Shared Strength

When Yaakov concludes giving blessings to his children, the Torah (49:28) states: “This is what their father said to them and blessed them, each according to his blessing he blessed them.” Rashi notes the grammatical inconsistency, as one would have expected the verse to conclude with, “each according to his blessing he blessed him.” He therefore suggests that by grouping them together he was ultimately sharing each of the individual blessings – such as the lion’s strength of Yehuda and the gazelle’s speed of Naftali - with them all.

This is difficult to understand. If they would all end up with all the blessings what was the value in Yaakov identifying the particular blessings of each? Some commentaries (Gur Aryeh, Nachlas Yaakov) understand that while all of them were endowed with every one of these strengths, the one to whom the specific strength was attached had a greater measure of it than his brothers.

There is however a more basic understanding. At the outset (49:1-2), Yaakov brought his sons together as a group; “Gather together …. Assemble and listen sons of Yaakov.” While there would have been a loving intimacy in having “private time” with each of his sons before he died, Yaakov’s greater goal was to have all his sons come together as a family and a people so that the strengths of each would benefit the whole. 

Only Yehuda has the strength of the lion, and only Naftali has the speed of the gazelle. But when we come together as a family, a nation, a team – we are all blessed with the benefit of Yehuda’s strength and Naftali’s speed. Each of us benefit from the power of the people we work and live with. The unique qualities of each are a blessing to all.