1)

Why, after Yosef removed his sons from Yaakov's knees, did Yosef prostrate himself to his father?

1.

Rashi: He bowed as he retreated backwards from before his father. 1

2.

Ha'amek Davar: Yosef wanted to bow before Yaakov face-to-face (i.e. without an interruption), to thank him for applying "u'Kehal Goyim" (35:11) to Yosef's sons, and not to other grandsons of Yaakov.


1

Gur Aryeh: He did so specifically then; for that is proper respect when leaving the presence of an important person.

2)

Whose knees were they between (before Yosef removed them)?

1.

Midrash Sechel Tov, Bechor Shor, Seforno: They were between Yaakov's knees.

QUESTIONS ON RASHI

3)

Rashi writes: "After Yaakov had kissed them... [Yosef] steadied them... so [Yaakov]could lean his hands upon them to bless them." But Yaakov had, at first, declared them unfit for a blessing (Rashi to 48:8)! How did Yosef know that Yaakov now agreed to bless them after all?

1.

Gur Aryeh: Rashi emphasizes that Yaakov had kissed the children. 1 That is what indicated to Yosef that Ru'ach ha'Kodesh had returned to Yaakov, enabling him to bless them. 2


1

Rav Hartman (Mechon Yerushalayim edition of Gur Aryeh): A kiss shows connection. We likewise find that Yitzchak requested a kiss from Yaakov in order to facilitate his blessing (27:27). (When he later acquiesced to bless Esav, there was no kiss.)

2

At first glance, this comment seems difficult! Yosef knew that Yaakov agreed to bless the children, because he said explicitly, "Please bring them to me, and I shall bless them" (48:9)! Perhaps, at that point, Yaakov only agreed to give his own personal blessing; and Yosef did not yet know if his Ru'ach ha'Kodesh had returned. The kiss is what indicated that indeed it had. (CS)

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