When we bless our girls, we say, "May HaShem make you like Sarah, Rivka, Rachel, and Leah. When we bless our boys, we say, "May HaShem make you like Ephraim and Menashe." Why don't we bless our boys to be like our Patriarchs, Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaacov, just as we bless our girls to be like our Matriarchs, Sarah, Rivka, Rachel, and Leah? Avraham had two sons, Yitzchak and Yishmael, yet there was strife between them. Yitzchak had two sons, Yaacov and Eisav, who lived in conflict. Yaacov had twelve sons, and they sold their brother, Yoseph, into slavery.
As a result of Yoseph's discord with his brothers, he recognized the importance of peace in family relationships. When he raised his sons, Ephraim and Menashe, he emphasized the supreme value of peace. Even when Yaacov gave Ephraim, the second son, the blessing of the firstborn,, Menashe had no misgivings towards his brother whatsoever. Ephraim and Menashe were the first brothers to live in peace.
We bless our boys to be like Ephraim and Menashe because we want our children to live together in peace and harmony.
