So interesting! Wolf-Benjamin (& Ox-Yosef) are my favorite brothers. I see now how info in this teaching helps fit some of the descendant puzzle pieces: the fierceness of Ehud, Yael, David (etc) = metal wielding, slingers & archers for G-d!

Love Torah/Y'srael & her people,
Karen Reply

Would it be possible to get all the different sources for the bnei ephraim and the stories at the end? Reply

Brilliant!!! Reply

where can I find the text of what the Rabbeinu Ephrayim says? Reply

The name Rachel gave Binyamin describes him causing her suffering, unusual for a mother to do and Yakov changed it to remove the stigma.
In Argentina there is a tradition that the seventh son turns into a werewolf. So a godmother from another family adopts him to prevent this. Reply

In the first quotation by the rabbi he didn't translate the last three words of the paragraph. He read:

צל"ם באלב"ם זאב, לכך אותם בני אדם שמשתנין לזאב נבראו מששת ימי בראשית ואין חוזרין לקדמותן עד שאוכלים דם
(His translation:) "Tzelem in the Albam is 'wolf'. The people who transform into wolves were created from the beginning of creation; they don't go back to their original form until they consume blood".

The line he omitted is: אדם או אשה ([of] a man or a woman).
Put it together then the line reads (and I vocalized the text for an easier reading):

צֶלֶם בְּאַלְבָּ”ם זְאֵב, לְכַךְ אוֹתָם בְּנֵי אָדָם שֶׁמִּשְׁתַּנִּין לִזְאֵב נִבְרְאוּ מִשֵּׁשֶׁת יְמֵי בְּרֵאשִׁית, וְאֵין חוֹזְרִין לְקַדְמוּתָן עַד שֶׁאוֹכְלִים דַּם אָדָם אוֹ אִשָּׁה.
'Tzelem' (image) in the Albam computation equals Ze’ev (wolf). Those people who transform into wolves were created as such from the Six Days of Creation, and they won't return to their earlier state until they have eaten the blood of a man or a woman. Reply

The rabbi here quotes Rabbeinu Efrayim ben Shimshon as saying that werewolves do not return to their original form. However, the complete quote from Rabbeinu Efrayim Ben Shimshon is that werewolves do not return to their original form until they have eaten blood. And both rabbis — Rabbenu Efrayim ben Shimshon and the rabbi making this video — also say that /a/ Binyamin was a werewolf and /b/ Binyamin was one of four people who never, ever sinned. So ... Then, is it no sin for a Jew who is a werewolf to eat blood? Reply

two names fascinating shiur. Thank you. Could there be a relationship to the dual nature of Binyamin reflected in the fact that he was given different names by his mother and father?

An aside, you mentioned that the moon is always a good thing. I have always wondered how the moon could harm us as it says in Tehillim 121:7 The sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night. Reply