Ephraim humbled himself, whereas Manasseh went out and assisted his father in his affairs. Therefore Ephraim was always placed before Manasseh (Pesikta Rabbati 3:93).

Someone said to Joseph: "Behold, your father is ill" (Genesis 48:1). Ephraim, who used to study Torah with Jacob, told Joseph of his father’s illness (Tanchuma, Vayechi 6).

"An interpreter was between Pharaoh and Joseph" (Genesis 42:23). The interpreter was Manasseh (Bereishit Rabbah 91:8).

We’re becoming accustomed to the pattern. The younger supersedes the older. Isaac has the last "laugh" in the rivalry with Ishmael. Jacob "supplants" Esau. Perez beats out Zerah by a "thread." And Ephraim receives grandfather Jacob’s blessing before his elder brother Manasseh. It is the most famous invocation in Jewish history as Jacob, "maneuvering" his right hand upon the head of Ephraim (despite Joseph’s protestations), avers: "Manasseh also shall become a people, and he also shall be great; howbeit his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his seed shall become a multitude of nations" (Genesis 48:19). Then, turning to his grandchildren, he utters the prescriptive blessing which would be invoked upon every generation of Jewish sons every Sabbath eve of Jewish history: "God make thee as Ephraim and as Manasseh" (Genesis 48:20); and, by extension, upon Jewish daughters: "God make thee as Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel, and Leah."

By this time the reader is not surprised, particularly at the rabbinic liberties taken with the Scriptural text. Because certain sentences in the Joseph story lack nominal references, the rabbis substitute, with ulterior motives, the persons of Manasseh and Ephraim. Thus Ephraim is seen as the son who reports to his father that Jacob had taken ill. Like his grandfather, Ephraim had stayed close to home, "in the tent." And in the last seventeen years of his grandfather’s life Ephraim had the blessed opportunity to study Torah with Jacob. Thus the closeness of heart and spirit between the two.

Manasseh has a different inclination. He follows the footsteps of his father, Joseph, not the path of Jacob. It is he who is perceived as the intermediary when Joseph finally encounters his brothers in Pharaoh’s court. It is an important role, yet reveals the political nature of Manasseh, who is rewarded for his faithfulness, but on a less exalted level than the studious Ephraim. Perhaps Manasseh is Joseph’s favorite - his father does indeed try to rearrange Jacob’s hands of blessing, but finally the son of Jacob does give in to Israel’s wishes. He may be the viceroy of Egypt, but he would never disrespect his father.

Filial love, respect, honor, and Torah study. These were the traits that earned grandfather’s blessings and inclusion among the twelve tribes of Israel. Although some wicked kings would be included among their descendants (Jeroboam, Ahab, Jehu), Jacob knows Ephraim and Manasseh were begotten from a marriage of holiness, and were worthy of his benediction. All of us frail mortals pray for the same understanding.