Daily Verse: Genesis 48:20
Tuesday 10 Tevet 5783 (03.01.23)
By Rabbi Michael Skobac
Like Ephraim and Menashe?
“He blessed them on that day saying: Through you shall [the people of] Israel bless saying: May God make you as Ephraim and Menashe”
Why did Jacob decide that when his future descendants would be blessed, it should be with a blessing that they should be like Ephraim and Menashe?
R’ Tzvi Elimelech Shapiro of Dinov explained that when Jacob blessed these two grandchildren, he blessed Ephraim first using his right hand, even though he was the younger of the two (48:13-19). Nonetheless, Ephraim did not become arrogant and Menashe wasn’t jealous. When Jacob saw how these brothers continued to relate to each other with love, he was impressed. Jacob knew what can develop out of sibling rivalries affected by jealousy.
At that moment he expressed his wish that all of his descendants should be like Ephraim and Menashe.
By Rabbi Michael Skobac
Rabbi Michael Skobac had been involved with Jews for Judaism (Canada) since 1989 and currently serves as its Director of Education and Counselling. He is a leading authority on missionaries, cults and issues relating to Jewish continuity and Jewish spirituality. Rabbi Skobac's publications include Missionary Impossible; Counter-Missionary Survival Guide; The DaVinci Code: A Jewish Perspetive; and Intermarriage: Is There Ligth at teh End of the Tunnel?
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Republished by Angelique Sijbolts with permission for the Noahide Academy.
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