Shabbat Forshpeis
A Taste of Torah in Honor of Shabbat
PARSHAT NASO
THE PRIESTLY BLESSING: EVEN THE
GREATEST GIFTS HAVE THEIR PITFALLS
JUNE 13-14, 5763 / 14 SIVAN 5763
Perhaps the most famous blessing
in all of our tradition is found in this week's Torah portion. The Birkat Cohanim, the priestly benediction is recited by the priest, by Cohanim in synagogue and by parents to their children every Friday night (Numbers 6:24-26).
The benediction is divided into three sentences. Each one contains two essential elements; God's blessing, and a prayer to avoid possible pitfalls of the blessing.
In the first part, the priest states, "May the Lord bless you and keep you." The Sifrei understands this to refer to a blessing to become wealthy monetarily. But money has the potential to corrupt. Therefore, a blessing for money is not complete unless accompanied by an assurance of protection from its dangers. Hence the last word of the sentence, "may the Lord guard you.
In the second section, the priest states, "May the Lord cause his light to shine upon you." The light of the Lord is often associated with Torah knowledge. (Proverbs 6:23) However, while one can know every word of Torah, one can still lack the ability to interact and engage others in an appropriate manner. Hence, this blessing concludes with the word, ve-hunekah, from the word hen, grace. This last statement is telling us to remain gracious to others because knowledge can often make one insular - even arrogant.
In the final part, the priest states, "May the Lord lift his face to be near you." This blessing expresses the hope that one should always feel the presence of God for too often we sense that God's face is hidden from us. (The Hebrew word yisah, to lift- yisah Hashem panav- is the opposite of God being lowered or hidden- hester panim.) Although we hope to always be absorbed in God's presence, sometimes even that experience can distort one's perception of how to change the world. Too often religious people have acted irresponsibly and done dastardly things in the name of God. Therefore, the text concludes with a blessing that the viewing of God's face should still be with a belief grounded in reality in a God, of shalom, of peace, coming from the word shalem, whole.
This threefold blessing reminds us that there is no absolute good. Every step forward always contains the possibility of unforeseen problems. So when we receive blessings from above, may we always be aware that nothing comes without dangers and hope that this awareness allows us to channel the gifts from above only toward protection, grace and peace.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Avi Weiss
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