Shalom everyone and thank you for joining me in the study of Parashat Naso. In this Parashat we have uh different topics, different issues to deal with, but I would like to focus today on Birkat Kohanim, the priestly blessing. The Torah states the following Hashem el Moshe Lemor Hashem spoke to Moses, saying, speak to Aharon and to his children. Tell them, this is the blessing that you should recite when you bless the Jewish people. Hashem would shine his face to you and will give you grace. This is a very literal translation. And he will bestow you or will bestow upon you shalom. Peace. On one hand it says that the Kohanim should recite the blessing, Kotevarhu, you should be the one to recite the blessing, and at the end it says, Vaani, I will give them a blessing. That's A. B. How the Kohanim receive a blessing. How can they bless someone else? And we can talk about all other aspects of the brachai itself, but today I would like to focus on two main issues. The first issue is why Aharon and his children, why they were chosen to be the ones to recite that blessing. And the second question is, what is the meaning of shalom? Peace. So let's try and see what the commentators have to say, and we'll try to derive some conclusions and some ideas from them. Before we start, let's go back to the book of Exodus, the fourth chapter. At the beginning of Exodus, we all remember that Hashem and Mushe Rabinu has a very heated debate regarding Moshe's acceptance of the mission to go ahead and to save the Jewish people. Moshe refused to do it. And it was a day after day, according to our sages, it was seven days negotiations. Until in a way Hashem pushed Moshe, pushed Moshe, and then Moshe said something which was very interesting. Moshe says what? Who is that someone else? So let's read the second Pasuk. So Hashem had rage, was very angry and upset with Moshe. And he says to him, Alo Aharon Achika Halevi, but your brother, your older brother Aharon, I know that he can speak. And also he would know that you are coming back to Egypt and he will be happy to see you. What's going on here? So take a look at Rashi. Rashi says, So, let's go back to the Pasuk. When Moses says to Hashem, Moses says to God, God, leave me alone. First I have an older brother, and especially in an ancient cultures, the older brother should receive it. And so it's not for me to take it. Let Aaron do it. A. B. While I was not in Egypt, Chazal basically claims that Aharon was one of the leaders. And therefore Moshe says to Hashem, Why do you want to send me? Send Aharon. A, he can speak. I have problems speaking. B, I was not there for so many years. Let them have a leader that was there with them. C, he's my older brother. I'm afraid to insult him. I'm afraid to create some kind of tension between me and him. So leave me alone. And when Hashem heard this claim, Hashem was upset. And he says, I know that Aaron can speak. And I also want you to know he is going to greet you, he's going to come out from Egypt to greet you probably on the way. Because Moshe came from Midian and Aaron was in Egypt. So they probably Aaron is going to approach Moshe and he's going to be happy. So why do we need to know that he's going to be happy? says Rashi. Not like what you think, Moshe. Don't think that Aharon will be jealous or that he is going to be angry with the fact that you were chosen and he was not. And then take a look what Rashi says. From that moment, Aaron was rewarded with the bracelet, with a chosen that he will carry on his chest that will represent the entire Jewish people. And Aharon will be the one. Aharon and his children are going to be the ones who can carry that on their chest, on their heart, because of that specific moment and that specific decision. We have something amazing in this commentary of Fashi. First and foremost, let's see the first part of the verse. It's not like what you think, Moshe. Which means Moshe thought that Aaron is like any other brother. He's a good brother, he's a caring brother, but he's the older brother. And seeing the younger brother become now the leader of the Jewish people, the one who speaks to Hashem on a daily basis, the one who is going to be remembered forever, receiving the Torah, giving the Torah to the Jewish people, even if you are a great brother, a great sibling, you still have like a little bit of um why not me, why him, or what does he think that he is? So Moshe thought that Aaron will have his you know natural reaction. You know, maybe he will be a bit happy, but it will be hard for him. Says a shem to Moshe, Lokesha Tasavu, it's not like what you think at all. That he's going to be angry with you because you will become the