The Priestly Blessing and Forever Young
This week was the 25th (!) anniversary of my Bar Mitzvah. I always know exactly how many years it has been since my Bar Mitzvah, because I celebrated becoming a Bar Mitzvah on the same weekend that Bob Dylan turned 60. This past Sunday, Bob Dylan turned 85, which means that it has been 25 years since his 60th birthday and 25 years since my Bar Mitzvah.
I have a very distinct memory of sitting in my mom’s car in the parking lot of the Jewish Community Center of Paramus, waiting to go into the building for my final Bar Mitzvah lesson on Thursday, May 24th, 2001, the day of Dylan’s 60th birthday. I desperately didn’t want to leave the car for my lesson, because I was listening to a radio countdown of the top 100 Bob Dylan songs.
Every year, I think to myself that it must be divinely ordained that Bob Dylan’s birthday always falls right around the week that we read Parshat Naso, this week’s Torah portion. Because one of Dylan’s most iconic and enduring songs, Forever Young, directly echoes the language of Birkat Kohanim, the Priestly Benediction, which is found in this week’s parsha.
The words of the priestly blessing are: “May God bless you and keep you. May God shine a light upon you and be gracious towards you. May God show you kindness and grant you peace.”
And Forever Young opens with the words: “May God bless and keep you always. May your wishes all come true. May you always do for others and let others do for you. May you build a ladder to the stars and climb on every rung. And may you stay forever young.”
Every Friday night, Jewish parents all over the world recite the words of the Priestly Benediction as they bless their children at their Shabbat tables. Bob Dylan — Robert Zimmerman, Shabtai Zisel ben Avraham — was channeling the tradition of reciting those words as a blessing for our children when he wrote Forever Young for his son, Jesse. The words of Dylan’s beautiful song have become a prayer for all children — that they grow up to live lives defined by joy, righteousness, truth, and fulfillment. That they never lose their childlike sense of wonder. That they stay Forever Young.
My younger daughter Sivan turned 2 on Monday, just one day after Dylan turned 85. And in a few short days, my older daughter Amalya will be graduating from preschool and preparing for kindergarten in the fall. These days, Dylan’s lyrics are perennially ringing in my ears.
To Amalya, Sivan, and all of our children:
May God bless you and keep you. May God shine a light upon you and be gracious towards you. May you build a ladder to the stars and climb on every rung. And may you stay forever young.
Rabbi Simeon Cohen
