Nasso: What is a Blessing?

(1) Blessed are You, Lord, our God, King of the Universe, Who has sanctified us with his commandments and commanded us to be involved with words of Torah.

(22) Hashem spoke to Moses: (23) Speak to Aaron and his sons: Thus shall you bless the people of Israel. Say to them: (24) Hashem bless you and protect you! (25) Hashem deal kindly and graciously with you! (26) Hashem bestow favor upon you and grant you peace! (27) Thus they shall link My name with the people of Israel, and I will bless them.

(1) This is how you shall bless. I explained in Parshas Shemini (9:23) that Aharon was commanded to raise his hands towards the people and bless them on that day. Here, Aharon and his sons were commanded to bless them for the future generations, and the Torah spells out the blessing they should use. This blessing was mentioned next to the assembly of the Mikdash, “for there Hashem commanded the blessing, life forever” (Tehillim 133:3). Furthermore, our Sages said in the Mishnah (Sotah 7:6) that the kohanim would pronounce the name of Hashem as it is written (the Ineffable Name of Hashem) and in the medina (outside the Mikdash) as the appellation (Hashem). Also, in the Mikdash they would say the kohein’s blessing as one blessing (because the people did not answer Amen between verses) and in the medina — three blessings (they answered Amen). Thus, the blessing in the Mikdash was special in that the Ineffable Name was used [and therefore it was juxtaposed to the assembly of the Mikdash].

We learned in the mishna: The verses constituting the Priestly Benediction [birkat kohanim] are read but not translated. The Gemara asks: What is the reason for this? The Gemara explains that it is because it is written: “May the Lord lift up His countenance to you” (Numbers 6:26). Listeners may understand this to mean that God shows unfair favoritism to the Jewish people.

And why did they see fit to institute that one says the blessing beginning with the words: Grant peace, after the Priestly Benediction? As it is written immediately following the Priestly Benediction: “And they shall put My name upon the children of Israel, and I will bless them” (Numbers 6:27). The Priestly Benediction is followed by God’s blessing, and the blessing of the Holy One, Blessed be He, is peace, as it is stated: “The Lord blesses His people with peace” (Psalms 29:11).

(1) יברכך, with material wealth. The reason this is the first of the blessing is explained by our sages in Avot 3,15 אם אין קמח אין תורה, “if there is no flour, (no economic base) a Torah environment cannot flourish.” (2) וישמרך, and protect you from those who steal material possessions. (1) יאר, may He grant light to your eyes to see and appreciate all the wonderful things G’d has done and keeps on doing. You should become aware that all that you achieve is due to His blessing. (1) ישא יהוה פניו אליך, giving you a vista of the world to come which awaits you. The line is similar in essence to what David said in Psalms 36,10 כי עמך מקור חיים באורך נראה אור, “with You is the fountain of life; by Your light do we see light.” It also reflects the statement of our sages in B’rachot 17 that in the world of the future the righteous sit with their crowned heads and enjoy the radiations of G’d’s glory. (2) וישם לך שלום, the serenity of peace which is equivalent to an infinite, unbroken and undisturbed existence, not tainted by punishment, something which is a feature of life in the world to come. (1) ושמו את שמי, every one of these blessing features mention of My name, not the name of those who receive the blessing. This is the meaning of ואני אברכם, “I, the Lord, bless them. The priest or priests are not to say: ”we bless you.”

(3) כה תברכו, “thus you shall bless:” during the first year while Jewish people were encamped in the same spot (around Mount Sinai) the Canaanites did not become aware of them. But during the second year when they had been counted according to tribes, and each knew his family tree, and they had been assigned flags, trumpets, etc., in order to organise their journeys properly, the Canaanites surrounding them had taken note of them. At this point the Canaanites had first begun to fear the approaching armies of the Israelites, [though they were not really an army as they travelled with their whole families. Ed.] The Israelites, aware of the likelihood of military encounters in the near future, now felt in need of blessings by the priests. They worried of being guilty of sins that would make them casualties in the coming confrontation. The fact is that immediately after the death of Aaron, when the Canaanites felt encouraged to attack them, they captured some prisoners. (Numbers 21,1) [Seeing that encounter happened to the next generation after almost 40 years, it is hard to see the relevance at this point. Ed.] כה תברכו, “thus you shall bless!” You are to be in a standing position when conferring these blessings.” This is spelled out more clearly in Deuteronomy 27,12: אלה יעמדו לברך, “these are to stand in order to pronounce blessing!”

(1) דבר אל אהרון ואל בניו, "speak to Aaron and his sons, etc." Why did the Torah repeat the word לאמור in this verse? Perhaps the Torah was afraid that the blessing described here was something that the priests could pronounce but were not obligated to pronounce. The Torah wanted to make sure that although the word כה at the beginning might be construed as something to be performed voluntarily, i.e. "if you bless you shall keep to this formula," the priests should know it is a positive commandment to bless the Israelites. The repeated use of the word לאמור may also mean that the commandment did not only apply to Aaron and his sons but to the priests in all subsequent generations. There is also an implied compliment to the priests here, i.e. the priests are privileged by G'd to transmit His blessing to the people by pronouncing G'd's wording. (1) יברכך וישמרך. "May the Lord bless you and preserve you." The order of 1) the blessing, 2) preserving the people who received the blessing, means that the degree of שמירה, protection, will be commensurate with the extent of the blessing previously received. Moreover, there is an implication here that the blessing will be so comprehensive that G'd has to make a special effort that all of it will be preserved. The wording יברכך may also imply that there should be no negative side effects to this blessing such as is referred to in Deuteronomy 8,12: "lest you eat, become sated etc…. and become haughty, forgetting the Lord your G'd." (1) יאר יהוה פניו, "May the Lord make His face shine upon you." This means that there should not be a "curtain" dividing between Israel and their Father in Heaven. (2) ויחנך, "and be gracious unto you." Please refer to what I have explained on the meaning of the word חן in my commentary on Genesis 39,21, "G'd was with Joseph and he caused him to enjoy grace, etc."

Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi says: From where is it derived that the Holy One, Blessed be He, desires the Priestly Benediction? As it is stated: “So shall they put My name upon the children of Israel, and I will bless them” (Numbers 6:27). This shows that God waits for the priests to bless the people, and only then He Himself blesses them. And Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi says: Any priest who blesses the people is blessed from Heaven, and one who does not bless the people is not blessed, as it is stated: “And I will bless those who bless you” (Genesis 12:3). And Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi says: Any priest who does not ascend the platform to recite the Priestly Benediction violates three positive mitzvot: “So you shall bless,” “And you shall say to them” (Numbers 6:23), and “So shall they put My name” (Numbers 6:27).