Then Yisrael- Yaakov, saw Yosef's sons, and he said, "Who are these?"
Yosef said to his father, "They are my sons, whom Hashem gave me here." So he said, "Now bring them near to me, so that I may bless them."
Now Yisrael's eyes had become heavy with age, to the extent that he could not see. The Heilige Chasam Sofer asks a powerful question: There is a contradiction in the verses, because before it says that Yaakov was able to see the sons of Yosef. Yet after that it says which means that Yaakov was not able to see with his eyes?
In order to explain this, we see by Avraham Avinu at the Akeida, (Bereishis 22) when Hashem tells him to sacrifice his son Yitzchok as a Korban Olah. “And they came to the place of which Hashem had spoken to him, and Avraham built the altar there and arranged the wood, and he bound Yitzchok his son and placed him on the altar upon the wood. And Avraham stretched forth his hand and took the knife, to slaughter his son. And an angel of God called to him from heaven and said, "Avraham! Avraham!" And he said, "Here I am." And he said, "Do not stretch forth your hand to the lad, nor do the slightest thing to him, for now I know that you are a God fearing man, and you did not withhold your son, your only one, from Me." And Avraham lifted up his eyes, and he saw, and lo! there was a ram, and after that it was caught in a tree by its horns. And Avraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son.”
This is baffling that Avraham would heed what an angel tells him, after he heard from Hashem differently? It can be explained that Avraham Avinu trained his organs and limbs that they should do the will of the Creator. Therefore, in the Akeida, Avraham tries to stretch forth his hand to take the knife, and he realized his hand was not willing to move. Evidently this proved that when the angel told him "Do not stretch forth your hand to the lad, nor do the slightest thing to him” this was the will of Hashem not to slaughter his son. Therefore, he opened his eyes and saw the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son.
The same insight can be applied when Avraham is sick after his Bris Milah. Hashem came to visit him, Bikur Cholim. “But, Avraham lifted his eyes and saw, and behold, three men were standing beside him, and he saw and he ran toward them from the entrance of the tent and bowed himself to the ground” (Bereishis 18). The Gemarra (Shabbos 127a.) learns from this episode that hospitality toward guests is greater than receiving the Divine Presence, as when Avraham invited his guests it is written: “And he said: Hashem, if now I have found favor in Your sight, please pass not from Your servant”. The question remains: How did Avraham know that he may leave Hashem? The answer says in the Posuk: “Avraham lifted his eyes and saw, and behold, three men were standing beside him, and he saw and he ran toward them”. His feet began to run by themselves, proving that his feet were performing a Mitzvah. From this, we learn the Halacha.
This same action was done by Yaakov. He elevated his organs not to see what is not holy. Therefore, when Yaakov was able to see the sons of Yosef, he knew that these were holy children, he asked Yosef: Who are these holy children? Yosef answered these are my children, and Yaakov blessed them. However, in general Yisrael's eyes had become heavy with age, to the extent that he could not see, doesn’t mean he wasn’t able to see. It means not to see impure things. Hence, this Posuk is a connection to the previous Posuk as an answer to the amazement of Yaakov able to see!
We also see that when Yaakov hesitated to go down to Egypt, it was that he was afraid he would see impure things that would harm his soul.
And Hashem said, "Do not be afraid of going down to Egypt, for there I will make you into a great nation. I will go down with you to Egypt, and I will also bring you up, and Yosef will place his hand on your eyes”. The question is what is the intention of the Posuk to stress the word “of the eyes”, It should have said “Yosef will place his hands on you?” However, now we understand that Hashem gave Yaakov the spiritual power not to be able to see impure things with his eyes. Therefore, Yaakov was amazed when he was able to see the children of Yosef. The Avos were masters in turning their material bodies into a spiritual one.
(Yehuda Z. Klitnick)
