Miketz 5783

בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יהוה אֱלהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעולָם אֲשֶׁר קִדְּשָׁנוּ בְּמִצְותָיו וְצִוָּנוּ לַעֲסוק בְּדִבְרֵי תורָה:

Blessing for Torah Study

Barukh Atah Adonai Eloheinu Melekh Ha'Olam Asher Kideshanu Bemitzvotav Vetzivanu La'asok Bedivrei Torah

Blessed are you Adonai, our God, Sovereign of Eternity, who has made us holy through Your mitzvot (sacred callings) and called upon us to immerse ourselves in the words of Torah.

בראשית מ״א:נ׳-נ״ב

(נ) וּלְיוֹסֵ֤ף יֻלַּד֙ שְׁנֵ֣י בָנִ֔ים בְּטֶ֥רֶם תָּב֖וֹא שְׁנַ֣ת הָרָעָ֑ב אֲשֶׁ֤ר יָֽלְדָה־לּוֹ֙ אָֽסְנַ֔ת בַּת־פּ֥וֹטִי פֶ֖רַע כֹּהֵ֥ן אֽוֹן׃(נא) וַיִּקְרָ֥א יוֹסֵ֛ף אֶת־שֵׁ֥ם הַבְּכ֖וֹר מְנַשֶּׁ֑ה כִּֽי־נַשַּׁ֤נִי אֱלֹהִים֙ אֶת־כׇּל־עֲמָלִ֔י וְאֵ֖ת כׇּל־בֵּ֥ית אָבִֽי׃(נב) וְאֵ֛ת שֵׁ֥ם הַשֵּׁנִ֖י קָרָ֣א אֶפְרָ֑יִם כִּֽי־הִפְרַ֥נִי אֱלֹהִ֖ים בְּאֶ֥רֶץ עׇנְיִֽי׃

Genesis 41:50-52

(50) Before the years of famine came, Joseph became the father of two sons, whom Asenath daughter of Poti-phera, priest of On, bore to him.(51) Joseph named the first-born Manasseh, meaning, “God has made me forget completely my hardship and my parental home.”(52) And the second he named Ephraim, meaning, “God has made me fertile in the land of my affliction.”

Nahum Sarna

With the birth of an heir, Joseph now has founded his own nuclear family. He has achieved physical, social, and psychological security and feels he can forget his miserably unhappy youth or at least now allow it to intrude upon his future.

Rabbi Harold Kushner

By calling his first son Manasseh, Joseph is not saying that he has forgotten the circumstances of his coming to Egypt. He is saying that he remembers them but that the memory no longer oppresses him.

Questions for discussion: What does Joseph's life suggest to us about our own relationship to the interplay between our families of origin and our present home lives? What does it suggest to us about how we form a relationship to our past and how that informs our present circumstances? Where is God in this?