Why did Yaakov Avinu switched hands while blessing Joseph's sons?
Every Friday night, we bless our children with the blessings of Menashe and Ephraim, the sons of Joseph. We want our children to be, act, and be blessed like those two boys. But while blessing, Yakov Avinu switched his hands, placing his right hand on Ephraim, the second son, and his left hand on Menashe, the firstborn. The right way should always be the right hand on the firstborn and the left on the second son.
It pained Joseph to see this. So Joseph pointed it out to Yakov Avinu, saying, "This is his oldest son," pointing at Menashe. But Yakov Avinu said: From him will come a great nation, but from the other a greater nation will come, but... There was something that made Yakov Avinu give importance to the second son. What was it?
Let's look into this closely.
When Yakov Avinu saw these two boys, he was happy to see the achdut—friendship and brotherly love—that they had, even though they were raised amongst the gentiles in Mitzraim—far from the influence of Jacob's household. He saw something that earlier generations lacked. Kain and Hevel had problems between themselves, where Kain ended up killing his brother. So with Yishmael and Yitzchak, Hashem intervenes and asks Avraham to listen to Sarah, and he drives Yishmael out of his home. In the case of Yakov and Eisav, they had problems as well; Yakov had to run from home because he was afraid for his own life. Even amongst his own children, there was animosity towards Joseph. And now by placing his right hand on Ephraim, it is like ‘Déjà vu’ all over again. When Yakov gave a ketonet passim —a striped coat —to Joseph and singled him out from all his children, the result was 22 years of separation from his son Joseph. And now, by putting his right hand on Ephraim, he is introducing exactly the same thing into the relationship of these two young boys.
But Yakov Avinu saw it differently. The love that he saw they had towards each other was more than any others had before. And by placing his right hand on the second son, he knew that his oldest brother would not be jealous of his younger brother and would only be happy for him.
But there may be another reason.
Gideon (see Judges) will come from the tribe of Menashe, and Yehoshua bin Noun will come from the tribe of Ephraim. Both are great men, but Yakov Avinu saw that the tests they would face in life would be at different levels for each.
The tests in life are what separate us, and our reactions to them will determine whether we make the right or wrong choices. While going through a test and under pressure, we may hurt others and burn the bridges or build castles and discover powers within to overcome whatever is thrown our way.
When the tribes approached Moshe Rabbenu to send spies to Eretz Yisrael, Yehoshua bin Noun was among the candidates chosen to spy out the land. Knowing the intentions of the others, Moshe Rabbeinu was afraid that this would influence Yehoshua bin Noun and that he might take the wrong side and commit a grave sin of slandering the land. So Moshe prayed for Yehoshua so he would not make that mistake, and he even changed his name to increase the odds.
When Yakov Avinu was giving the blessing to Joseph's sons and saw the consequences of that slander, he felt that Yehoshua needed a blessing from his right hand —an extra push in the right direction, a zechut, or merit from Yakov Avinu himself through Ephraim.
The death of that whole generation, wars, pogroms, and destruction of both Temples and all of the suffering that Am Yisrael has endured to date came because of that day, the slander, a false report that spies gave to the nation when they came back, and the nation’s reaction to it.
Thus, by blessing Ephraim with the right hand, Yakov Avinu helped Yehoshua bin Noun to pass the test of the spies with flying colors. Yehoshua bin Noun returned, brought the right report, became the leader after the passing of Moshe Rabeinu, and took the Am Yisrael to the land of Israel.
May the blessings of our fathers and our rabbis give us the right push in the right direction when the time comes, so we all shall build and not destroy, make the right choices, and pass our personal tests with flying colors, amen!!
Shabbat Shalom,
Shmuel Katanov
