Shabbat Vayechi
At the end of the book of Bereishit, we have the blessings that Yaakov bestows on his sons before he dies. Blessings is not the best way to describe what he actually says. In most cases, he’s simply describing the characteristics of the individual son, why he likes him or not and using puns when available.
The two sons that get the most compliments and most texts are Yehudah and Yosef. Which in a way points to the fact that hundreds of years after Yaakov and after the death of king Solomon, the Israelites were split into two kingdoms, Yehudah and Binyamin in the South around Jerusalem. And Yosef is the generic name for the 10 other tribes in the north around Samaria. Some commentators have Yaakov predicting a messianic future. But that is going beyond the historicity and the obvious meaning of the text. Yosef nevertheless gets special treatment. We know he will divide into the two tribes, Efraim and Menashe. Which in itself might explain why he matters so much. No other tribe splits into two.
The actual wording of what Yaakov says about Yosef. The Hebrew ( Bereishit 49:22)
בן פורת יוסף בן פורת עלי עין בנות צעדה עלי שור
Which, transliterated, is Ben porat Yosef, Ben porat ali ayan, benot tsa’ada alley shor.
Art Scroll translates that as Joseph is a charming son charming to the eye of each of the daughters who climb heights to gaze at him. Steinzaltz on the other hand translates it : Joseph is a fruitful tree a charming son to the eye of each of the daughters who climbed heights to gaze. And he adds a possible variation Girls shall stroll over the wall. If you take the JPS, Joseph is a wild, wild ass by a spring, with colts on the hillside.
And if you look at different English, non-Jewish versions, you’ll find a most amazing variety. I don’t think any two are exactly the same.
Here is a random few. Joseph is a fruitful branch of the vine, its branches run over the wall. Joseph is a young bull, a young bull by a spring, who strides with oxen. Joseph, you are a fruitful vine growing near a stream and climbing a wall. Joseph is a growing son, a growing son and comely to behold; the daughters run to and fro upon the wall. Joseph is like a wild donkey, like a young donkey by a spring, like colts grazing in a pasture. Joseph is like a grapevine that produces much fruit. Joseph is a foal of a wild donkey watered by a spring. Joseph is a fruitful tree, a fruitful tree by a spring, with branches climbing over a wall. Joseph is a wild colt, a wild colt by a spring, wild colts on a hillside. Joseph is like a grapevine that produces much fruit, a healthy vine watered by a spring. Joseph is a son increasing, a son increasing, and fair in beholding, daughters run about on the wall.
All of this highlights the problem that people have with the text of the Torah. It is more complicated than one thinks. Translation is very often a fool’s task. But that’s only half of it. The Midrash, adds a totally different take that has little to do with literality. This phrase about Yosef has been adapted, particularly by the Sefardi and Mizrahi community. Those of you who are familiar with the main yeshivot of Jerusalem will know that overlooking the Western Wall is the most famous Sefardi yeshiva called Porat Yosef which hints at the value of serious study which in the Sefardi tradition is much wider and all-encompassing than the more casuistic Lithuanian Ashkenazi tradition.
But more than this is that Yosef has power over the evil eye! And if anyone thinks they have been smitten by the evil eye, one simply has to say Ben porat Yosef and the evil eye will have no effect because the Biblical text is understood to mean that Yosef has power over the eye. To support this particular interpretation, the Midrash also says the reason why Yosef overcomes the evil eye is because Ayin can mean either an eye or a well. In other words, water. And just as fish are protected from sight by being under the water, so anyone who invokes Yosef will be protected.
Of course, the whole issue of what an evil eye is and whether it has any efficacy is debated by the rabbis, as indeed are most ideas over the thousands of years of rabbinic debate. So, if anyone tells you they are in possession of the only correct interpretation of an idea, or that there is only one translation, you know they are talking through their hat!!!
Bereishit Chapter47:28 -50:26
Rabbi Jeremy Rosen lives in New York. He was born in Manchester. His writings are concerned with religion, culture, history and current affairs – anything he finds interesting or relevant. They are designed to entertain and to stimulate. Disagreement is always welcome.
