Lessons from the priestly blessings
Tucked into the 176 verses of this week’s portion, Naso, five, those describing the priests offering their daily blessings, contain profound lessons for us in our daily lives, millennia later. People in special positions have the G-d given power to effect change, hopefully for the better.
We are all familiar with them (Numbers 6:23-27). “May the Lord bless and keep you; May He shine his face on you and give you charm; May the Lord favor you and give you peace.” (Indeed, the rabbi in Fiddler on the Roof, referring to the czar, added, “far away from us” to the first passage as his blessing for the tyrant.) Less known, the concluding verse says, “And they shall invoke My name on the Children of Israel and I will bless them.”
Rashi records a dispute over who “them” refers to. In Hullin 49a, R. Akiva holds that, though the priests recite the verses, G-d will bless the people. The priests serve as conduits. R. Ishmael holds that the blessings originate with the priests and G-d will bless “them” for fulfilling their role. What underlies the rabbis’ respective positions, what difference does it make and what relevance does this have to us today?
The Torah text does not detail what the blessings actually bestow. Surprisingly, Rashi states: material things. May the Lord bless you with money and keep you from robbers (who would steal it); May the Lord shine His face on you and give you charm to become beloved among people; May the Lord favor you in Divine judgment (not punish you though you may deserve it) and give you peace in your life on earth.
What is a blessing? Herman Wouk, the author and a Talmud scholar, explained that a blessing is a prayer. Tractate Berachot (7a) quotes a story from R. Ishmael ben Elisha, the High Priest. One Yom Kippur, he entered the Holy of Holies and saw G-d Himself sitting on an exalted throne. He said, “Ishmael, My son, bless Me.” The High Priest replied, “May it be Your will that your mercy will overcome Your anger and Your mercy will dominate Your attributes and you will deal with your children with mercy and you will go … beyond the strict letter of the law.” Thereupon, Ishmael recalled, “He nodded His Head to me.’ The Talmud concludes that even the blessing of a simpleton has value.
R. Akiva holds that all blessings follow that model. In Hullin, he maintains that priests bless the people, just like everyone else can, including gentiles, as G-d told Abraham. The results originate with G-d.
The Hebrew word for blessing has an additional meaning. Bracha comes from the same root as Brecha, a stream. In Kabbalah, holy men induce the flow of bounty from G-d to His people. Therefore, the priestly blessings, which confer material benefits, come to the people from the priests. In turn, G-d blesses the priests for their efforts. This applies especially where, as here, G-d gave the priests specific power. “So shall you bless the people,” G-d commands in verse 23.
The priestly blessings, invoking the tetragrammaton, applied only in the Temple; the idea survives. An example: a rabbi, with divine authority to officiate at weddings, recites seven blessings under the canopy. The sixth: ”May You gladden [these] beloved friends, as You gladdened [Adam and Eve] in the Garden of Eden . . . .” The seventh concludes with “He who gladdens the groom with the bride.” After the groom broke the glass, the rabbi wished the couple, “Mazal tov.”
These benedictions resemble the priestly blessings. Indeed, my father, obm, a Hasidic rabbi, presided over hundreds of weddings. He was proud that all the marriages, but one, lasted. (The exception, I could tell from the demeanor of the elderly groom under the canopy, would surely fail.)
R. Ishmael’s idea extends to other contemporary areas. Once, one of my father’s Hasidim asked him to interview her daughter and her intended, from a family also among his Hasidim, to decide the suitability of the match. Rather than tell the mother that he did not have to, wrecking the couple’s chances, he agreed. He asked the bride, “Do you love him?” He asked the groom, “Do you love her?” Of course, both said yes. My father told the mother that the two should marry. Their son was a good friend of mine in elementary school.
According to Torah scholars, Rashi lists his preferred interpretation last. Rashi lists R. Ishamael’s interpretation last. Let us conduct ourselves accordingly.
