How to be a blessing – Ask the Rabbi
Q. What does the Torah mean when it says (Gen. 12:3), “In you shall all the families of the earth be blessed”?
A. One line of thought (Targum Onkelos) explains, “Because of you shall the whole human race be blessed”.
Jewish ideas and achievements will bring benefit to the world even if the source of the particular development is not always acknowledged.
Another line of thought (Rashi) understands the phrase as saying that the peoples will “bless themselves in you” by saying, for instance, “May I be as hospitable as Abraham”, “May I be as great a leader as Moses”.
