Approaching death, Yaakov Avinu is visited by Yosef and Yosef's sons, Menashe and Ephraim. Yaakov proclaims that Menashe and Ephraim will be granted the same status (inheritance - see Rashi on 48:5) as the other sons of Yaakov, and - as Yosef brings his sons near to Yaakov to be blessed - Yaakov asks who they are, suddenly becoming hesitant or unable to bless them, according to Rashi's explanation. Yosef then affirms their identity, and Yaakov subsequently grants his berachos.

Rashi (ibid. v. 6-7), based on Medrashim, elaborates that Yaakov foresaw that evil descendents would emerge from Menashe and Ephraim, such as Kings Yeravam, Achav and Eihu, and he therefore felt that Yosef's sons were not worthy to be blessed, as they must have been subject to some type of genealogical flaw. Yosef thereupon brought forth his marriage contact and kesubah, demonstrating the legitimacy of his sons' lineage. As a result, Yaakov was able to bless the young men. (Targum Yonasan ben Uziel adopts a different Midrashic interpretation - that Yosef showed Yaakov that Yosef's wife, Osnas, was the daughter of Dinah, Yaakov's own daughter - whereupon Yaakov bestowed his berachos.)

What is happening here? What does the legitimacy of Yosef's marriage or who his wife was have anything to do with Yaakov blessing Menashe and Ephraim?

Although the Avos - the Patriarchs - could not marry women from the stock of Cham (son of Noach), such as Canaanite or Egyptian women, Yaakov's sons did indeed have Canaanite and Egyptian spouses. (See Rashi from Medrash on 50:13.) The rule seems to have been that one who was to have the status of the Avos or the Shevatim (Yaakov's sons - the heads of the Tribes), who were the founders and builders of the Jewish nation, could not come from the lineage of Cham, due to the baseness of character associated with that group. Therefore, the Avos and the Shevatim descended from women from Aram Naharayim, whose inhabitants were from Shem ("Semites").

What is the rationale for this? A father primarily teaches his children rules and lessons, but a mother primarily imbues her children with values. Avrohom taught Yitzchak about Hashem and showed him how to perform chessed, Yitzchak taught Yaakov to learn Torah and serve God with a whole heart, and Yaakov taught Yosef his entire Mesorah (Torah teachings). However, Yitzchak learned from Sarah's example of stubbornness for Torah values (as evidenced in her insistence that Yishmael be expelled due to his adverse influence, and in risking her life to repel the advances of Pharaoh and Avimelech) to be unyielding in his values, even under extreme pressure and even if the whole world would feel that he was wrong; Yaakov was inspired be Rivkah's example to keep Torah clandestinely, in the face of adversity and persecution (see d'var Torah on Parshas Toldos); Yosef was imbued by Rochel with this value as well.

It is for this reason that Yaakov could not bless Yosef's sons without investigating their lineage. Ephraim and Menashe were not merely being blessed with a larger inheritance. Rather, they were becoming Shevatim, and therefore needed to be of special stock - to have the type of mother that could impart Torah values. Thus, Yaakov had to know that Yosef's wife, Osnas, had a history of commitment and responsibility (as reflected in entry to a marriage contract) or that she was of a lofty spiritual pedigree; only then could Yosef''s sons attain the status of Shevatim.

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It is important to carefully examine the flow of Yaakov's messages to Yosef at the beginning of the parshah. Their first conversation consists of Yaakov asking Yosef to bury him in Ma'aras Ha-Machpelah in Chevron, where the Avos and Imahos are interred. Their latter conversation, when Yosef returns to Yaakov upon hearing that Yaakov had taken ill, consists of Yaakov notifying Yosef that Ephraim and Menashe will be blessed and become elevated to the level of Yosef's brothers regarding their status and inheritance as Shevatim. However, smack in the middle of that discussion, Yaakov proclaims, "And I, when coming from Padan (Aram) - Rochel died on me in the land of Canaan on the way...and I buried here there on the road to Ephras, which is Beis Lechem." (49:7) After making this seemingly out-of-place statement, Yaakov returns to the subject matter of blessing Menashe and Ephraim.

