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Learning From Yaakov's Hand Switch: Prayer During Times of Plenty

In Parshat Vayechi, Yosef brings his two sons, Ephraim and Menashe, to be blessed by his aging father, Yaakov. Yosef positions Menashe, the eldest, on Yaakov’s right, and Ephraim, the younger son, on Yaakov’s left. The ostensible purpose is to have Yaakov bless Menashe with his right hand – the right hand being deemed a source of greater blessing than the left hand (see list of halachic practices and non-ritual where the right hand takes precedence, reasons why the right hand is favored, and exceptions to the rule, e.g., tefillin).

Famously, Yaakov crosses his hands so that his right hand is on Ephraim, and his left hand is on Menashe, and proceeds to bless his two grandsons. At the conclusion of Yaakov’s blessing, Yosef notices that Yaakov had crossed his hands, and tries to move Yaakov’s right hand back on to Menashe. Yosef protests: “This is not correct, father. He [Menashe] is the bechor – put your right hand on his head.” Yaakov refuses to change his hands back and tells Yosef he knows that Menashe is the eldest. Yaakov explains:

“Gam hu y’hiyeh l’am v’gam hu yigdal v’ulam achiv ha’katon yigdal mimenu v’zaro y’hiyeh melo ha’goyim.”

“He [Menashe] too will become a national [hero] and he too will rise. But his younger brother will be greater than he and his descendants will astonish the nations.”

Rashi explains that Yaakov foresaw that Gideon would descend from Menashe, and a miracle would be performed through him. However, Yehoshua ben Nun, Moshe’s successor, would descend from Ephraim, and would help Bnei Yisroel conquer Eretz Yisroel and teach them Torah. The implication is that Yehoshua was a greater leader. Yaakov’s response is intended to explain his actions, but it’s not clear how it does so.

One cannot say that by virtue of Yaakov placing his right hand on Ephraim, Ephraim’s descendant (Yehoshua) eclipsed Menashe’s descendant (Gideon). Rather, it appears that Yehoshua was already destined to be greater than Gideon, and therefore precisely because of that higher stature, Yaakov blessed Ephraim with his right hand. That is, the greatness of Yehoshua merited greater blessing.

But why is this the case?

If indeed Ephraim’s descendants were destined to be greater, then perhaps Menashe required Yaakov’s blessing even more than Ephraim, no? After all, isn’t it always those who are lacking who seek blessings to improve their circumstances, while those who are not lacking do not feel as compelled to seek blessings. If Yehoshua was already destined for greatness, then perhaps Gideon required that extra dose of blessing from Yaakov.

Ha’emak Davar explains that, on the contrary, a greater leader requires more blessing from Hashem (“shefah yetaira”) than a less prominent leader because more is at stake. Yehoshua’s responsibilities to Bnei Yisroel were enormous – he was responsible for bringing them into Eretz Yisroel and teaching Torah to the entire nation. Were Yehoshua to fail in these responsibilities, the blow to Bnei Yisroel would be enormous. The Land of Israel would not be ours, and Torah would be forgotten. See Pirkei Avos 1:1, which singles out Yehoshua by name as the next in the chain of Torah transmission after Moshe.

To be sure, Gideon's contributions were critical to neutralizing the threat from the Midianites to the Jewish people. After Gideon's victories, peace reigned in the Land of Israel. But Yehoshua's contributions were more foundational, without which there would be no Jewish nation in the Land of Israel, and the link of Torah transmission would have been broken, chas v'shalom.

If one extrapolates a bit from this answer, there is an important lesson here. Which is that it’s not the time to start seeking blessing from Hashem when things are not going our way. Of course, we need blessing at such times. But it’s when everything seems to be going great that we are in even greater need of Hashem’s blessing because there is so much more at stake – there is so much more to lose.

Consider a common fact pattern: happy marriage, good job, nice house, children doing well in school. At such times, it seems we don’t need Hashem’s blessing. He has already blessed us, you might say. But the fact is that “blessing” from Hashem is a continuum, and at any moment, our fortunes can change. Considering how much shock we would feel at dramatically changed circumstances should cause us to pray to Hashem for His continued blessing with the same intensity that we would if things were not going so well and we wanted Hashem to change our circumstances.

A simple illustration is that of a wealthy man who supports many tzadakos. Let's say he is a self-made man who wasn't always rich, but started from nothing and built up a huge business. One can imagine that at the humble beginnings of his enterprise, he may have prayed to Hashem daily to make enough money to support his family. And then once his fortunes improved, he prayed to make enough money to begin giving charity. Now he is giving millions to charity - the stakes are much larger - if his enterprise fails, how many thousands of other individuals will lose out? Are his prayers as intense now as they were when he was first starting out hoping merely to make a meager living? As per the lesson from Yaakov's hand switch, the need for Hashem's "shefah" is even greater, because the stakes are so much greater.

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