וַיַּרְא יִשְׂרָאֵל, אֶת-בְּנֵי יוֹסֵף; וַיֹּאמֶר, מִי-אֵלֶּה.
וַיֹּאמֶר יוֹסֵף, אֶל-אָבִיו, בָּנַי הֵם, אֲשֶׁר-נָתַן-לִי אֱלֹהִים בָּזֶה; וַיֹּאמַר, קָחֶם-נָא אֵלַי וַאֲבָרְכֵם.
וְעֵינֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל כָּבְדוּ מִזֹּקֶן, לֹא יוּכַל לִרְאוֹת; וַיַּגֵּשׁ אֹתָם אֵלָיו, וַיִּשַּׁק לָהֶם וַיְחַבֵּק לָהֶם.
וַיֹּאמֶר יִשְׂרָאֵל אֶל-יוֹסֵף, רְאֹה פָנֶיךָ לֹא פִלָּלְתִּי; וְהִנֵּה הֶרְאָה אֹתִי אֱלֹהִים, גַּם אֶת-זַרְעֶךָ.
"And Israel beheld Joseph's sons, and said: 'Who are these?'
And Joseph said unto his father: 'They are my sons, whom God hath given me here.' And he said: 'Bring them, I pray thee, unto me, and I will bless them.'
Now the eyes of Israel were dim for age, so that he could not see. And he brought them near unto him; and he kissed them, and embraced them.
And Israel said unto Joseph: 'I had not thought to see thy face; and, lo, God hath let me see thy seed also.'"
There is a strange stress here on seeing, or lack thereof. Yaakov beheld Yosef's sons and asked מִי-אֵלֶּה (though see previous post on how this is part of a different parallelism). So he sees the sons but does not recognize them. Further, we are told that Yaakov's eyes were dim with age, and that he could not see. Even in his exclamation of joy and being able to meet Yosef again and even meet Yosef's sons, the language of seeing is used. That is, רְאֹה פָנֶיךָ לֹא פִלָּלְתִּי does not mean that Yaakov had doubted because of his failing eyesight that he would be able to process visual input to see Yosef but rather that he had not expected to encounter Yosef alive. Similarly וְהִנֵּה הֶרְאָה אֹתִי אֱלֹהִים, גַּם אֶת-זַרְעֶךָ is not expressing joy that Hashem has let his eyes process the sight of Yosef's sons but rather that he would meet them. The metaphor of "seeing" is a natural one in English as well as it must be in Biblical Hebrew, yet in the context of failing sight it resonated well.
Furthermore, there is a parallel to Yitzchak's blessing. Yitzchak too had failing sight. In Bereishit 27:1 we read:
וַיְהִי כִּי-זָקֵן יִצְחָק, וַתִּכְהֶיןָ עֵינָיו מֵרְאֹת; וַיִּקְרָא אֶת-עֵשָׂו בְּנוֹ הַגָּדֹל, וַיֹּאמֶר אֵלָיו בְּנִי, וַיֹּאמֶר אֵלָיו, הִנֵּנִי.
"And it came to pass, that when Isaac was old, and his eyes were dim, so that he could not see, he called Esau his elder son, and said unto him: 'My son'; and he said unto him: 'Here am I.'"
Thus both Yitzchak and Yaakov, who were distributing blessings, had dim eyes because of age.
Yosef brings forth Ephraim and Menashe and aims to arrange it so that Yaakov will place his right hand on Menashe's head, but Yaakov crosses his hands to acheive the opposite effect. Further, Yaakov did this deliberately. In Beresihit 48:12-14;17-19:
וַיּוֹצֵא יוֹסֵף אֹתָם, מֵעִם בִּרְכָּיו; וַיִּשְׁתַּחוּ לְאַפָּיו, אָרְצָה.
וַיִּקַּח יוֹסֵף, אֶת-שְׁנֵיהֶם--אֶת-אֶפְרַיִם בִּימִינוֹ מִשְּׂמֹאל יִשְׂרָאֵל, וְאֶת-מְנַשֶּׁה בִשְׂמֹאלוֹ מִימִין יִשְׂרָאֵל; וַיַּגֵּשׁ, אֵלָיו.
וַיִּשְׁלַח יִשְׂרָאֵל אֶת-יְמִינוֹ וַיָּשֶׁת עַל-רֹאשׁ אֶפְרַיִם, וְהוּא הַצָּעִיר, וְאֶת-שְׂמֹאלוֹ, עַל-רֹאשׁ מְנַשֶּׁה: שִׂכֵּל אֶת-יָדָיו כִּי מְנַשֶּׁה הַבְּכוֹר.
...
