A much beloved prayer, the Priestly Benediction – birkat kohanim – sits at the center of Parashat Naso. Its words are familiar: May Adonai bless you and protect you; May Adonai cause the Divine face to shine on you and be gracious to you; May Adonai lift the Divine face toward you and grant you wholeness/peace. [Numbers 6:22-24]
What does it mean to bless others, to receive blessing, to convey Divine blessing? One fascinating interpretation catches my eye this year (and in this complicated and difficult moment).
My friend Rabbi Shai Held, in The Heart of Torah (p. 105), brings us the words of the great 19th century scholar R. Naftali Zvi Yehudah Berlin (known as Netziv, 1816-1893): “The blessing will be according to the blessing that that individual was blessed with until now. For the one engaged in Torah – blessings for his study; for the one engaged in trade – success in business.” Adds Rabbi Held: “the Netziv insists that the prayer here is that each person be granted blessings appropriate to him or her…We can take the Netziv’s point one significant step further: Divine blessing is not generic but specific to each individual and his or her needs, dreams, and yearnings.”
That’s a truly beautiful (and powerful) insight! We each receive (or at least have the potential to receive) the blessing that is most fitting for us. Mine is not the same as yours, and vice versa. Literally, to each her/his own.
But, as Rabbi Held shares, the Netziv goes further. “May God protect you, lest the very blessing you receive turn into a stumbling block. A master of Torah needs protection from pride, desecration of God’s name and the like. And similarly, that he not forget his learning. A property owner needs protection that his wealth not be to his detriment,…and similarly, protection from theft and loss. And likewise for everything that is in need of blessing, protection from whatever causes trouble is requested.”
As Rabbi Held summarizes, “When we pray for blessing, then, we also pray for protection, lest our blessings become destructive curses.”
Birkat kohanim concludes, famously, with a request for ‘shalom’. Peace that is specific to the ‘needs, dreams, and yearnings’ of each individual is what this most ancient of our prayers calls for. God, lift up Your face toward us – all of us – and grant us wholeness, fulfillment, integrity, peace. God knows we need it.
Shabbat Shalom.
Rabbi David
