5786/2026
At the end of his life, Yaakov gives a Brachah to his son, Yosef and his grandchildren, Efraim and Menasheh, and adds that all Jewish sons in the future will be given a Brachah to be like them. But why specifically Efraim and Menasheh, as opposed to anyone else? Wouldn’t it makes sense to bless his future children to be like the Avot? Aren’t Efraim and Menasheh relatively minor characters in the scheme of things?
There is an explanation suggested by Rabbi Efrem Goldberg that Efraim and Menasheh are the first generation of siblings to get along. Yitzchak and Yishmael didn’t get along, Yaakov and Eisav, and even Yosef and his brothers had their issues. With Efraim and Menasheh, for the first time, we see brothers who grow up without rivalry, jealousy, or resentment of each other.
Another explanation is from Rav Yisrael Meir Druck, quoting his father, Rav Mordechai Druk, who asks why Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov are called Avot, their children are called the Shevatim, but Efraim and Menasheh don’t receive a title? There is a notion that with every generation, we become further from Hashem, there is a degree of decline. While the shvatim are certainly great, they are a step down from the Avot. Only Ephraim and Menashe broke that mold and didn’t decline. Yaacov says “Efraim and menashe were like Reuven Shimon”. They weren’t just grandchildren, but rather children. Not only did they not decline but they excelled past their parents generation.
The Targum Yonatan suggests that really the Brachah of Efraim and Menashah should be given on the day of a boy’s Brit Milah, because a Brit Milah is the first Mitzvah that a baby encounters and therefore we should give a bracha then that with every mitzvah may the baby continue to surpass those who came before him.
Rav Zar, Rabbi Efrem Goldberg's uncle says, when we say at a Bris “Zeh HaKatan Gadol Yehiyeh,” “This young one should be a great one,” of course we want our children to grow bigger and be strong and healthy, but Gadol Yehiyeh, it really can be gadol Memeni Yehiye, may he be greater than me. It is every parents wish and the greatest bracha for their child to grow greater than them. And Ephraim and Menashe are the first example of that.
This point is highlighted further when the Pasuk describes how Yosef placed his hands on Efraim and Menasheh’s heads, and then afterward, the next Pasuk starts with “VaYivarech Et Yosef” (BeReishit 48:14-15).
Why are Yaakov's hands on Efraim and Measheh’s head while he is giving Yosef, their father, a Brachah?
Rav Yisrael Meir Druck explains that we learn a very important lesson here: the greatest Brachah a parent can have is that their children are thriving and following the way of Hashem. This is exactly what Yaakov is showing Yosef- that he has the greatest Brachah right in front of him.