A Taste of Shabbos – Parashat Naso

Of course there are no words this week in Boulder, Co.. But as Jews, words have always been our primary link to survival.

There are many topics in this longest Torah portion. In the midst of the various subjects, we find the probably most famous and this week most sadly relevant verses- the Birkat Kohanim, the three fold priestly blessing: “May G-d bless you and protect you; May G-d shine His face upon you, and be gracious to you; May G-d lift His face to you, and give you PEACE.” The most important words in a Jewish lexicon are here: blessings, protection, light, grace, and above all, SHALOM-peace. Preceding these SIXTY words are the blessing before the blessing; ‘Blessed is G-d who has commanded us to bless your nation Israel WITH LOVE.’

How can we command the cohanim, the priests, to give a blessing with love? There are a slew of commentaries addressing this question. One response is the rule that if either the priest or the people do not feel love for each other in their hearts, the blessings will fall flat. A corrective meaning is that the priests are meant, like the first priest, Aaron to bestow the people with love as a preparation for receiving G-d’s name. Indeed the word ‘with love,’ B’AHAVA’, can hint at G-d’s name: AHAVA=13, and the letter Beit in front=2, meaning 2 times love which equals 26- the numerical value of G-d’s most personal name! In fact, some sages say that Ahava IS another name for G-d!

These verses are actually preceded with the words: ‘Speak to Aaron and his children, that they – In a plural form- should bless the children of Israel, say to THEM.’ Now the wording of the blessing is in the singular form. Why the discrepancy? As this entire parasha suggests (see the repetition over and over at the end about the same gifts of the tribal princes with different intentions) the Jewish nation comprises unique individuals who are part of a very close knit community, so the singular can refer to either the individuals or to klal Yisrael-  the congregation of Israel, as a collective ‘entanglement’ where what happens to one, effects everyone else, for better or the opposite.

The people of Israel are considered one organism, and just as within one body, if an organ is missing or defective, than the rest of the body is negatively affected. Similarly, if Jews are in essential conflict with each other- not just of different opinions- then the blessings from above will fall into broken vessels.

The Midrash explains the significance of SHALOM at the end of the three-fold blessing in the following way: May you have peace in your coming in, may you have peace in your going out, and may you have peace with every person.’

.The  Ktav Sofer- the son of the Chatam Sofer- relates this to an interesting Talmudic quote (Brachot 59): There are three expanding symbols of peace that one may see in a dream: a pot, a river, and a bird. A pot represents peace in the home, a river in the community, and a bird in the world at large. These correspond to the above Midrash: the pot alludes to your coming into your home, the river alludes to your going out into your community, and peace with all humanity alludes to peace in the world.

It all starts with the pot that makes peace between the two opposites of fire and water. When Yossi Klein Ha’levi spoke in Denver a short while ago, I mentioned to him something I recently learned: when at the end of the Amida we recite the words now sung all over the world: Oseh Shalom Bimromav- The One who makes peace in the high places, should make peace upon us… The sages say the ‘high places refers to the angels Michael and Gavriel, the angels of water and fire respectively. So if those opposing angels can make peace between them, we on earth who are complex beings comprised of manifold traits, should be able to find ways to make peace between us. Yossi liked that teaching very much and said he would take it back to Israel with him.

Just as the priestly blessings need preparation on the part of both the priests and the people, so too the blessings of Shabbos that come every seventh day, need our preparations both to receive and to appreciate. As in the teaching of the pot, the river, and the bird, it all begins with making peace between the conflicting voices within our homes, our communities, and globally too. And it all starts with peace within ourselves, within the waring voices within us, voices that can be harmonized through the three pillars upon which the world stands- the study of Torah which we received anew Sunday night, the gift of prayer which we always have with us, and acts of loving kindness when we can be there for each other, especially in times of community distress like this week. Remember we are after all one family. As this Shavuot has shown, when one of us is hurt, we all cry together. May we very soon be able to celebrate together with our brothers and sisters, in a peaceful world, with the coming of Mashiach speedily in our days.