Our Sages, delving deep into the Torah, grapple with this very idea in Bereshit Rabbah 97, a section of the ancient Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary). They begin with a verse from Genesis (48:16), where Jacob blesses his grandsons, Ephraim and Manasseh: “May the angel who redeems me from all evil bless the lads, and let my name and the name of my fathers, Abraham and Isaac, be called upon them, and may they proliferate like fish in the midst of the land.”
But what does it really mean to be "redeemed from all evil?" Rabbi Yosei bar Ḥalafta offers a surprising comparison: Sustenance, he says, is actually twice as difficult as childbirth! Childbirth, with all its pain (be’etzev in Hebrew), is explicitly described in the Torah. Yet, sustenance, the daily grind of making a living, is described with an even stronger word: be’itzavon, interpreted by the Midrash as the plural of be’etzev, implying double the difficulty.
Rabbi Elazar and Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥman take this idea even further. Rabbi Elazar points out that redemption and sustenance are constantly linked. Just as God performed multiple miracles in redeeming Israel, so too is sustenance a constant, daily miracle. Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥmani then makes a startling claim: Sustenance is greater than redemption! How can that be? Because redemption is often carried out by an angel, while sustenance comes directly from the Holy One, blessed be He. As it says in Psalms (145:16), "You open Your hand and satisfy everything living."
Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi adds another layer, comparing the difficulty of earning a living to the splitting of the Red Sea! He connects the verse "Who split apart the Red Sea" (Psalms 136:13) with "He gives food to all flesh" (Psalms 136:25). In other words, the very same power that parted the waters is at work in providing our daily bread.
The Midrash doesn’t stop there. It connects Jacob's blessing, "May…bless the lads," to Joshua and Gideon, descendants of Ephraim and Manasseh, to whom angels appeared. We're reminded of the powerful image of Joshua encountering an angel, the "commander of the host of the Lord" (Joshua 5:13-14). Rabbi Yehoshua, in the name of Rabbi Ḥanina bar Yitzḥak, even says the angel cried out from his toenails! The angel essentially tells Joshua, "Everywhere I am seen, the Holy One, blessed be He, is seen."
And then comes a fascinating little digression, where the angel explains that he had initially been sent to Moses, but Moses refused him, preferring God's direct presence. The angel warns Joshua not to make the same mistake!
Finally, the Midrash returns to the blessing, "May they proliferate like fish in the midst of the land." Just as the eye has no dominion over the fish, hidden beneath the water, so too, the evil eye will have no dominion over Jacob's descendants. Just as fish are only caught by their throat, so too will the descendants of Joseph be vulnerable only in that specific way.
The Midrash beautifully illustrates this with stories of the tribe of Ephraim, who were identified by their inability to pronounce the word Shibolet correctly, leading to their demise.
The Rabbis even delve into the sheer number of Israelites, claiming that when the Israelite women conceived six hundred thousand babies in one night, all cast into the Nile, but they ascended by Moses’s merit! Rabbi Zakkai Rabba then connects this back to the fish, saying just as in the midst of the land they were six hundred thousand, so, in the milieu of the fish they were six hundred thousand.
The passage concludes with a clever play on words: One whose name is like the name of fish (Nun, meaning fish in Aramaic), his son (Joshua the son of Nun) will take them into the Land of Israel.
So, what does it all mean? This passage from Bereshit Rabbah isn't just a dry commentary on a biblical verse. It's a profound reflection on the hidden miracles that sustain us, the constant interplay between redemption and provision, and the enduring power of blessing. It reminds us that even the most mundane aspects of our lives are touched by the Divine, and that perhaps, just perhaps, earning our daily bread is a miracle on par with the splitting of the Red Sea. Next time you sit down to a meal, take a moment to appreciate the extraordinary effort—seen and unseen—that made it possible.
