vayechi: a blessing
sholem aleichem,
Yosef brings his children to his father, Yisrael:
וַיַּ֥רְא יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל אֶת־בְּנֵ֣י יוֹסֵ֑ף וַיֹּ֖אמֶר מִי־אֵֽלֶּה
Yisrael saw the children of Yosef, and he said “מי-אלה / who are these?”
Rashi explains that when Yisrael saw the children, the Shechinah removed herself from him, because he could only see the potential for evil coming out from them.
So when Yisrael is asking “who are these”, he is not asking it literally:
מֵהֵיכָן יָצְאוּ אֵלּוּ, שֶׁאֵינָן רְאוּיִין לִבְרָכָה
“who are these” — [meaning] where did these come out from, for they are not worthy [literally: they are not to be seen] for a blessing
Yosef answers:
בָּנַ֣י הֵ֔ם אֲשֶׁר־נָֽתַן־לִ֥י אֱלֹהִ֖ים בָּזֶ֑ה
They are my sons, that אלהים/Elohim gave to me in this [place].
Yisrael’s question was מי-אלה — who are these, and where did they come from, unfit for a blessing?
Yosef’s answer simply rearranges the letters of the question: מי-אלה becomes אלהים/Elohim.
Who are these, to expect a blessing? The question is the answer: they are of Elohim.
So the Shechinah returns to Yisrael, and he says
יְבָרֵךְ֮ אֶת־הַנְּעָרִים֒ וְיִקָּרֵ֤א בָהֶם֙ שְׁמִ֔י וְשֵׁ֥ם אֲבֹתַ֖י אַבְרָהָ֣ם וְיִצְחָ֑ק
May [haShem] bless the young ones, and let my name be named in them, and the name of my fathers Avraham and Yitzchak.
I started this round of Bereishis with a blessing, and I want to end it with one. We often bless with “may you be like Efrayim and Menasheh”, Yosef’s sons.
But I’d like to make a different blessing: may you be like Yosef and Yisrael.
May you perceive Elohim where others find only the potential for evil. And may you be ready to bless, with your own name, those you thought unworthy.
Chazak chazak v’nischazeik. May we merit the return of the Shechinah among us.
good shabbos,
ada
p.s. The idea that מי אלה is an anagram of אלהים comes from the opening of the Zohar, a sugya I learned in Lexi Kohanski’s incredible course “Who Created These” at Shel Maala Yeshiva.
p.p.s. It costs $90/year to run this newsletter. If you have a dollar or two to spare, I have a goal set at https://ko-fi.com/etzhi. Of course, there are many far more urgent needs for money in this world, so I neither expect nor want this to be a particularly high priority for anyone!
p.p.p.s. For those of you who expressed interest in an edited compilation of these divrei torah — it is coming, with haShem’s help, but might take a little while.