5786/2026
In one of the most famous moments in the history of blessings, Yosef brings his two children to his sick and elderly father Yaakov to receive Berachot before Yaakov’s passing. The Torah describes how Yosef approaches Yaakov with Menashe on Yaakov’s right side and Efraim on Yaakov’s left, but Yaakov famously intentionally switches the positions of his hands, to bless Efraim with his right, always assumed to be the more significant, hand, and Menashe with his left, weaker, hand.
The simple reading, and the one assumed by most commentaries (see Rashi and Rabbenu Bachya, for example) is that when Yosef approached with Menashe on Yaakov’s right, it was because he assumed that Yaakov would want to give his greater Brachah to Menashe, for Menashe was the Bechor, the firstborn, and hence deserving of a greater Brachah.
However, in Paneiach Raza, a commentary written by Rav Yitzchak ben Yehuda, one of the Ba’alei Ha’Tosfot in the 1200s, one finds a radically different approach. He argues that Yosef intentionally tried to trick Yaakov into giving the primary Brachah to Menashe, correctly anticipating that Yaakov would give the Brachah to Efraim even before any of them walked into the room. The Paneiach Raza says that the Torah hints at this by starting the encounter with the phrase “And the eyes of Yaakov were heavy with old age,” a phrase eerily similar to the phrase that introduces the story of Yaakov stealing the Berachot from Esav: “And it occurred when Yitzchak grew old, his eyesight grew weak.” The Paneach Raza argues that just like Yaakov had to go out of his way to trick Yitzchak in order to acquire his own Berachot, so too Yosef attempted to trick Yaakov into giving the Berachot to his son Menashe rather than Efraim. This approach of the Paneiach Raza assumes, of course, that Yosef anticipated that Yaakov would want to give his younger son Efraim the Berachot even before Yosef brought his sons over. It's possible that this was because Yosef knew that Yaakov spent more time with Efraim and favored him. Alternatively, perhaps Yosef may have noticed that Yaakov earlier (in BeReishit 49:5) had mentioned Efraim’s name before Menashes’s in the context of declaring the two of them individual tribes, “Efraim and Menashe, like Reuven and Shimon they’ll be for me.”
Whatever the case may be, this assertion from the Paneiach Raza is nothing short of astonishing. It’s one thing for Yaakov, supported by his mother Rivkah, to employ some level of deception to ensure that the Berachot didn’t fall into the hands of the wicked Esav. Yaakov needed to ensure that his father Yitzchak not fall for his brother’s Esav’s feigned righteousness, and that the future Kohanim of G-d’s nation, who were appointed by rights stemming from the receipt of the Bechorah Berachot, came from a nation that was committed to the service of Hashem, and not from a figure like Esav who belittled the significance of such service. But what justification could there possibly be for Yosef deceiving Yaakov in our story?
I believe the answer is that Yosef correctly anticipated that the Berachot of Yaakov to Efraim and Menashe pertained to the future leadership of k’lal yisrael during many of its most significant eras, times when the leaders of Yehudah were not in charge. And the future leadership of the Jewish people, in any era, is not something that can be left up to chance, or anyone other than the best possible candidate. Rashi and many other Meforshim find allusions to tremendous figures such as Gideon and Yehoshua alluded to throughout these blessings. Yosef may have felt strongly that not only was Menashe entitled to the Berachot as the Bechor, but was more qualified to train his descendents as future leaders of the Jewish people. Perhaps this was due to Menashe’s spending more time gaining political experience with Yosef in the palace, while Efraim sat learning. Perhaps Yosef was even nervous that Yaakov, who had missed out on much of Efraim’s and Menashe’s upbringing, did not appreciate the relative strengths of each of his two sons. Just moments earlier, Yaakov had asked “who are these two?” It is heavily discussed among the commentators as to what that phrase means, but on a simple level it means Yaakov did not recognize them. Some argue it was because Yaakov could not see well, but perhaps it was also because he did not often spend time with them as they grew. Some commentators even say that Yosef intentionally maintained a distance from Yaakov while Yaakov lived in Egypt to ensure that Yaakov never asked him about how he got sold down into Egypt, as Yosef did not want to speak ill of his brothers. Yosef could not leave a decision about the leadership of Klal Yisrael to chance or to someone who had even a slight chance of being misinformed or of making the wrong decision. The ideal candidate was absolutely necessary.
Of course, ultimately Yaakov did prophetically know better. “I know, my son, I know.” Yes, Menashe may have the experience you describe, and yes he may seem to be the more capable and worldly leader. But ultimately Efraim and his descendents have the potential to be even greater, and sanctify the name of G-d throughout the whole world, “Ve’Zaro Yehiyeh Melo HaGoyim,” “his offspring shall be plentiful enough for nations” (48:19), making Efraim ultimately the truly right choice.