leader and he is not. Not only that he's not going to be upset, he's going to rejoice and wear in his heart. Not only giving you a big smile, giving you a big hug, but truly in his heart, he's going to be jealous and envy and angry. Not at all. Aharon reached an incredible level of brotherhood and understanding. If that's good for the Jewish people because that's what Hashem chose, it's good for me. This is what we will call generosity of the heart. This is a person who had an incredible self-restraint, an incredible ability to overcome human nature and not only not to be jealous, but to be happy in his heart. And therefore, as a reward, he received the bracelet, the chosen, that he can put on his chest when he can put it on his heart. He has a pure heart that can carry the entire Jewish people. So if we ask why Aharon, so Aharon already was chosen to be a Kohen before the Golden Calf, before the Jews even left Egypt. The moment he decided that he's going to greet Moshe Rabbeinu with tremendous happiness in his heart, Hashem understood it, saw it, and immediately decided Aharon is going to be the Kohen. So now when we know the reason for Aharon to be chosen as the high priest and his children after him, let's try to understand the last blessing, which is Shalom, which we will translate as peace, but we will see in a few minutes that this is probably not the right translation. The Mishnah in Utzin says the following. Why? Because it says in Psalms, Hashem Ozla Moiiten, Hashem Yevarech et Amobashalom. Hashem will give strength to his people, Hashem will bless his people with shalom. Which means shalom is the khli machzik bracha. Which means it's the ability for us, when we are blessed with shalom, we have the ability to maintain, to contain, to collect together all the other brachot, and in a way to create some kind of a misgeret, some kind of a frame, and all the brachot are in this little basket, and this little basket called shalom. But why? What does it mean? So take a look. The Natsiv, you know, make the Varab nafta Litz Vyuda Berlin saysemnecha shalom, a har call ha brachot, me varchim, bekliha machzikotam, shebli shalom einachat beshum bracha. This is tremendous insight. Basically, the Natsiv says shalom is the last bracha. So, in a way, just imagine for a second. I'm giving you gifts, I'm giving you a cell phone, I'm giving you uh earphones, I'm giving you a suitcase, I'm giving you all sorts of gifts, but I don't give you a bag. So where are you going to put it? You're going to drop some of it. And then you're going to be worried that what maybe something in your right hand will basically will not be able to support the left hand and everything will fall. You will lose everything. So I can give you many gifts, but if I don't give you a bag to put it there, you're going to lose it. Says the Natsiev. The blessing of shalom was given at the end. It's like the bag where you can put all the other blessings. Because if you don't have shalom and nachat, there is no satisfaction, there is no gratification with any of the blessings. So what is shalom? It's definitely not just peace. It's more than that. It seems to be that shalom is the ability to collect together to maintain all different types of things that can basically live together in a harmony and in a way to be almost intertwined with each other and not to feel any tension. Shalom is more from the word shlymut, which means wholesomeness. Something that can create harmony. And therefore, the shalom, this blessing was given to us at the end of all blessings. Rapshim Shan Rafael here has an excessive interpretation, an extensive interpretation to this idea of the Kohen and Shalom. And he says the following, it's not a permission. It's obligatory. There is an obligation on Aharon and his children and all the Kohanim to recite a blessing for the Jewish people. Because that's how the Torah defined the service. It means that what? That Birkat Koanin, the priestly blessing, is not a separate entity. It's not an external component. It's an integral component of serving in the temple. What does that mean? So the Kohen stands and serve God, and he recite the blessing as God's emissary and in God's name. And because the priestly blessing is part of the service of the temple, so now he's trying to elaborate. So the first stage is it's an obligatory. It's an obligation for the Kohen to recite the blessing. It's not extra, it's not that if he wants to, it's an obligation. That's point number one. The second point is it's part of serving in the temple, it's an integral part of serving in the temple. Now it's the third stage. After I established, says Raphshim Shal Rafael Hirosh, that A, it's an