Joseph (Ephraim and Manasseh)
Artist: Maria Stolz

From Joseph came two tribes named after his sons, Ephraim and Manasseh.  Both were born in Egypt, where their illustrious father’s talent as a dream interpreter and administrator saved Egypt and his own family from famine.  One hundred years later, the stage is set for the triumphant Exodus from slavery.

Ephraim (from the root “pri” meaning fruit) was named as his father declared “God made me fruitful in a desert.”  This tribe proved to be a larger and stronger tribe than that of Manesseh, however Manesseh’s strength was recognized as that of a tribe whose loving kindness was strong and blessed with the fortitude to uplift others from the lowest places.

Ephraim’s standard is the head of a bull while Manasseh’s was symbolic of what was probably a wild ox now extinct—although somehow it earned the transmutation of that of a unicorn, which we all know to be a mythical image.

Joseph, the dreamer and visionary (coat of many colors)…he once dreamed that is parents, in addition to his brothers (sun moon and stars) all bowed down to him. The shofar extends from the unicorn and represents the blasts of freedom sounded for the Exodus over a pyramid. The pomegranate, symbolic of one of the “seven species” represents the fruit of good deeds.  According to midrash, there are exactly 613 seeds within a pomegranate corresponding to the number of mitzvot prescribed in the Torah.

Dates, pear, and apple symbolize the bounties of the tribe of Ephraim and the fruit eaten at Passover, reminding us of the Exodus.  Legend maintains that pious women went into the apple orchards of Egypt to give birth so as not to surrender their babies to Pharaoh’s executioners.  It became known as the “orchard of holy apples” and resplendant with shekhinah, God’s feminine aspect.

One final note, Gideon was a descendant of the Tribe of Manesseh.

©Maria Stolz

Reuben | Simeon | Levi | Judah | Dan | Naphtali | Gad | Asher | Issachar | Zebulun | Joseph | Benjamin

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