The Priestly Blessing

 One of the most famous sections in the entire Torah is found in this week's Torah reading of Parshat Naso at the end of Chapter 6. God commands Moses to teach Aaron a special blessing which we know as the Birkat Kohanim, the Priestly Blessing. It's one of only two prescribed blessings in the entire Torah, and one of the few verses from the Torah which remain an important part of our liturgy today.

Speak to Aaron and his sons: Thus shall you bless the people of Israel. Say to them:

May Adonai bless you and protect you!

May Adonai deal kindly and graciously with you!

May Adonai bestow favor upon you and grant you peace!

Thus they shall link My name with the people of Israel, and I will bless them. (Numbers 6:22-27)

As many commentators have explained, the Kohen (priest) is not the one who is actually blessing the community. His role is vital but limited. The sole source of the blessing is God. The Kohen is the channel through which the blessing passes on its way to the Jewish people. Though not a particularly long series of verses, it is among the most powerful in all of Jewish literature.

Twenty-five years ago, a dear friend of mine, Rabbi Bradley Artson, Dean of the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies at the American Jewish University in California and one of American Judaism's most creative and innovative thinkers, told the following story. While on a visit to the Israel Museum in Jerusalem, what caught his eye was a small silver plaque, the size of a thumb. On this thin sheet of metal was inscribed the Priestly blessing.  It was rolled up and worn around the neck of a pious Jew 2600 years ago! At the time, this small silver plaque was the oldest Biblical text in modern possession. Rabbi Artson marveled that this prayer was a vital part of our ancestor's lives and remains so today.  He wrote the following:

As I stood in the Israel Museum... I started to cry. I cried because of the privilege we Jews enjoy in a spiritual continuity which extends back to the very beginnings of our people. Who else can share in the prayers of their most distant ancestors the way that we can? The Chinese don't worship the gods their ancestors did, the modern Greeks don't pray to the Olympians, nor do Egyptians pray to their ancient pagan pantheon. But every day, I find myself blessed with the same timeless words which moved my unknown ancestors, and the generations of Jews in between. Much in human history changes: our customs, fads, styles and cultures swell and shift throughout the ages. But three remain eternal. The human heart retains the same needs, urges, and concerns across time; the God of Israel has not changed or altered despite our shifting perceptions and understanding, and the bridge between the human heart and the God of Israel -- Judaism -- is still the encapsulation of the covenant which binds our people to each other throughout time and to the God who transcends time.

I hope you will take these powerful words to heart the next time you encounter this amazing blessing.  Even in a tradition that does not like to highlight one section of the Torah as superior or more important than another, certain verses stand out. The Priestly Blessing is one of them.

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