obligation, B, it's an integral part of the service. There is the third level. And the third component is what? That it has similar laws and nature like serving in the temple. What does that mean? Which means the Kohen needs to see himself, not as someone is now giving a blessing because of he likes me. No. The same way he approaches the Korbanot, the sacrifices, when he understands that what? That is Sakako, that is only what? A vessel, an instrument to do it for me, the bracha, he needs to feel the same thing. There is no objectivity there. Which means he cannot put his own interpretation, his own words, or to say, you know what, today I don't feel like giving you a bracha. There's no such a thing. We expect the Kohen to always be a Kohen when he gives the blessing, which means the same way that when he served in the temple, he needs to take the me, meaning himself, out of the picture, he needs to do the same thing when he recites the blessing to us. You are just the instrument. You are just a conduit from Hashem to the Jewish people. Why is that so important? I think it's so important for Abshimchon to mention it is because of two main reasons. A, if the Koanim do not understand that they are just a vessel, A, they can change the blessing, can do whatever they want with the blessing, and they will think that they are the ones to give the blessing. Which will basically explode their ego and will create exactly the opposite of what we try to do in the entire Torah regarding the Koanim. Almost every nation had their priests. Every religion has their priests. But many times in many other religions, the priests were basically the elite group, very wealthy group, very disconnected group from the people. We also had our own share with it during the Second Temple. But the ideal for the Kohanim is that on one hand they are committed and they serve in the temple, but at the same time they don't have territory, they don't have inheritance, they barely have money, they are dependent on us, they are teachers most of the year. Which means you create dependency and connection between the people and the Kohanim. So if the Kohen thinks that he is the one to give the blessing, he's going to even maybe even demand bribe money in order to give the blessing. So we need to be very clear. It's part of your job. And you should not deviate from the words that God placed in that blessing. It's not magical, it's not mysterious. They need to say it out loud, everyone can hear them. It's not there's no ambiguity, it's clear, it's defined. So the Koan also does not think that he's saying some kind of magical words. You know, we all understand when we see Koanim go and they put the Talit on and they bring the and they lift up their hands and they say it, and sometimes during the holidays we have a special tune, and it's mystical, but it shouldn't be. It's a simple bracha that the Koanim basically transfer from God to us. Why? And how can they do that? That's because of the great great great grandfather Aharon, who had this pure heart and was able to understand that if Moshe was chosen to be a leader, it's fine with him. So then he continues. This is amazing. The halacha, the Jewish law, is that you need to say before we start the priestly blessing, what do we say? Kohanim. We make an announcement. Why do we need to do that? Answer is we need to demand that they will hear the call and they will give us the blessing. Khazan Aknesset, the Gabai, is going to make this announcement. And basically, and he basically he starts saying the words and the Koanim respond to him. Says Rapshim Shon Rafael Hirsch. It's something interesting. He says, It's amazing. How you create this dependency? On one hand, this is part of their service. They need to do it. But they can't do it until we call them. The kahal, the gabai, the chazan, the leader of the davnih, he calls Kohanim. Now they know that we are asking them to get to their job. So they get to their job. Now let's say they want to recite the blessing by themselves, we tell them no, you need to wait. The Qahal, the congregation, is or the representative of the congregation first needs to recite it and then you will react. So the Kazan says, and they say Yevarechha. Hashem, Hashem. Why? In order to show them it's not about you. It's about Hashem and it's about the people. When you think about the laws like that, you have the outcome, which is truthfully, says Rapsim Shrafali. The kahal, the congregation itself, they are the ones to bring the blessings on them through the Qanim. So see what's going on here. We try our best to convey a message to the Kohanim. It's not about you, you are just a conduit, you are just an