Heeding the Words of the Sages and Jacob Blessing Ephraim Before Manasseh

Pesikta Rabbati 3:1

Curated by Arthur·Told by Maggid·

"On the eighth day, the prince of the children of Manasseh" (Numbers 7:54). Let our master teach us: the Chanukah lamp from which oil was left over, what must one do with it? Our masters taught us: if oil was left over on the first day, he adds more oil to it and kindles it on the second; and if it was left over on the second day, he adds to it and kindles it on the third, and so on all the days; but if it was left over on the eighth day, he makes a bonfire and burns it by itself. Why? Because once it was set aside for the commandment it is forbidden to make use of it. Let no one say, "I will not keep the commandments of the elders, since they are not from the Torah." The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him: No, my son; rather everything they decree upon you, keep, as it is said, "according to the Torah which they shall teach you" (Deuteronomy 17:11). Why? Because they decree even upon Me, as it is said, "You shall decree a thing, and it shall be established for you" (Job 22:28). Know this from Jacob: when he blessed Ephraim and Manasseh, "he set Ephraim before Manasseh" (Genesis 48:20), putting the younger before the elder, and his decree was fulfilled. When? In the offerings of the princes, the tribe of Ephraim brought first, as it is said, "on the seventh day, the prince of the children of Ephraim" (Numbers 7:48), and afterward "on the eighth day, the prince of the children of Manasseh." And thus Rabbi Tanchuma bar Abba opened: "The words of the wise are as goads" (Ecclesiastes 12:11). What is "as goads"? Just as the goad directs the cow to plow its furrow, so the words of the wise direct a person to the ways of the Holy One, blessed be He. "And as nails fastened are the masters of assemblies" — it does not say "nails fixed" but "nails planted." Why? Because the roots of a planted tree are hard to uproot, yet they lack the strength of iron, while an iron nail has strength; so the words of Torah were given the strength of iron. "They are given from one shepherd" (Ecclesiastes 12:11) — both these and those were given from the unique One of the world. Therefore Rabbi says: be more careful with the words of the scribes than with the words of Torah, for they are as goads. And so too with Jacob, when his time came to die and Joseph heard he was ill. He took his two sons with him, like a priest going to the threshing floor who takes his two sons along to make known to all that they are his sons and have a portion like him. "And one told Joseph, Behold, your father is sick" (Genesis 48:1). And here is all the praise of Joseph, that he held his father's honor in such awe that he did not enter his presence at every hour, lest his father say to him: how did your brothers treat you? — and curse them. For Joseph said: I know my father's righteousness; all his words are decrees. He said to Laban, "with whomever you find your gods, let him not live" (Genesis 31:32), and my mother died. If I come and he wishes to curse them, he will curse them, and I will be found destroying the whole world, for the world was created only for the sake of the tribes. "And Israel strengthened himself, and sat upon the bed" (Genesis 48:2). Why did he strengthen himself? Rabbi Pinchas ben Chama in the name of Rabbi Acha said: he strengthened himself in prayer. He said: when I come to bless them, may the holy spirit rest upon me, that I may bless them as is fitting. The Holy One, blessed be He, blessed Jacob, telling him He would establish twelve tribes from him; so Jacob said to Joseph: Ephraim and Manasseh, like Reuben and Simeon, shall be mine, and reckoned them as tribes. "And he guided his hands knowingly" (Genesis 48:14). When he placed Ephraim at his left and Manasseh at his right, what did Jacob do? He crossed his hands. Joseph immediately tried to lift his father's hand off Ephraim's head to set it on Manasseh's, but Jacob said, "his father refused" (Genesis 48:19) — do you think I did not know? I knew, my son, I knew. He began to bless them, "and he set Ephraim before Manasseh" (Genesis 48:20). And why did Ephraim merit this? Because he made himself small, and the Holy One, blessed be He, loves whoever lowers himself, as it is said, "though the LORD be high, yet He regards the lowly" (Psalms 138:6). And so in everything Ephraim comes before Manasseh — in judges, in standards, in kings, and in offerings: "on the eighth day, the prince of the children of Manasseh."

Themes

Oral TorahJacobHumility

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