashe’.
‘As we have brought, there are two ways to serve Hashem; there are those who serve Hashem only in the way of acceptance of that which they saw in their forefathers, without knowledge or enquiry as to the reasons for the mitzvot; and there are those who observe mitzvot only by way of their enquiry and contemplation.
‘However, lest they come not to keep mitzvot if they do not find reasons to their understanding for them, they must first accept to perform all the mitzvot in the way of our tradition, just as Moshe received them from Sinai - and only then, seek to find reasons for them, accepting that, should they be unable to rationalize any of the mitzvot, this is due to their own intellectual limitations, accepting that all mitzvot are holy of holies, to be performed without deviation. ‘They will thereby be elevated upwards upwards and with full trust in Hashem, in their avodat Hashem.
‘Our Sages teach - as Rashi brings - that ‘Ephraim was regularly before Yaakov in learning’, and we need to ask why this was not also the case with Menashe.
‘The answer is that Ephraim chose to observe the Mitzvot in the way of acceptance of the tradition from generation to generation, and therefore spent all his days learning the tradition from Yaakov.
‘Menashe, on the other hand, decided to adopt the second approach; instead of seeking to learn the tradition from Yaakov, he decided that he would be able to comprehend the whole of the Torah by himself, by his intellect and contemplation, in the manner that Avraham Avinu did, before the Torah was given.
‘This is what Yaakov Avinu sought to reveal to us before his passing: which of the two approaches we should adopt, in our avodat Hashem. ‘He therefore began his blessing with the words:’May G-d make you like Ephraim and like Menashe’: that the son should merit to serve Hashem in both of these ways, both with simple emunah AND by way of contemplation - but lest we err that the order is not critical, ‘he placed Ephraim before Menashe’, so that we should know that the foundation of Ephraim has to be first firmly established, before we follows the approach of Menashe.
‘We can now appreciate the words of the Targum Yonatan, that this blessing is said at the brit milah; the reason why this mitzvah is performed on the eighth day of the son’s life, is to instill in the son that the foundation of the observance of all mitzvot in pure emunah, without enquiry or contemplation, ‘like Ephraim’. ‘However, afterwards we are also required to serve Hashem ‘like Menashe’, to seek to understand all the ways of Hashem.’
The Ramban expounds that the word, in our blessing, בך:’by you (will be blessed..) refers to Yosef himself, that ‘by your seed shall Israel be blessed, saying to the one to be blessed:’Make you like Ephraim and like Menashe’.’
Rav Yosef Salant, expounds in the same way, noting that this is why this word is in the singular, denoting that it is referring to Yosef, and not to his sons, as it then would have been in the plural. He expounds:’Since Yosef was the viceroy, he could educate and raise his sons in any of the ways and teachings that were available, and to elevate them and appoint them to high offices.
‘This being the case, how could a simple man, who is in a lowly position, and far from the places of learning, residing amongst people of a lesser level, even contemplate to bless his sons, that they should ‘be like Ephraim and like Menashe’?
‘When we reflect on the story of Yosef, who rose from the depths of slavery and abasement, to greatness and honor, to be viceroy of all Egypt, all the while remaining in his righteousness, despite the idolatry and impurity of his surroundings, we have proof that one can rise to great heights, whatever the circumstances be. ‘This is what Yaakov Avinu alluded to, in saying בך: by you - meaning Yosef - that when we remember what transpired with him, then every father can bless his sons, that they should be ‘like Ephraim and like Menashe, because nothing is beyond Hashem.’
A parting gem from Rav Elimelech miDinov - in his sefer ‘Agra d’Kala’:’The Aseret Hadibrot concludes with the comandment ‘not to covet that which your neighbor has’ - to be satisfied with that which Hashem has given each person, trusting that Hashem alone knows what is meet for each of His creations, and not to envy others, as envy ‘removes’ a person from his world. ‘Honor and desire can likewise ‘remove’ a person from his world, and therefore a person should not seek honor as against others, but rather always be submissive and see all that he has, as chessed from Hashem.
‘Yaakov Avinu, when he placed Ephraim ahead of Menashe, saw that Ephraim was not haughty as a result - vis-a-vis Menashe - and also that Menashe was not envious of Ephraim. ‘He therefore blessed them:’בך: in you shall Israel be blessed, may Hashem make you like Ephraim’, without pride, ‘and like Menashe, without envy on the good fortune of others.’
What a beautiful way to conclude Sefer Breishit, which is replete with the disastrous results of fraternal disunity - starting with Cain and Abel, on to Yitzchak and Ishmael, Yaakov and Esav, and culminating with Yosef and his brothers.
The repair started with Yehuda’s readiness to take the place of Binyamin - and concludes with Ephraim and Menashe.
May we merit to follow in their ways, and see the fulfillment, in our children, of the blessing of Yaakov Avinu.
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/382699
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