The Bracha to Naftali

Parshat Vaychi 

 by Rabbi Avi Billet 

 On his deathbed, Yaakov gives blessings to all his children. The first three sons – Reuven, Shimon and Levi – receive farewell wishes which are not as pleasant as those given to the rest of their brothers. The remaining blessings are shrouded with depth, meaning, and a sense of prophesy. It seems that Yaakov is talking to each tribe in their present, sometimes referencing their past, but also speaking to future generations and events.

 Some commentaries go into great detail to try to explain these blessings, while others lay off, as the interpretation of the blessings is a bit overwhelming.

 The blessing given to Naftali is one of the shorter ones, only six words (Gad also has six, and Asher has seven words), but it is probably one of the more misunderstood blessings.

 The common translation suggests Naftali is comparable to a hind, “Naftali is a deer running free; he delivers words of beauty.”

 But, as Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan notes in his Chumash, each word has other possible meanings. The word Ayalah “can also be translated as a tree or plain.” Of course, once we are possibly talking about an intangible object, such as a piece of land or a tree, the phrase translated as “running free” will have to be retranslated as well. ”

 This is why he offers the other translations of “Naphtali is a spreading tree, that puts out beautiful branches” quoting the Baalei Tosafot and the Malbim, and “Naphtali is a full-bearing field, that bears beautiful trees” following the view of Chizkuni, HaKtav V’Hakabbalah.

 The Rav Peninim Chumash has an entry explaining the blessing of Naftali. We need to see the Hebrew words to understand: Naftali ayalah Shluchah Hanoten Imrei Shafer.

 Ayalah – comes from the word Ilan, which means a tree, as per the verse in Isaiah 1:29 in which “Eilim” reference trees.
 Shluchah – comes from a word which means to spread out, such as in Yechezkel 17:6, when the verb is used to mean “sent forth boughs,” or Tehillim 80:12, “It sent forth its branches to the sea.”
 Hanoten – means to give
 Imrei – means branches, like in the verses in Isaiah 17:6,9 in which the word “Amir” appears.
 Shafer - beautiful

 The Chumash Rav Peninim concludes that the passage’s meaning is a more profound message. “Naftali will be like a pleasant tree who gives off pleasant branches – which grow from it. This suggests Naftali will have great leaders who will stand like branches at the tops of trees.”

 He gives a parable to what this is compared. A man had a lazy son who would stay in bed half the day. The father would rebuke him, telling him that laziness is a bad character trait which is much better replaced with “zerizut” (zeal, enthusiasm). Eventually the young man decided to listen to his father, but took it to such an extreme that even when he spoke, he exhibited “zerizut,” which is sometimes translated to mean “hurriedly.” 

His father called him out on his smart-aleck ways, as the son tried explaining, “But you told me to be fast about everything.” And the father responded that “zerizut” is a good character trait for actions. But when it comes to speech, what is better is to speak with pause and inflection so that people can understand what is being said.

 The blessing to Naftali reflected that he had the trait of “zerizut” in all his deeds, but was super careful in his speech to “deliver words of beauty.”

 This is an important lesson on possessing leadership skills. Actions speak louder than words. But words also need to be spoken loudly and clearly, so they can be understood properly.

 The question is which perspective of Naftali’s blessing is more profound. The method which has Naftali like a deer spreading nice thoughts has Naftali running from place to place. Maybe like a traveling salesman, or even a traveling teacher, who leaves his mark, hopefully leaving a good impression and a good reputation when he departs.

 The perspective which compares Naftali to the branches on a tree may, in fact, be more inspiring, because a tree stands there, is visible, and can serve as a source of inspiration as it doesn’t go away. It is a constant presence in the lives of those who are reached by its branches.

 We don’t need to be from the tribe of Naftali to recognize the gift that comes from those who represent either Naftali-prototype. We should be blessed to be articulate representatives of the Torah, our People and the nation of Israel, whether we are the kind of people who travel and share out message or become mainstays in our communities, powerhouses standing for who we are. We should only be blessed to find success, and be great communicators within our people and to those who turn to us to see what a Jew is.