The Torah says something very peculiar about the blessings Jacob bestows upon his children. After Jacob finishes blessing each of his children individually, it says, “He blessed each son with a befitting blessing to them (singular) and he blessed them (plural).” The simple explanation is that after he blessed each one with a blessing individually befitting them, he gave an additional blessing to them as a group.
The only shortcoming of this explanation is that we don’t know what Jacob actually said. Therefore, it is incumbent upon us to probe a little deeper so that we can understand what the verse means.
Here is one beautiful insight: Jacob is teaching his sons an important lesson that applies to us today as well. He is saying that yes, each one of you has a specific talent, a specific way of connecting to G-d, but at the end of the day, you are all one.
Isn’t this true today? There are so many different kinds of Jews and we each try to find our way to serve G-d. However, as we search and we say to ourselves that this way fits me well, we have to understand and respect other Jews for their ways as well, since all of our paths reach the same G-d.
Our differences are only superficial—deep down, we all are one. That is Jacob’s ultimate blessing.