Maghen Abraham - Thoughts From Mayer Sasson

"May the angel who delivered me from all evil bless the lads..... and like fish may they grow to a multitude in the midst of the world." (48,16)

Living like fish

Yakov wishes that G-d bless his grandsons through the same Angel through which He had delivered him from all harm; that they might live as he had, seeking and finding protection and support only in G-d.

Fish live quietly, at a depth unreachable by the eyes of man. Thoughtlessly do people stand on shore and have no idea what a happy, fresh, joyful, undisturbed life goes on down below in rich abundance from generation to generation.

In a similar way, “in the midst of the world” are the generations of Yakov to live and achieve their own quiet happy lives in their own separated element, whither the world around them do not follow them, have no conception of what such a life means, “like fish in water, in the midst of human beings on earth” (Targum Onkelos)

SHABBAT SHALOM!!

Mayer Sasson