Yaakov famously blesses Ephraim and Menashe but who tells Yosef to bring them to their grandfather? It doesn't seem that this would be a natural thing to do as they are not Yaakov's sons. Does someone tell Yosef to do this?

  • The question's title and body ask two different, albeit related, questions: the title asks "why" and the body asks "who". – Lee Jan 12 '17 at 10:26

Midrash Hagadol (to Gen. 48:1) cites an opinion that Osnas, Yosef's wife, urged him to do so: "I have heard that anyone who receives a blessing from a tzaddik is as if he received it from the Divine Presence. Take your sons so that he can bless them!"


Rav Meir Eliyahu says that it is good to a get a Beracha from a Sadik before they die.

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    It says there about the advantage of "seeing them before their death, and all the more so during their lifetime," but where does it speak about getting a berachah from them at that time? – Alex Jan 20 '12 at 20:15
  • Rav Meir Eliyahu says it – Hacham Gabriel Jan 20 '12 at 20:24

RaSh"I, commenting on Bereshit 48:1, states:



The opinion of the "יש אומרים" answers the question of "who".

ויקח את שני בניו עמו: כדי שיברכם יעקב לפני מותו

So he took his two sons with him: so that Jacob should bless them before his death.

This answers the question of "why".

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