“May the angel who redeems me from all evil bless the lads, and let my name and the name of my fathers, Abraham and Isaac, be called upon them, and may they proliferate like fish in the midst of the land” (Genesis 48:16). “May the angel who redeems me from all evil…” – Rabbi Yosei bar Ḥalafta said: Sustenance is twice as difficult as childbirth. Regarding childbirth it is written: “In pain [be’etzev] you will bear children” (Genesis 3:16). Regarding sustenance it is written: “With pain [be’itzavon]4The midrash interprets be’itzavon as the plural of be’etzev. you will eat of it all the days of your life” (Genesis 3:17). Rabbi Elazar and Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥman: Rabbi Elazar said: Redemption is juxtaposed to sustenance,5“The God who has shepherded me.… May the angel who redeems me.” and sustenance is juxtaposed to redemption.6“He delivered us from our foes.… He gives food to all flesh” (Psalms 136:24–25). Just as redemption is double,7God performed multiple miracles in redeeming Israel. so too, sustenance is double. Just as sustenance is [provided] every day, so too, redemption [occurs] every day. Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥmani said: It is greater than redemption, as redemption is by means of an angel and sustenance is by means of the Holy One blessed be He. Redemption is by means of an angel – “may the angel who redeems me”; and sustenance is by means of the Holy One blessed be He – “You open Your hand and satisfy everything living” (Psalms 145:16). Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said: A person’s sustenance is as difficult as the splitting of the Res Sea, as it is stated: “Who split apart the Red Sea” (Psalms 136:13), and it is written there: “He gives food to all flesh” (Psalms 136:25). “May…bless the lads” – this is Joshua and Gideon.8They were descendants of Ephraim and Manasseh, and angels appeared to them (Joshua 5:14; Judges 6:12). That is what is written: “It was when Joshua was by Jericho, he lifted his eyes and saw, and behold, a man was standing opposite him.… He said: No, for I am commander of the host of the Lord; now I have come” (Joshua 5:13–14). Rabbi Yehoshua in the name of Rabbi Ḥanina bar Yitzḥak: He cried out from his toenails.9The angel prostrated himself before Joshua, imploring him to accept his help (see Matnot Kehuna; Etz Yosef). “He said…I am commander of the host of the Lord” – everywhere that I am seen, the Holy One blessed be He is seen. This is a sign: Everywhere that Rabbi Yosei Arokh10Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi’s attendant. was seen, Rabbi [Yehuda HaNasi] would be seen. “Now I have come” – ‘I came to Moses your master; however, he prayed: “If Your presence does not go, [do not take us up from here]” (Exodus 33:15).11God sent an angel to lead the Israelites into the Land of Israel, but Moses prayed that God’s Presence itself would accompany them, and not the angel. I cannot ascend on High, because I have not yet carried out my mission. I cannot remain below, as he was still praying and saying: “If Your presence does not go [do not take us up from here].” Just make certain that you do not do what Moses your master did to me and rejected me.’ “May they proliferate like fish in the midst of the land” – just as the eye does not have dominion over the fish,12The fish are covered by water and are therefore hidden from human sight. so, the [evil] eye will have no dominion over your descendants. That is what is written: “The children of Joseph spoke to Joshua, [saying: Why did you give me an inheritance of one lot and one portion; and I am a numerous people, as the Lord has blessed me up to now?]” (Joshua 17:14). He said to them: ‘Are you not concerned about the [evil] eye?’ They said to him: ‘This is the blessing that our ancestor blessed us: “May they proliferate like fish in the midst of the land.”’ Just as fish are caught only by their throat, so, your descendants will be caught only by their throat – “They would say to him: Now say: Shibolet, and he would say: Sibolet” (Judges 12:6).13Forty-two thousand men of Ephraim were identified and killed in that manner. Just as fish grow in water, but when a single drop falls from above they receive it thirstily like one who never tasted the taste of water in all their days, so it is with Israel, they grow in water, in Torah, but when they hear a novel matter of Torah, they receive it thirstily like one who has never heard a matter of Torah in all their days. Rabbi Levi said: The Israelite women conceived six hundred thousand babies in one night, and they were all cast into the Nile; but they ascended by Moses’s merit. That is what Moses says: “Six hundred thousand men on foot [ragli] is the people that I am in their midst” (Numbers 11:21) – all of them ascended by my merit [leragli]. Rabbi Zakkai Rabba cited it from here: “May they proliferate like fish in the midst of the land” – just as in the midst of the land they were six hundred thousand, so, in the milieu of the fish they were six hundred thousand.14Thus, six hundred thousand babies were cast in the Nile, the “milieu of the fish.” Just as in the midst of the land they did not die, so in the milieu of the fish they did not die. One whose name is like the name of fish,15Nun means fish in Aramaic, and Joshua the son of Nun led the Israelites into the Land of Israel. his son will take them into the Land of Israel: “Nun his son, Joshua his son” (I Chronicles 7:27).
