Shabbos Parashas Naso - 5775

Shabbos Parashas Naso - 5775

Rabbi Hal Miller

Speak to Aharon and his sons, saying, so shall you bless the children of Israel,

saying to them [Bamidbar 6:23]

A few weeks ago we read in Parshas Shemini [Vayikra 9:22] that Aharon "raised his

hands towards the people and blessed them." Now we read that Hashem commanded

Moshe to direct Aharon to do just that. It seems out of order, but Ramban tells us that

our verse here is a commandment for the Kohanim to perform this service for all future

generations, rather than just that once in the desert.

We are all familiar with the contents of verses 24 to 27, the priestly benediction. Even

the non-Jews use it regularly. Our verse, though, gives us something in addition. We

can divide the verse into three parts: "speak to Aharon and his sons", "so shall you

bless the children of Israel", and "saying" which occurs twice.

"Speak to Aharon and his sons" is where Ramban gets his understanding of the

applicability to future generations. It is a common phrase, with little additional meaning

here beyond what it means in common in other places used.

"So shall you bless the children of Israel" contains two parts, the first word, and the

remainder of the phrase. The remainder is pretty straightforward, but the 'so' begs an

explanation. It is easy to read it as meaning 'thus', referring to 'what' is about to come

in the next verses. But Rashbam explains, "You shall not bless them in the manner people

bless one another, wishing that certain individuals will experience blessings of a certain

kind. Instead the priests are to make it plain that they pray to G-d to extend His

blessings to the people whom the priests face at the time." This tells us something of

the 'how'. The following verses tell us what Hashem's blessings will be, but as we know

from other commentaries, these blessings are from Hashem, not from the Kohanim, who

are merely the channel through which Hashem will provide those blessings to the people.

That leaves us with the word 'saying'. It occurs twice. The first one seems straightforward,

it tells Moshe what to relate over to his brother and nephews. The second occurrence has

a greater importance. It indicates that what follows in verses 24 to 27 is what the Kohanim

will repeat to the people, but this is not a 'blessing' from the Kohanim themselves. Rashi

notes that "the word (say) is spelled in full, thus do not bless them in haste and distraction,

rather with concentration and a whole heart." This view tells us the 'how'. But there is still

a question of 'what' in the sense of a Kohanic blessing.

Abarbanel interprets the blessing as prayer, not 'say to them' but 'say for them' (which is

supported in the Hebrew). Nachshoni gives us three levels of blessings: first is that which

Hashem gives to all His creations 'just because'. Second is that which He gives to those

who ask, meaning offer prayer, praise and thanks. Third, the highest level, is what He

gives in response to one creature asking for a blessing upon another creature, which is

what we see in our verse.

The Gemora in Sotah [39a] describes what that blessing is. We hear it at the very

beginning of the duchaning, on holidays outside of Israel, and once or twice every

morning throughout the year here in Israel. The chazan calls "kohanim", and they

reply with a blessing before they get into the call-and-repeat of verses 24 to 27.

The blessing reads: "Blessed are you Hashem our G-d, King of the universe, Who has

sanctified us with the holiness of Aharon, and has commanded us to bless His people

Israel with love."

Rav Hirsch follows this reasoning, when he says, "It is not the authority to bless the

children of Israel which is here conferred to the sons of Aharon, but a duty which is given

them to perform. The blessing of the priests does not flow from their well-wishing, their

benevolence is but part and parcel of their service to the Sanctuary." Thus, in our verse,

"saying to them", or as Abarbanel wrote "say for them", means that the Kohanim are

performing their assigned service by asking Hashem to bless His people. The Kohanim

do not actually speak directly to the people. The Kohanim do this, not because of their

love for the people, although they must do this "with love". They do it because they were

assigned to do so. The love is that which they must have for Hashem and His mitzvos.