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Why do we bless our children with "May you be like Ephraim and Menashe" on the day of the bris milah? The shiur develops a Kabbalistic yesod that every person has five neshamos—nefesh, ruach, neshamah, chayah, and yechidah—which emerge at different life stages. Bris milah awakens the chayah, the level associated with Shabbos (שבת) and true spiritual life, making it the ideal time for this berachah. Rabbi Zweig concludes with a mussar message: every spiritual koach must be exercised; to neglect any area of avodas Hashem (ה׳) is to let part of oneself die.
The shiur begins with a question from Targum Yonasan ben Uziel on the blessing Yaakov gave to Yosef's children, Ephraim and Menashe. Rashi (רש"י) explains that Yaakov established the custom that fathers bless their children with the words "May God make you like Ephraim and Menashe." The Targum adds that this blessing should specifically be given on the day of the bris milah. Rabbi Zweig asks: what is the special significance of the bris milah that makes it the appropriate time for this blessing? To answer this, Rabbi Zweig brings a Gemara (גמרא) in Sanhedrin that discusses when a person becomes a "ben Olam Haba"—when does a person's neshamah fully connect to eternity? The Gemara presents five different opinions among the Amoraim: from the moment of conception (yetzirah), from birth (leidah), from the time one can speak (sheyesaper), from the bris milah, and from the time one can say "Amen." Rather than viewing these as a dispute, Rabbi Zweig explains that each Amora is referring to a different level of the neshamah.
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Parshas Vayechi - Yaakov's blessing to Ephraim and Menashe (Bereishis 48)
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