This week's portion, Naso, contains three of the best known verses in Torah, collectively called the Priestly Benediction or the Birkat Kohanim. (Num. 6:24-26)
May Adonai bless you and keep you!
May Adonai deal kindly and graciously with you!
May Adonai bestow favor upon you and grant you peace!
We hear the Priestly Benediction at the most sacred junctions in our lives, such as circumcision or naming of a newborn child or beneath the chupah. We also hear the Priestly Benediction during the Pilgrimage Festivals and the High Holidays.
The simplicity of this blessing points to its eloquence and profundity. The blessing builds to a spiritual crescendo. It is comprised of three verses of three, five, and seven Hebrew words respectively, each verse adding a layer of meaning and insight to the previous one.
Nehama Leibowitz, of blessed memory, fuses several commentaries that together describe the meaning of this blessing. In the first verse, we learn that "bless you" refers to material goods: You shall prosper with abundance of possessions and wealth. "Keep you" is added so that we may be protected from the evils that such prosperity inevitably brings. In essence, this verse asks that you win the lottery and that God will help you to be wise enough to deal with the multitude of unknown relatives seeking a "loan."
The second verse is commonly understood to refer to the spiritual blessing of insight into the Torah. The idea that our spiritual needs cannot be met until our material needs are fulfilled is ingratiated in our tradition.
Finally, Leibowitz demonstrates that many commentators understand the final verse of the Priestly Benediction as combining both material and spiritual blessings.
The Priestly Benediction, understood in this light, underscores one of the fundamental premises of our tradition: the acknowledged relationship between material and spiritual well-being. This teaching is reinforced in a well-known quote from Pirkei Avot: Ein kemach, ein Torah...ein Torah, ein kemach, "Without sustenance (material possessions), there is no Torah (spiritual fulfillment); without Torah, there is no sustenance." The acquisition of material wealth and spiritual enlightenment are only tools that we as Jews are commanded to use in a manner that brings us closer to God. This is the message of the Priestly Benediction.
This week we reach a crescendo in the Torah's symphony of blessings. Moving rhythmically from three to five to seven words and from the physical to the ethical to the spiritual domains, these blessings offer a promise and a hope. They promise divine providence, and they hope that we realize and appreciate the source of our blessings. People do not bless one another. Rabbis and cantors do not bless babies, or Benei/Benot Mitzvah, or marry couples. It only appears to be so. All we can do for and with one another is to invoke God's blessing.
The Birkat Kohanim:
May God bless you and keep you;
May God shine upon you and show compassion to you;
May God lift the Divine Countenance and give peace to you
appends the following words, "And they shall place My name upon the Children of Israel, and I will bless them." (Bemidbar (Numbers) 6:27)
This verse reminds us, the Children of Israel, then and now, that God is the source of all blessings. It is also a reminder to anyone who assumes a priestly function. We are only the sacred vehicles, the means to a divine end, the instruments to call upon a power that resides not within us but beyond us.
Believing that God is the source of all blessings is not the same as behaving as though God is the source of all blessings. In order to act upon this belief, we need to exhibit a profound sense of humility in taking credit for all that is good in our lives. We need to be conscious that we do not deserve everything that is ours. We need to realize that we are not in full control of our destiny. We need to realize that only God can bless.
Instead of entitlements, Judaism begins with blessings. Instead of rights, Judaism begins with responsibilities. In this spirit, each of us can learn about the character of our lives as Jews by counting our blessings and considering our responsibilities. This Shabbat, as we invoke blessings that are as timely as they are timeless, whether sitting in our homes, or walking by the way, or lying down, or getting up, let us believe and let us behave as though God has blessed us.
- What or whom do you consider to be your greatest blessings?
- How do you express appreciation for them?
According to the rabbinic imagination, even God prays. "May it be My will that My mercy conquers My anger and dominates My attributes, that I behave compassionately towards My children, and that I go above and beyond the call of duty in relation to them." (Babylonian Talmud, Berachot 7a)
May this divine prayer be our own as well, as we seek to relate to ourselves, one another, and God.
Naso, Numbers 4:21-7:89
The Torah: A Modern Commentary, pp. 1,043-1,075; Revised Edition, pp. 921-945;
The Torah: A Women's Commentary, pp. 815-842
Explore Jewish Life and Get Inspired
Subscribe for Emails
