וַיִּקְרָ֥א יוֹסֵ֛ף אֶת־שֵׁ֥ם הַבְּכ֖וֹר מְנַשֶּׁ֑ה כִּֽי־נַשַּׁ֤נִי אֱלֹהִים֙ אֶת־כׇּל־עֲמָלִ֔י וְאֵ֖ת כׇּל־בֵּ֥ית אָבִֽי׃
And Yosef called the name of the first-born Menasheh: “For God hath made me forget all my toil, and all my father’s house.”
Classical midrash on the naming of Menasheh.
Sefaria · Bereshit Rabbah (context)
כִּי נַשַּׁנִי אֱלֹהִים אֶת כָּל עֲמָלִי. יוֹסֵף הוֹדָה שֶׁהַשִּׁכְחָה עַצְמָהּ הִיא חֶסֶד מִן הַשָּׁמַיִם.
English of Core Text: “For God hath made me forget all my toil.” Yosef acknowledged that the forgetting itself was a kindness from Heaven.
On the daf / in context: The midrashic reading sees the name Menasheh as thanksgiving for the ability to move beyond the pain of the past without erasing the identity formed by it.
Type of Learning: Derash on the verse (classic midrash) — not a formal named middah of the 13.
What Is Learned: The capacity to forget the bitterness of past suffering, while still remembering one’s origins, is itself a divine gift; Yosef names his first-born in gratitude for that gift.