וַיַּרְא יוֹסֵף, כִּי-יָשִׁית אָבִיו יַד-יְמִינוֹ עַל-רֹאשׁ אֶפְרַיִם--וַיֵּרַע בְּעֵינָיו; וַיִּתְמֹךְ יַד-אָבִיו, לְהָסִיר אֹתָהּ מֵעַל רֹאשׁ-אֶפְרַיִם--עַל-רֹאשׁ מְנַשֶּׁה.
וַיֹּאמֶר יוֹסֵף אֶל-אָבִיו, לֹא-כֵן אָבִי: כִּי-זֶה הַבְּכֹר, שִׂים יְמִינְךָ עַל-רֹאשׁוֹ.
וַיְמָאֵן אָבִיו, וַיֹּאמֶר יָדַעְתִּי בְנִי יָדַעְתִּי--גַּם-הוּא יִהְיֶה-לְּעָם, וְגַם-הוּא יִגְדָּל; וְאוּלָם, אָחִיו הַקָּטֹן יִגְדַּל מִמֶּנּוּ, וְזַרְעוֹ, יִהְיֶה מְלֹא-הַגּוֹיִם.
"And Joseph brought them out from between his knees; and he fell down on his face to the earth.
And Joseph took them both, Ephraim in his right hand toward Israel's left hand, and Manasseh in his left hand toward Israel's right hand, and brought them near unto him.
And Israel stretched out his right hand, and laid it upon Ephraim's head, who was the younger, and his left hand upon Manasseh's head, guiding his hands wittingly; for Manasseh was the first-born.
...
And when Joseph saw that his father was laying his right hand upon the head of Ephraim, it displeased him, and he held up his father's hand, to remove it from Ephraim's head unto Manasseh's head.
And Joseph said unto his father: 'Not so, my father, for this is the first-born; put thy right hand upon his head.'
And his father refused, and said: 'I know it, my son, I know it; he also shall become a people, and he also shall be great; howbeit his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his seed shall become a multitude of nations.'"
Thus it appears to Yosef that Yaakov has confused the younger for the older son. This is what happens earlier when Yaakov took Esav's brother. He presented himself as Esav: 27:9:
וַיֹּאמֶר יַעֲקֹב אֶל-אָבִיו, אָנֹכִי עֵשָׂו בְּכֹרֶךָ--עָשִׂיתִי, כַּאֲשֶׁר דִּבַּרְתָּ אֵלָי; קוּם-נָא שְׁבָה, וְאָכְלָה מִצֵּידִי--בַּעֲבוּר, תְּבָרְכַנִּי נַפְשֶׁךָ.
"And Jacob said unto his father: 'I am Esau thy first-born; I have done according as thou badest me. Arise, I pray thee, sit and eat of my venison, that thy soul may bless me.'"
However, in this case Yaakov knew who the older brother was and who the younger was. Chazal take the words שִׂכֵּל אֶת-יָדָיו to imply that he did so with sechel, or chochma, with deliberate intent. See Onkelos who says this and Rashi who refers to the Targum. Further, later Yaakov says יָדַעְתִּי בְנִי יָדַעְתִּי.
(I think it is possible to read it as without deliberate intent, with a very careful reading. שִׂכֵּל is an irregulate word and might just denote "divert" and יָדַעְתִּי בְנִי יָדַעְתִּי might be a response to Yosef's complaint that he now knows the other is the bechor and he still has blessings in reserve. In other words, "calm down, I've got this under control.")
Further, Esav presses Yitzchak to give him a blessing as well, saying (in 27:38) הַבְרָכָה אַחַת הִוא-לְךָ אָבִי--בָּרְכֵנִי גַם-אָנִי, אָבִי, and Yitchak responds by giving him a blessing. Similarly, Yosef seems to protest about precedence given to the younger, and Yaakov responds by saying that Menashe will also be great. 48:19
וַיְמָאֵן אָבִיו, וַיֹּאמֶר יָדַעְתִּי בְנִי יָדַעְתִּי--גַּם-הוּא יִהְיֶה-לְּעָם, וְגַם-הוּא יִגְדָּל; וְאוּלָם, אָחִיו הַקָּטֹן יִגְדַּל מִמֶּנּוּ, וְזַרְעוֹ, יִהְיֶה מְלֹא-הַגּוֹיִם
"And his father refused, and said: 'I know it, my son, I know it; he also shall become a people, and he also shall be great; howbeit his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his seed shall become a multitude of nations.'"
Replacing the younger for the older in a blessing from a blind man, is parallelism, and the fact that Yaakov did it deliberately suggests somewhat that he was trying to recreate his father's deathbed blessing scene.
There are also some out there who suggest that Yizchak knew full well that it was really Yaakov and not Esav and was playing along. I am not sure that I would subscribe to this theory, but Yaakov's deliberate actions here might inform on Yitzchak's actions back then that they were intentional.
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