Every Friday night we reenact one of the most moving scenes in the book of Breshit.

Jacob, reunited with Joseph, is ill.

Joseph comes to visit him, bringing with him his two sons, Manasha and Ephraim.

Jacob, with deep emotion, says,

I never even hope to see your face, said Israel to Joseph, but now God has even let me see

your children. He blesses Joseph. Then he places his hands on the heads of the two boys. He blessed

them that day and said, in time to come, Israel will use you as a blessing. They will say, Yisimhah al-Qim Kheem, Kham, Kime, Kime, Mehashah, may God make you like

Ephraim and Manasha.

And so we do to this day.

Why do we use this blessing above all others?

One commentator says, it's because Ephraim and Manasha were the first two Jewish children born in exile.

So Jewish parents blessed their children asking God to help them keep their Jewish identity intact,

despite all the temptations and distractions of diaspora life.

But I heard a most lovely explanation based on the Zohar from my revered

predecessor Lord Jakobovits blessed memory. He said that though there are many instances in the

Torah and Tanakh of parents blessing their children, this is the only time we find a grandparent

blessing grandchildren.

Between parents and children, there are often tensions.

Parents worry about their children.

Children sometimes rebel against their parents.

The relationship is not always smooth.

Not so with grandchildren.

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