Shabbos Parashas Naso - 5777

Shabbos Parashas Naso - 5777

Rabbi Hal Miller

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

Israel, saying to them. [Bamidbar 6:23]

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.

Immediately before the Kohanim recite the blessing over the people, they say this

prayer. We know that the prayer is not in the Torah, but is rabbinic in nature, specifically

from the Gemora Sotah [39a]. Where, though, did the rabbis come up with this

"command" to the Kohanim to bless the people, specifically with love?

Certainly, our verse has G-d commanding the Kohanim, in the written Torah, to say

the benediction blessing, and it specifies how that should be done. But it does not

say anything at all about a preliminary blessing, nor about the state of mind that is

required of these Kohanim when performing this command.

The Zohar, Naso 147b, goes so far as to say, "Any Kohen who does not have love for

the congregation, or for whom the congregation has no love, may not raise his hands

to bless the congregation." This sounds like a law of agency, but where do we find any

law in agency that says the agent and principal have to like each other?

Rav Hirsch says that our verse is not assigning any authority to bless here, but instead

is conferring a duty for the Kohanim, part of their daily service. He says, " The blessing

of the priests does not flow from their well-wishing, their benevolence, but it is part and

parcel of their service to the Sanctuary." He goes on, "Our priests in pronouncing the

blessing are a completely passive instrument." What this seems to imply is that the

Kohanim are merely place-holders, conduits. The actual blessing comes from G-d.

This of course makes sense, but how does it fit with the words "with love"? The answer

comes with a consideration of who the "with love" applies to.

Nachshoni notes that the Kohanim receive their priestly gifts from the people. Since

the people have been generous, the priests feel a strong connection and gratitude. This

would indicate that the "with love" refers to the Kohanim. Nachshoni, though, then goes

on to cite Maharsha, "that you should choose only someone who is generous to make

the blessing pronounced over a cup of wine." This is to teach us that the blessing from

G-d will be more bountiful when it is asked for by people who are being generous to

each other. Kindness breeds kindness. "With love" refers to the relationship between

the people and G-d.