Before bestowing the priestly blessing, the kohanim recite, "Blessed are You? who has sanctified us with His commandments and commanded us to bless His people Israel with love." The Zohar states that the reason we add the word "with love" is that any kohen who does not love his people, or who is not loved by his people, cannot bestow the blessing (Orach Chaim 128:11, Be'er Hetev).
Rashi (Numbers 6:22), indeed, explains that the priestly blessing should be recited in a relaxed manner, without haste, with concentration and full sincerity. The love between people is recognizable not just by what is said, but chiefly by how it is said. The same words can be said in different ways. The spirit in which the words are expressed reveals the inner relationship between the speaker and the person being addressed.
As we say in the blessings preceding the Shema recitation, "All accept the rule of the kingdom of heaven, one from the other, granting permission to one another to hallow their Creator, in serene spirit, with pure speech and sacred melody."
The task of the kohen is to shower the Jewish people with goodness and bounty, and to instruct them to follow G-d's ways. This is possible only when the kohen loves and is loved.
Today, the secret of success in education is to increase love between parent and children and between teachers and pupils, and to increase love between people in general. Our generation is in great need of love, and success in outreach in our generation depends on approaching Jews with a loving attitude.
As Rabbi Avraham Yitzchak HaKohen Kook wrote, "Our generation cannot return out of fear, but is very capable of returning out of love." (Ikvei HaTzon, HaDor, 111)
When we bear witness to the crisis in the educational system and to the various bizarre attempts to rectify the situation, we have to remember the main point: Good teaching involves drawing out the potential stored away in the child's soul, and causing the hidden good to show itself and to light up our world. Yet, as noted, all of that is conditional on the infinite love of parents, teachers and everyone else in the child's environment.
We can hope that by such an approach, we will merit complete redemption. As it says, "He brings a redeemer to their children's children for the sake of His name, with love." (from the Shemoneh Esreh prayer)
Signing off with love, and looking forward to complete salvation.
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To mark their 30th anniversary, Machon Meir institutions are holding a gathering of all alumni from 1974-2004 on Tuesday Tammuz 3 (June 22) at Jerusalem's Givat Ram stadium, 5:00-10:00 PM. For more info: torah@machonmeir.org.il
Rashi (Numbers 6:22), indeed, explains that the priestly blessing should be recited in a relaxed manner, without haste, with concentration and full sincerity. The love between people is recognizable not just by what is said, but chiefly by how it is said. The same words can be said in different ways. The spirit in which the words are expressed reveals the inner relationship between the speaker and the person being addressed.
As we say in the blessings preceding the Shema recitation, "All accept the rule of the kingdom of heaven, one from the other, granting permission to one another to hallow their Creator, in serene spirit, with pure speech and sacred melody."
The task of the kohen is to shower the Jewish people with goodness and bounty, and to instruct them to follow G-d's ways. This is possible only when the kohen loves and is loved.
Today, the secret of success in education is to increase love between parent and children and between teachers and pupils, and to increase love between people in general. Our generation is in great need of love, and success in outreach in our generation depends on approaching Jews with a loving attitude.
As Rabbi Avraham Yitzchak HaKohen Kook wrote, "Our generation cannot return out of fear, but is very capable of returning out of love." (Ikvei HaTzon, HaDor, 111)
When we bear witness to the crisis in the educational system and to the various bizarre attempts to rectify the situation, we have to remember the main point: Good teaching involves drawing out the potential stored away in the child's soul, and causing the hidden good to show itself and to light up our world. Yet, as noted, all of that is conditional on the infinite love of parents, teachers and everyone else in the child's environment.
We can hope that by such an approach, we will merit complete redemption. As it says, "He brings a redeemer to their children's children for the sake of His name, with love." (from the Shemoneh Esreh prayer)
Signing off with love, and looking forward to complete salvation.
------------------------------------------------
To mark their 30th anniversary, Machon Meir institutions are holding a gathering of all alumni from 1974-2004 on Tuesday Tammuz 3 (June 22) at Jerusalem's Givat Ram stadium, 5:00-10:00 PM. For more info: torah@machonmeir.org.il