Invoking Midrashic interpretation, Rashi explains that Yaakov's comments about Rochel's burial were made in order to pacify Yosef regarding the matter. Yaakov believed that Yosef was resentful that Rochel was buried on the roadside, not even within the city limits of Beis Lechem. Yaakov indicated to Yosef that his burial of Rochel there was not out of neglect, but was done at God's will, as - when the Jews will in the future be exiled to Babylon and pass the road at which Rochel lies - she (her soul) will go forth, cry and plead to Hashem on their behalf, and her prayer will eventually yield results. Therefore, implied Yaakov, Yosef should not be resentful for his mother's burial in such an undignified location, for it had a future critical and most noble purpose.

Nonetheless, our question remains: what was the point of Yaakov's mention of Rochel's burial smack in the middle of a conversation about a totally different topic, that of blessing Menashe and Ephraim?

On a simple level, one can suggest that Yaakov was justifying to Yosef why his (Yosef's) sons rather than those of his brothers were being granted the status of Shevatim. Yaakov was explaining that since Rochel died young and was thus unable to have more children - who would naturally have been Shevatim, being the sons of Yaakov - her grandsons would understandably fill this role instead, so that additional Shevatim can be attributed to Rochel. This is why Rochel's unexpected death and burial at a young age were pertinent to the conversation.


On a deeper level, Yaakov was saying much more. Yaakov sensed that Yosef was bothered at Yaakov's apparent favoring - again - of children. After all, Yaakov's favoring of Yosef was the cause of the friction between the brothers and much of the suffering that Yaakov and his family had endured. Finally, after Yosef and the brothers were reunited and had made amends, the last thing that was needed was for Yosef's sons - Menashe and Ephraim - to receive favorable treatment, likely to incur the wrath of the other Shevatim. Although Yaakov was prophetically told that one of the Shevatim would expand into two (see Rashi from Medrash on 48:4), it would seem hazardous for Yaakov to actively expand the Shevet of Yosef as he did.

By way of illustration, Yaakov was privately explaining to Yosef and his sons that events which appear unfair and even cause pain are often part of a larger scheme for good. Rochel's burial on the roadside seemed on the surface to indicate Yaakov's neglect, but it was in truth part of a broader, divinely-ordained plan for the future redemption of the whole nation. So, too, Yaakov was revealing that his present actions should not be taken in a vacuum. Just as there was good reason, unknown at the time, for Rochel's en route interment, there was also a reason, not able to be discerned at the present, for elevating Menashe and Ephraim. Yaakov knew that the leadership and power that the future nation would require called for the emergence of these two unique tribes - Menashe and Ephraim - and he was explaining to Yosef that his (Yaakov's) promotion of these young men should not be judged through the narrow lens of favoritism, but as a good (and a necessity) bestowed on the entire people that would eventually become realized.

Although the Gemara (Shabbos 10b) teaches that we learn from Yaakov not to favor any child, not all opinions in rabbinic literature take a negative perspective of Yaakov's special treatment of Yosef. Even according to the Gemara's view, we do not find Yaakov being personally punished as a result of his actions. As with the case of the destruction of Shechem, it seems that Yaakov's actions may have been called into question on a practical level, although his motives were not. With this in mind, when Yaakov spoke with Yosef and his sons in our parshah, Yaakov may have been expressing a larger statement about his own life. Yaakov was communicating that the events which led to the enmity of Yosef's brothers and the tragedies that ensued were not to be viewed so narrowly. They were all part of God's plan (as Yosef himself stated numerous times about his sale as a slave), and Yaakov's recognition of Yosef's uniqueness - while perhaps controversial - was what instilled in Yosef the sense of self-esteem, leadership and vast Torah knowledge and commitment that was necessary to sustain the family and build its future.