Don't Walk Like an Egyptian

In this week's parsha, Vayechi, we find the episode in which Yaakov Avinu, towards the end of his life, gives a 'tailor made' blessing to each of his sons. The commentators make an interesting observation; the blessings that Yaakov expressed were almost exclusively given to his sons; that is, none of his wider family received personal brochos, however there are two exceptions- Menashe and Efrayim, the two sons of Yosef- why? This question is compounded when one understands that the entire story of Yosef being hated and then sold by his brothers, was, to some extant the result of the special attention that Yaakov invested in him, this being the case, the last thing we would expect now would be for Yaakov to single out Yosef again by selecting only his sons out of all his grandchildren to receive blessings!

The answer is that it was obvious to all why Yaakov singled out Yosef's sons- they had a spiritual handicap! Whilst all the other grandchildren of Yaakov had grown up in an insulated and spiritually rich environment, Yosef's two sons had been brought up surrounded by alien beliefs and a value system very far from that taught by the Torah- all the other brothers fully understood the need to direct special assistance towards Menashe and Efrayim in order to successfully remove from them any influence from the society that they had been part of.

We, as Jews in golus- exile, find ourselves similarly, spiritually "handicapped." For so many years we have lived side by side, neighbors and a society at large, which possess values and an outlook of life which is so far from that which is contained within our holy Torah. We must remain on guard so as not to be swept up by the many pervading ideals that are not moral and just, and stay steadfast in our belief and practice of His Torah- We need to walk like a Jew- not an Egyptian.