בני אשר נתן לי אלוקים
My sons whom G-d has given me
Often before we give someone a large or expensive gift, we test them to see if they are worthy of such a gift. This will sometimes happen in a home when the parents want to give their child something, they first present him with a challenge so he could earn the prize. The same thing happened with Avraham Avinu when HaKadosh Baruch Hu challenged him with very difficult tests, and afterwards he received blessings and great promises, and the same thing happened to Yaakov Avinu.
Before he passed away, Yaakov Avinu wanted to bless his grandchildren – Yosef’s sons, but since they grew up in Egypt and they were far away from him, he did not know if they were worthy of a bracha. Therefore, he tested Yosef to determine if he was able to bless them, and he asked Yosef (48:8) מי אלה לך? – ‘Who are these?’ Generally, when a person is asked regarding his children, who are they, he replies that they are his children. This is what we are used to, that the house is ‘ours’, the items we have are ‘ours’, and these children are ‘ours’. Yaakov Avinu wanted to see if Yosef would respond like most of the world would respond or not. But Yosef withstood the test, and replied (48:9), 'בני הם אשר מתן לי אלוקים בזה' – ‘They are my sons whom G-d has given me with this’, yes, they are my sons, but I know they are not mine, rather I received them as a security from the Creator in order to train them.
When Yaakov Avinu heard his reply, he told him (48:9), 'קחם נא אלי ואברכם' – ‘Bring them to me, if you please, and I will bless them’. If Yosef HaTzaddik lives with this emunah [faith] that everything belongs only to the Creator Yisbarach, then most probably this is how he trained his sons. If this is so, then they are worthy to be blessed, for then even if they are successful in their actions and they will be elevated, they will always remember that it was not 'כוחי ועוצם ידי עשה לי את החייל הזה' – ‘My strength and the might of my hand made me all this wealth’ (Devorim 8:17), rather, it was 'ימין ה' עושה חיל' – ‘Hashem’s right hand that made this wealth, everything is from Hashem.
HaKadosh Baruch Hu created the world, and He gave us the right to use it according to the rules and decrees that He prescribed. But we must not forget that everything in the world – everything belongs to Yisbarach, and we just have to believe in the hashgacha of Hashem Yisbarach and His running things. This person is worthy to be blessed, for even when he is successful, he remembers that everything is from the Creator Yisbarach Shemo.
-Tiv HaTorah - Vayechi
