Weekly Dvar Torah: Yaacov, Yosef, Menashe and Efraim

Before his passing, Yosef (Joseph) came to visit his ailing father Yaacov (Jacob), together with his children, Menashe and Ephraim.

Yaacov told Yosef, these two children of yours that were born to you in Egypt prior to my arrival to you in Egypt, they are to me, Ephraim and Menashe like (my own children) Reuven and Shimon.

What was Yaacov trying to convey here, why did he single out Menashe and Ephraim, his grandchildren, to be equal to his own children? Why them?

Why was this relevant to the time of Yaacov’s passing?

Yaacov was pure and holy, he came from the land of Canaan, the holy land, he was a shepherd who was spiritually minded and removed from worldly affairs, he was totally engaged in serving G-d, Egypt, the lowest level of worldliness at that time, was way beneath Yaacov’s level of serving G-d, to relate to.

That’s why G-d had to reassure Yaacov not to worry to descend down to Egypt, because he was worried that Egypt will drag him down, and without G-d’s direct intervention, he didn’t feel safe going there.

Yosef, However, he was brought to Egypt as a slave, the lowest level that a human being can feel to be, but instead of succumbing to Egypt and its follies, he became the viceroy and the ruler of Egypt.

Menashe and Ephraim, they were born in Egypt, and they had no other experience other than Egypt and all that it stands for.

When Yaacov came to Egypt, he was pleasantly surprised to find that not only did his son Yosef not fall prey to Egyptian culture, and that instead he managed to rise and take control of Egypt, to elevate it to a higher standard.

Yaacov himself, didn’t feel capable of undertaking such a monumental task, which made him feel awestruck by Yosef’s greatness, he never imagined that Yosef was so strong.

But Yosef after all, got his basic education still in Canaan, by his father Yaacov, so he was inspired by Yaacov, and this gave him the energy to hold strong and live up to the task, his empowerment came from Yaacov.

Menashe and Ephraim, they knew nothing different than Egypt, yet when Yaacov met them, he found them too to be as strong as his own children who were raised in Canaan and got their entire education by Jacob, this was extraordinary, this was unbelievably special.

Why was it so?

Yaacov represents the Tzadik who is totally connected to G-d under good circumstances, because he is above anything different to G-d.

Yosef represents the Tzadik who is able to take on the world, and he can elevate the world and bring it closer to G-d, because he has good strong roots.

Menashe and Ephraim, they represent the Tzadik who although born and raised in darkness, far away from G-dliness, yet they manage to bring the light into the darkness and be close to G-d.

This is the ultimate goal of creation, not to be affected by the concealment and the darkness, but rather illuminate the darkness with G-dly light.

Yaacov felt, that Ephraim and Menashe fulfilled the highest purpose, something which not even he felt that he could do by himself, he sensed the power of his grandchildren, that even they under the most difficult of circumstances, were not influenced, but rather they remained devoted to G-d, no less than his own children.

This was the greatest blessing that Yaacov could have prayed for, and that’s why his best years were not in Canaan, but rather the last 17 years of his life in Egypt.

The wholesomeness of a person is completed by his children and grandchildren, the dream of every person.

And Yaacov lived to see this in his grandchildren, who against all odds, made it in Egypt.

Strike that match, and illuminate the darkest of places.

Have a flaming Shabbos,
Gut Shabbos

RabbiYosef Katzman