“My “agenda” was as Areivimzehlazeh correctly assumed, to begin a dialog on this issue. That of acclimating ourselves to our surroundings.”
In this week’s parsha, Yaakov Aveinu institutes the blessing that all future generations of Jews would use to bless their children: “May you be like Ephraim and Menashe”. Now, this raises the question: What was so special about Ephraim and Menashe, compared to not only Yaakov’s other grandchildren, but his sons as well, that they are used as the quintessential example that our children, and ourselves, should emulate?
It is because they spent their entire lives in exile, not nurtured in the home of Yaakov, but surrounded by the Egyptian culture of impurity and yet they managed to remain pure and dedicated to Yaakov’s way of life and beliefs.
This is our challenge as well, to remain as pure and holy as we can, by living lives dedicated to Torah and mitzvot, and not allowing ourselves to assimilate into the surrounding secular culture.