Vayechi 49:22 · unit 1

Parashas Vayechi · Passuk 49:22

The Complete Passuk

בֵּ֤ן פֹּרָת֙ יוֹסֵ֔ף בֵּ֥ן פֹּרָ֖ת עֲלֵי־עָ֑יִן בָּנ֕וֹת צָעֲדָ֖ה עֲלֵי־שֽׁוּר׃

Yosef is a fruitful bough, a fruitful bough by a fountain; its branches run over the wall.

Chabad / Judaica Press

Source Citation

Torah Temimah points to Berachos 20a.

Sefaria — Berachos 20a

Core Text of Chazal

Core Text
אַל תִּקְרֵי ״עֲלֵי עָיִן״ אֶלָּא ״עוֹלֵי עָיִן״ — מִכָּאן לְזַרְעָא דְּיוֹסֵף דְּלָא שָׁלְטָא בֵּיהּ עֵינָא בִּישָׁא.

English: Read not “by a fountain” (alei ayin) but “rising above the eye” (olei ayin) — from here [we learn] that the seed of Yosef is not subject to the evil eye.

On the daf / in context: The same protection from ayin hara that was earlier derived from “וידגו לרוב” is reinforced by the reading of this verse.

Type of Learning

Al tikrei that yields a protective teaching about the descendants of Yosef.

What Is Learned

The seed of Yosef is immune to the evil eye; the verse is read as “rising above the eye.”