As our forefather Jacob is about to leave this world in Ancient Egypt, he blesses his Egyptian grandsons, Menashe and Efraim with the most peculiar blessing: 'May you multiply like fish throughout the land'. I can just imagine his grand kids looking at each other bewildered: 'What on earth is that supposed to mean?'. Indeed, this blessing is the one used by parents throughout the ages to bless their children each Shabbos or every night.
Fish have the uncanny capacity to swim upstream- think of the Great Alaskan Salmon run when they swim up waterfalls! That is the G-d given talent that allows them to survive the rocky streams and rivers in which they live. This unique quality of standing against the grain is what Jacob endowed upon his Egyptian grandchildren living. This quality allowed them to retain their identity as Jews in a foreign land and alien culture.
And it is this blessing precisely that our parents and grandparents blessed us too. Never being certain of what challenges and temptations the future would hold in store for us, they endowed us with the same courage of our convictions and strength of character to stand strong and be boldly Jewish, even if it means being different to everyone else around us!
Being like a fish has some very simple, yet practical expressions:
Did you know what the innocuous expression 'knock on wood' really means?
Few people know that it originated in the middle ages when there were in circulation, pieces of the wood from the crucifixion. To touch one of these was supposed to bring good luck hence touch wood for good luck. Instead of 'knocking on wood' we would be doing so much more good by simply saying: 'Thank G-d' or 'Baruch Hashem' if you want to go fancy.
How about 'cross our fingers' when we hope for something to work out?
It was developed either to symbolize a cross or to recognize fellow Christians during times of persecution. A Jew would simply say: 'G-d willing' or 'I'm yirtze Hashem'.
So, in the spirit of fish, let's be more mindful of the culture in which we live and celebrate our unique identity instead of trying to hide and assimilate it. And then, by all means, go ahead and have another piece of Gefilte Fish!