Rabbi Avichai Katzin is a friend of Torah Mitzion, head of the Reshit Beit Midrash and Rabbi of communities in Ra'anana
Yaakov Avinu, who feared that he would not merit to see his son Yosef, is privileged not only to see him but also to bless his grandsons:
(13) And Yosef took them both, Ephraim in his right hand to Israel’s left, and Manasseh in his left hand to Israel’s right, and brought them close to him.
(14) And Israel stretched out his right hand and placed it on Ephraim’s head, though he was the younger, and his left hand on Manasseh’s head; he crossed his hands, though Manasseh was the firstborn.
(15) And he blessed Yosef and said: The God before whom my fathers Avraham and Yitzchak walked, the God who shepherds me from my inception until this day;
(16) the angel who redeems me from all evil, may he bless the lads, and may my name be called upon them, and the name of my fathers Avraham and Yitzchak, and may they multiply abundantly like fish within the land.
The Midrash identifies Manasseh and Ephraim not only as concrete individuals, but also their descendants:
“May he bless the lads” - this refers to Yehoshua and Gideon, as it is written (Yehoshua 5): And it came to pass when Yehoshua was in Jericho, that he lifted his eyes and saw, and behold, a man standing opposite him… and he said, No, for I am the commander of the army of the Lord.
Yehoshua and Gideon are descendants of Manasseh and Ephraim, but why specifically are they identified as representatives of their forefathers?
“Yaacov blesses the sons: the angel who redeems me from all evil, may he bless the lads.”
If we examine the verses describing Yehoshua and Gideon, we find that both fit the description “lad,” and both encounter an angel.
Thus Yehoshua (chapter 5) encounters an angel:
(13) And it came to pass when Yehoshua was in Jericho, that he lifted his eyes and saw, and behold, a man standing opposite him, with his sword drawn in his hand. And Yehoshua went to him and said to him: Are you for us or for our adversaries?
(14) And he said: No, for I am the commander of the army of the Lord; now I have come. And Yehoshua fell on his face to the ground and bowed, and said to him: What does my lord say to his servant?
(15) And the commander of the army of the Lord said to Yehoshua: Remove your shoe from your foot, for the place upon which you stand is holy. And Yehoshua did so.
And he is also called a lad:
“And the Lord spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his fellow, and he would return to the camp; but his attendant Yehoshua son of Nun, a lad, would not depart from within the tent.”
So too we find with Gideon. On the one hand, he encounters an angel (Judges 6):
(11) And an angel of the Lord came and sat under the oak that was in Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, and Gideon his son was threshing wheat in the winepress to hide it from Midian.
(12) And the angel of the Lord appeared to him and said to him: The Lord is with you, mighty warrior.
And he is called a lad (or young):
“(15) And he said to him: Please, my lord, with what shall I save Israel? Behold, my clan is the poorest in Manasseh, and I am the youngest in my father’s house.”
It is possible that the meaning of the matter is as follows.
Yaacov wishes to hint to his sons that they are about to face a difficult period of exile. A period in which divine providence is not revealed. A period in which you are considered lads.
Therefore, the figures suited to such a period are Yehoshua, who symbolizes the transition from the providence that dwelled in the wilderness to the complex reality of the Land of Israel, as is Gideon, who confronts a tangled reality:
“(13) And Gideon said to him: Please, my lord, if the Lord is with us, why has all this befallen us? And where are all His wonders that our fathers told us about, saying: Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt? And now the Lord has abandoned us and delivered us into the hand of Midian.”
Gideon requires an “angelic” blessing, for he feels that he lives in a period in which divine apprehension is absent.
This is precisely the level of Yaakov, that even in a period in which the angel blesses, he will do so and bless the lads.
The Sefat Emet explains in this way the conclusion of the blessing: “and let them multiply abundantly like fish within the land.”
Fish live in the sea and not on dry land, yet at times they are exiled beyond their natural arena, and the blessing is that they will succeed even in such a state: “and let them multiply abundantly like fish within the land.”
For comments: akatzin1@gmail.com