Ask The Rabbi
18 January 1997 
Issue #135 (Parashat Bo)
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This Issue Contains:
1.  Two Brothers 
2.  A Blessing on Your Head
3.  Answer to Yiddle Riddle
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Eliezer Shemtov <shemtov@chasque.apc.org>

>I am curious about the story about two brothers, one was married and the 
>other, single.  At harvest time, each one took some bags of grain secretly 
>to the other's field.  The married one felt sorry for the single one and 
>the single one felt that the married one, who had many children, needed 
>more.  One night, as they were sneaking over to each other's field, they 
>bumped into each other, realized what the other one was doing, and 
>embraced.  Hashem said that He wants that place where such love was 
>expressed to be the site of the Holy Temple.  I've heard and read the 
>story many times in contemporary Jewish books.  The other day somebody 
>asked me what the source was and I was stumped.

Shmeina-K <lserebry@hornet.liunet.edu> wrote:

>We have been trying for years to find  a Jewish source for the story of 
>the two brothers who bump into each other on Mount Moriah during the night 
>when they are trying to bring grain to each other.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Dear Eliezer Shemtov and Shmeina-K,

The story isn't found in the Talmud, and apparently not in any of the well-
know Midrashic sources either.

That doesn't necessarily mean it's false, however.  In fact, I think I 
found a hint for this story in the Torah itself!

The most sacred place in the Holy Temple contained the Ark of the Covenant.  
On top of the Ark stood two golden figurines.  These figurines, called 
Cherubim, were winged, human-like figures that faced each other.

The hint to the story about the two brothers is simply this:  To describe 
their facing position, the Torah says the Cherubim should face as "a man to 
his brother!"

Source:
o  Shemot 25:20

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Peter Fine<finefarm@iafrica.com> wrote:

>There is a custom for parents to bless their children on Friday night.  We 
>bless our daughters to be like the Matriarchs  -- Sarah, Rivka, Rachel and 
>Leah.  And I was wondering why we bless our sons to be like Ephraim and 
>Menashe -- the sons of Joseph?  Why don't we bless them to be like the 
>Patriarchs -- Abraham, Isaac and Jacob?

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

Dear Peter Fine,

A fine question!  We bless our sons to be like Ephraim and Menashe in 
fulfillment of the words of Jacob in Vayechi, when he prophesies that the 
Jewish People will always bless their children in that manner.  Jacob chose 
Ephraim and Menashe to be our role models because they were the first two 
children to be born in exile; nevertheless, they retained their Jewish 
identity and even grew to great spiritual heights.  In addition, Ephraim 
and Menashe were elevated to the status of "tribes" by Jacob.  This implies 
that they reached the level of their fathers and thus forged an unbreakable 
link in the chain of Jewish continuity.

Sources:
o  Genesis 48:20
o  Oznaim LeTorah, ad loc.
 
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Yiddle Riddle

Last week we asked:
What is the relationship between the button on a man's trousers' back-
pocket being on the left side, according to American standards, and one of 
the 613 commandments of the Torah?

Answer:  Most men have more `padding' in back on the left side than they 
have on the right (perhaps due to the right side being generally more 
muscular).  The button on the left pocket encourages people to put their 
wallets there.  Since the left has more padding, the wallet causes less 
pinching of the sciatic nerve -- otherwise known as the Gid HaNashe -- than 
were it to be placed on the right.
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