GEN1589 The classic Jewish blessing on Friday evening by a Jewish father to his son is “May God make you like Ephraim and Menasheh.”   Of all of the great people to aspire to, why did the rabbis choose these two (relatively minor biblical personalities) and ignore Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and so on?  One possible answer is that unlike Isaac and Jacob, who grew up in a totally Jewish household in the land of Israel, Menasheh and Ephraim were born and raised in the land of Egypt, where they were the only Jews in the entire land and they had to “act Egyptian” as children of the king’s viceroy.   Nevertheless, they were able to remain good Jews, as they were brought up properly by their father Joseph.   … The other half of the blessing, for girls, can now be understood.   There, the four mothers of Judaism are mentioned as models, because each of them grew up in an environment alien to Judaism, yet, nevertheless, emerged as Jewish women with the right Jewish values. Sarah, Rebecca, Leah, and Rachel all had fathers who did not exemplify Jewish values, and they all grew up in the most non-Jewish of environments.  Like Menasheh and Ephraim, they, too, were able to withstand the pressures and influences of their environments to develop the right attitudes and pass them on to their children. … it is the obligation of Jewish parents to try and instill those values that will last and remain with children when they become adults so that they will be able to live Jewishly in any environment in the world. AMEMEI 138-9  

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GEN1590 The true ba’al mussar will be acutely aware of the dual-faceted nature of the humility concept. On the one hand as he strives ever-upwards in his quest for self-fulfillment, he will learn to recognize his own self-worth and his own stature and dignity as a Torah Jew, who can aspire to attain the highest rungs of spiritual fulfillment in his role as man-Israel. Thus, the Sages teach us that the Torah Jew must always say to himself, “When will my deeds approach those of my ancestors, Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov?” Tanna Devei Eliyahu Rabbah, Chap. 25.  Similarly, it has been said in the name of Rav Moshe Feinstein [Rav Moshe Feinstein, venerable Dean of Mesifta Tiferes Jerusalem in Manhattan, was regarded as the leading Posek or halachic authority of our generation.] that when a father blesses his sons each Friday evening, he makes them perennially aware of their high calling as descendants of the Shivtei Kah – the “Tribes of God” – as he invokes the worlds of the Patriarch, Jacob – “May God make you as Ephraim and Menasheh.”  [this verse]. In this way, the Jewish child is made aware from his earliest youth that he must always aspire to attain the magnificent spiritual splendor of his ancestors, setting before his eyes the resplendent example of Ephraim and Menasheh, who, surrounded though they were by the sensual pleasures of Egypt, nevertheless managed to emerge with the full radiant spiritual statute of the Shivtei Kah –the sons of Jacob – the “Tribes of God.” FENDEL 160-1

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GEN1591 Concerning the explanation of [this verse], Rashi states that Yaakov suspected Shimon and Levi of having sold Yosef.   The reason he suspected them and did not suspect Issachar and Zevulun of having committed this sin is that they [the latter] did not speak in the presence of their elder brothers.” Rashi’s explanation indicates that this principle of derech eretz [proper conduct] was assumed as a matter of course by the Patriarchs and their sons.  [See also 31:4 “Rachel”] WAGS 74

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GEN1593 Do not turn up your nose at the mention of someone’s name.   … Although not the literal meaning of the verse, the thought has been expressed that besides meaning “in their anger,” b’apom can also be defined as “with their nose.”   Quite often, by just turning up one’s nose, one can greatly harm another person.  If that person is present, he will feel belittled and humiliated.   Even when someone is not present, turning up one’s nose at the mention of his name implies derogatory tributes and can cause someone to lose job or marriage prospects.   (Heard from Rabbi Chayim Mordechai Katz, z.t.l., Rosh Hayeshiva of Telshe).  PLYN 126

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GEN1592 As much as possible, avoid associating with people who do not control their tempers, even if they are close relatives.  … Jacob was speaking of his own ill-tempered sons when he said, “Into their company let me not come” [this verse]. Certainly, when you enter into a relationship with someone, observe their disposition.   If you choose to marry a temperamental person, this is the environment in which you will spend your life and in which your children will be raised.   TELVOL 1:255

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GEN1594 See [[GEN121]] Genesis 1:27 image SPERO 162-3

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GEN1595 The reference to maiming oxen illustrates the extent to which enraged people commit acts of gratuitous violence.  Rage separates people’s minds and hearts from God, and inhibits moral constraints.   … Most of us have occasionally responded to bad behavior with disproportionate rage, which is why we all need to learn how to control ourselves when we are consumed with anger. … As the Talmud explains, “When one becomes rageful, God becomes of no consequence to him” [and] “It is certain that the sins of the angry man outweigh his merits” Nedarim 22b.   TELVOL 1:248-9

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GEN1596 See [[GEN1420]] Genesis 34:25 slew AMJV 275-6

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GEN1597 In an interesting example of inter-biblical dialogue, Genesis 49:5-7 alludes critically to the story of the rape of Dinah Genesis 34 and implicitly to the tale’s ideology of tricksterism. This difficult-to-date-and-place piece of tradition Claus Westermann; Genesis. A Commentary, Minneaplis MN: Augsburg 1986:221 is part of the so-called “Blessings of Jacob,” a final testament of the aging patriarch who is pictured to address each of his sons. Simeon and Levi’s slaying of men in anger and willful hamstringing of oxen Genesis 49:6 is decried as unfair and inappropriate: “Cursed be their anger, for it is fierce/ their overflowing rage, for it is relentless.” The interest of the writer who placed this saying in its biblical context is probably less in the ethics of war than explaining aspects of the tribes’ status in Israel, especially Levi’s lack of the tribal holding. Nevertheless, Genesis 49:5-7 provides a fascinating ideological counterpoint to Genesis 34, a view of warring behavior more in tune with the bardic code than with the marginal’s tricksterism. NIDITCH 137-8

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GEN1599 Smile to your fellow man. Before he died, Yaakov blessed the tribe of Yehuda that their land would be so fertile that the vineyards would produce an abundance of wine and the sheep grazing on the land would produce an abundance of milk. (Rashi).   The Talmud Ketubot 111b states that [this verse] can be read (in the Hebrew) as “When one shows his teeth (in a smile) to his fellow man, it is better than giving him milk to drink.”   How highly we would consider a man who gave drinks of milk to passersby everyday.   When a benefactor of mankind!   A drink of milk provides essential nourishment and becomes part of all that the recipient does thereafter.   Yet this man does less than one who smiles at his fellow man.   The smile enters the recipient’s mind and body, and stimulates all the glands to produce their secretions in the most beneficial proportions.  Every one of the thousands of intricate processes of physical function is optimally motivated (Rabbi Avigdor Miller in Sing, You Righteous, p. 294). PLYN 126-7

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