VaYehi 5767 -- Rachel on Birkat haBanim

In Parashat VaYehi, Ya’akov blesses Ephra’im and Menashe as if they were his own children. Yosef lines them up with Ephra’im, the younger, on Ya’akov’s left, and Menashe, the elder, on Ya’akov’s right (miy’min). (B’reisheet 48:13) Ya’akov, who has lost his sight due to his advanced age, actually crosses his hands in blessing Ephra’im and Menashe, so that his left hand rests upon Menashe’s head, and his right hand upon Ephra’im’s. (48:14) Later (in 48:18-20), Yosef asks Ya’akov why he has done this, and Ya’akov explains that it was his intention to chose the younger over the elder.

This harkens back to Ya’akov’s own experience of being chosen, over his older brother Esav, to receive his father’s blessing. What I find particularly interesting, though, is that this idea of choosing the younger son over the elder seems to have skipped a generation. Ya’akov clearly seems to prefer Yosef to Binyamin.

However, I noticed a few things upon looking closely at the aforementioned passage, as well as the verse in Parashat VaYishlah where Binyamin receives his name. (B’reisheet 35:18) Rachel actually names him Ben-Oni as she is dying, but Ya’akov decides to call him Binyamin. According to the commentators, Rachel chooses Ben-Oni (from onah, meaning affliction), because he is the son of her grief (Ben-Aveli). [The name is associated with Lehem Oni (the Bread of Affliction, which refers to matzah), and is particularly appropriate because Binyamin was born (and Rachel died) in Beit Lehem (Bethlehem), literally the “House of Bread.”]

According to the Ramban, Ya’akov -- who does not change any of his other children’s names from the names chosen by their mothers -- re-interprets the name Ben-Oni to mean Ben-Kohi, son of my strength. In taking onah, affliction, as a source of strength rather than grief, Ya’akov then translates the name to Binyamin, son of the right (hand). The right hand, y’min, is associated not only with the quality of strength, but also with success and might. In translating Binyamin’s name, he retains Rachel’s original idea, but also ascribes these good qualities to his son.

Later, Ya’akov tries to protect Binyamin when he attempts to prevent him from going back to Egypt with his brothers; it was Yosef who he sent into harm’s way. This suggests that perhaps Ya’akov favored Binyamin over Yosef. So the pattern of favoring the younger son, or at least making him an equal to his elder brother, is continued through the generations.

A further thought: The passage where Ya’akov blesses Ephra’im and Menashe is the source for Birkat HaBanim, the Blessing of the Children said by parents on Friday night. In fact, the blessing for sons actually asks God to make them like Ephra’im and Menashe (Y’simcha Elokim k’Ephra’im v’ki’Menashe). It is customary in many homes for parents to place their hands upon the heads of their children (as Ya’akov did) when reciting the blessing. In my home, rather than placing his hands on each of our heads, my own father would stretch out his arms towards us upon reciting the Priestly Blessing. While we have teased him about this habit, in addition to stretching his arms out, he also crosses his arms in the process. Whether or not this was a conscious decision to reflect the practice used by Ya’akov in the original Birkat HaBanim, I cannot say. However, it certainly interests me from an anthropological perspective, and I would have to say (pun intended): Right on, Abba!

-Rachel Slutsky-Kaplowitz