In this week’s Torah portion, we read about the priestly blessing. G-d designates the kohanim (priests) to be blessers of the Jewish people. They wash their hands in the ritual manner, remove their shoes, stand before the congregation, spread their arms forward, and interlock their fingers. They wrap their heads in a prayer shawl and act as G-d’s channel of blessings to the Jewish people.
They begin by reciting a blessing thanking G-d for the privilege of conveying His blessings with love. They then proclaim, “May G-d bless you and keep you. May G-d shine His countenance upon you and give you grace. May G-d lift His countenance to you and grant you peace.” G-d assures us “when they [the priests] invoke my name upon the children of Israel, I will bless them” (Numbers 6:22-27).
In Jerusalem, the kohen intones this blessing every day. In the Diaspora, this blessing is intoned every Shabbat in Sefard synagogues and every festival in Ashkenaz synagogues.
The Blessing Breakdown
Giving blessings (or a brochah in Hebrew) is a favorite Jewish pastime; we all do it. But we don’t consider ourselves masters over other people’s blessings. We might wish them long lives, but it is not in our power to grant it. We intend it as a wish rather than an assurance.
However, a true blessing is not whimsical. It is serious business. When we approach a saintly person for a blessing, we are not asking for a wish. We are asking them to open a spigot and release our blessings. You see, brochah is etymologically similar to brichah, which means a pool. We each have a pool of blessings in Heaven. The channel from that pool to us might be blocked. A saintly G-dly person can unplug this channel and shower us with blessings.
The truth is that we all have the power to offer blessings. The Talmud (Megilah 15a) exhorts us never to demean the blessings of ordinary people. If they intend it sincerely and bless us with love, G-d opens the spigot. There is one caveat. They can only shower us with blessings that are already in our pool. If we want a million dollars, but that blessing is not in our pool, a blessing can’t help. Blessings only open the spigot to what is already in the pool. They can’t add anything to the pool.
Prayer
What if we want a blessing that is not in our destiny? This is where prayer comes in. In prayer, we ask G-d to generate new blessings. We often say in our liturgy, “May a [new] will arise before you.” The point is, even if G-d has no desire to grant our prayer, we ask that a new will arise before Him to grant it anyway.
With prayer (for ourselves or others), we can obtain blessings that were never in our cards. G-d is not confined to the blessings He pre-chose for us. If He wills it, He can create new blessings. That is what we ask for when we pray.
A good example is the prayer of the rebels who sided with Absalom in his revolt against King David. They prayed that they fall into David’s hands, rather than David fall into their hands. They knew that they would likely kill David, but David would not kill them. (Jerusalem Talmud, Sotah 1:8)
Why did they assume that David wouldn’t kill them? David was a fierce warrior; even G-d testified (Chronicles I 22:8) that He had blood on his hands. David had a gentle soul; only a sensitive, delicate soul could produce the Psalms' stirring poetry and subtle prose. He was the delightful singer of Israel, but he was also a fierce warrior in battle. He was gentle in prayer, but aggressive in war. So, what made the rebels expect him to treat them compassionately in battle?
The answer is they didn’t expect it; they prayed for it. Such an outlandish dream would have been beyond the purview of a blessing. They didn’t grant themselves a blessing along these lines. They were certain that such blessings did not exist in their pool. But they prayed for it. You can pray to G-d for anything. As they say, “All is fair in prayer and war . . .”
The Priestly Blessing
Now we can understand what makes the priestly blessing stand out as G-d’s gesture of supreme love. The kohen doesn’t merely open the spigot to blessings already in our pool, though he does this too, and very effectively. The kohen commands new blessings into our pool and from there to us.
This is better than prayer. When we pray, we are in G-d’s hands. He decides whether to grant our prayer. As they say, G-d always answers, but sometimes the answer is no. When we bless, however, we don’t leave it to G-d. We take matters into our own hands and open the spigot. G-d already did His part by filling our pool with blessings. We assume control over the spigot and let G-d’s blessings pour.
The kohen’s blessing achieves both. He takes command of the blessings and fills our pool with new blessings. When they bless the people, G-d grants anything they instruct Him to grant. G-d granted them the power of the purse—the blessing purse. G-d said, “Invoke my name to the Jewish people, and I will bless them.” Whatever the priest instructs G-d to give, G-d grants. The kohen wields incredible power in this extraordinary moment.
When G-d Shows His Love
We can now appreciate the profundity of Divine love that flows through the kohen to the people at the time of this blessing. G-d grants us everything the kohein wishes for us because He loves us. Every time the kohen steps up to the podium, raises his arms, and locks his fingers, G-d’s passionate love for us is aroused. It flows into the kohen, through his arms and interlocked fingers, and into the nation.
In this heart-to-heart moment of love, anything the kohein orders is granted. It is a profoundly affirming, powerful moment for the kohen and the people. Imagine being a kohen in that moment and transforming yourself into a channel overflowing with G-d’s infinite love. The sensation can be overwhelming if you lean into it. It can make you burst at the seams and leave you feeling spent and drained.
The kohen’s task is to keep his wits about him and not lose himself in the moment's intensity. He needs to utilize this moment to channel unprecedented and even unjustified blessings to the people. G-d gave the kohen this power and privilege, which is also an obligation and responsibility. G-d stands beside the kohen and directs him to command G-d to act. If he does, the kohein has fulfilled his obligation and is himself blessed. If he lets the moment pass without asking for life-altering blessings, G-d is disappointed. I love my children, He cries, why didn’t you command me to bless them?
So, the next time you are at services when the kohen steps up to the podium and prepares to bless you, tune into the moment and experience its magnitude. It is not every day that you can experience such intense love.