In Parshas Miketz (41:51) we are taught that Yosef called the name of his firstborn Menashe because "Hashem has made me forget all my hardships and all my father's household." The first explanation for the name is most understandable. Yosef, who encountered many challenging episodes, trials, and tribulations, gives thanks to Hashem for enabling him to forget and create a family after all his setbacks. The second reason, however, is most difficult to understand. What does it mean that Yosef gives thanks to Hashem for enabling him to forget his father's home? It is clear from the way our sages understand the text that Yosef never forgot his father, his household, and his roots.
In Parshas Vayeishev (39:11), when Yosef overcomes his natural temptation and flees from the advances of his master's wife, Rashi cites the Medrash Tanchuma which states that it was the vision of his father, Yaakov, that enabled Yosef to avoid sin. This shows that Yaakov still played a major role in his life. Similarly, in Parshas Vayigash (45:27), we are taught that when "Yaakov sees the agalos (wagons) that Yosef has sent to transport him to Egypt, the spirit of Yaakov was revived." The Rabbis understand that the wagons represent either the six covered wagons that the twelve princes of Israel donated to transport the Mishkan, as found in Bamidbar (6:3), or to remind Yaakov of the last Torah topic that they studied together, namely the laws of eglah arufah, the incident of a murdered body found in Israel. Regardless, it shows that Yosef did not forget the Torah he learned in Yaakov's house, even after twenty-two years of separation. So, how are we to understand the name Menashe to mean that Hashem helped Yosef forget his father's home?
I'd like to share an explanation given by Reb Simcha Zisel Brody zt"l, Rosh Yeshiva Yeshivas Chevron. He cites the Gemara (Bava Metzia 85a), which teaches that when Reb Zeira, who studied in Babylonia, decided to move and study in Eretz Yisrael under Reb Yochanan, he fasted one hundred times to "forget" the Torah of Bavel, thereby enabling him to more easily absorb the Torah of Eretz Yisrael. He did not literally forget the Babylonian Talmud, rather he was eager to absorb the new approach to talmud Torah in Eretz Yisrael. Unlike the Babylonian Talmud, which is replete with arguments between the Rabbis, the Jerusalem Talmud is significantly more devoid of friction between the scholars and more straightforward in the implementation and explanation of Jewish law. Reb Zeira demonstrated the ability to adapt from one community to another.
At the end of Parshas Toldos (28:2), Yitzchak instructs Yaakov to leave the land of Israel and marry one of his cousins, the daughters of his uncle Lavan. Rashi on the closing verse in Toldos provides an extensive commentary that proves that between Yaakov's leaving home and arriving at his uncle's home, there was a fourteen-year gap. The Rabbis attribute these fourteen years to Yaakov's having gone to study Torah at the Yeshiva of Shem and Aver. Why was this detour necessary? Reb Yaakov Kaminetzky zt"l (in Emes L'Yaakov) teaches that while Yaakov studied much Torah with his father, that was Torah appropriate for the Land of Israel. Now that Yaakov was going to chutz la'aretz, he needed to study Torah that could be maintained in different surroundings and challenges - the Torah of galus. It is this knowledge that our Rabbis teach us that Yaakov taught his son Yosef. Indeed, this is why Yosef calls his son Menashe as he was thanking Hashem for helping him "forget" the manner of observance in Eretz Yisrael and helping him adapt to his new challenges and surroundings.
As Yosef adapted and forgot his previous lifestyle, it behooves us to unfortunately take a new look and reexamine what has been, for many, a normative behavioral pattern for almost a hundred years. I am referring to the mode whereby many Jewish, and even Torah-observant, families enroll their college-aged students in universities after high school. There, they receive higher education that enables them to advance both individually and to enrich society. The presence of nearby Chabad, Hillel, and shiurim on many campuses has helped sustain and maintain a positive Jewish identification for numerous Jewish students throughout the country.
Since October 7th, there has been an immediate unleashing of anti-Israel and anti-Semitic pronouncements throughout much of the civilized world, especially on college campuses. What perhaps was always there but beneath the surface has now come out of the woodwork, making Jewish students who have loyalty and devotion to Israel feel either threatened or uncomfortable in their academic surroundings. Even worse, a great percentage of Jewish students who are themselves uneducated about the history of Israel, its value for human life, and its humanitarian gestures of urging civilians to leave Gaza and avoid being caught up in the military conflict, are subject to propaganda found both unfortunately in the classroom and in student activities on campus.
We have to learn from Yosef that what worked before might not work in the future. Jewish parents must come to realize the high cost of free speech. They must be informed that there are valid Jewish alternatives to the present challenging secular college campuses, where, in the name of free speech, a great disconnect can be created between our promising Jewish student population and our proud Jewish heritage. What is at stake on secular college campuses today is nothing less than the essence of our identity as the People of the Book, risking the loss of a generation's connection to the profound and timeless wisdom that our sacred texts and traditions offer.