instrument. And in order to re-emphasize it, they cannot do their job, they cannot fulfill their obligation until we initiate it with a the call Kohanim. And the second is that we start to recite the Brucha and they react to us. So this is the idea of Birkat Kuhanim according to Rapshim Shan Rafal Hir. The Pasukin Tailim, chapter 34, verse 9. It says, Sur mera, remove yourself from evil, va asetov, perform or do good, bakesh shalom, seek, search for peace, for shalom, verotfehu, and chase it, pursue it, try to catch it. Now this is a very interesting verse. Surme ra I can understand. Remove yourself from evil. You see an evil thing, remove yourself. Don't be involved. Asetov, do good, perform kindness, pretty simple. What does it mean, Bakesh Shalom? Seek peace. Try to find it, search for it. And then when you find it, so I would think that you found it. That's it, move on. No, Rodfehu. Try to run after it. If I have a desire to find it and I can find it, why do I need to run after it? So take a look. The Ibn Ezra says, Bakeshalom ki ein mishpathabanim levah veliid gaberze alze. Who is he talking about? The Ibn Ezra reads that Pasuk as basically as a general request from the Jewish people to remove themselves from evil, to do good, to perform kindness, and to be me vakeshalum among us. It says because in Mishpathabanim le vakeshra vedgabelza, he says it's not human nature between siblings to try to basically have some kind of superiority over the other. Yeah, we can argue with that, but it seems to be that in a family, you know, you have more uh more generosity of the heart towards your siblings. So baqesh shalom seek peace is because if you know that we are all one family, so no one needs to have a better job than the other or to feel that he's superior or inferior versus the other. The shalom, as I mentioned before, is the abilities that the cleans is the is the is the instrument that can maintain different people, different gifts. The Midrashtan Huma says the following. This is later on when the Jewish people are about to enter the land of Israel, so they need to go through the nations of Sichon and Emori. And it says that the Jewish people sent emissaries in order to ask the kings of Sichon and Emory to give them permission to walk through their land towards the land of Israel. They didn't want to harm them, they didn't want to cause them any damage, they didn't want to fight them, just to walk there. And those two kings refused it. But the Midrash said something interesting. On that specific moment, when the Jewish people sent emissaries to ask for a safe passage through those two countries, that's what David Amelech says in Taylim. Remove yourself from evil, do good and seek peace and chase it. Says the Midrash, velopak da to allamitzvot. This is unbelievable. Since the midrashton khuma, I don't understand. Look what's going on in that pasuk. This is the only mitzvah that we are commanded to chase it, to seek it, to find it, to do everything we can in order to create the opportunity for us to perform it. All the other mitzvot, and here there is a list, it only if it happened to be, so you do it. If you happen to see a nest with uh a mother bird and the little chickens, okay, or the fochim or bitsim, the little uh birds or the eggs, so you need to send away the mother bird and then to take care of this little uh little birds, or if you found a lost object, no one there is nowhere in the Torah that you need to walk like that and to lower your eyes in order. Maybe I can find the lost object so I can pick it up and bring it to someone who lost it. There is no such thing. If it happened, it happened, and if not, not if I don't have a field, which means I cannot perform the mitzvot of leke, chikha, peat, all the commandments that depend on the land. I'm not obligated to buy a land so I can perform those mitzvot. But when it comes to shalom, the direct commandment is shalom verotfeu. So, how is that have anything to do with sending emissaries to Sichon and the king of Emori? Even though Hashem told the Jewish people, go ahead and start fighting them. The Jewish people said to Hashem, Okay, thank you, let's wait. You also told us to try to seek peace. So, I need to explain what's going on here. Am Israel, the Jewish people are about, the people of Israel are about to cross the Jordan River to go back to the land that was promised to them. They need to go through two hostile nations, Sikhon and Emuri. Hashem knows that they are not going to allow the Jewish people just to walk by. So therefore, he says to the Jewish people, go ahead, start fighting them. I'll help you. The Jewish people says to Hashem, Hashem, you know what? We understand, but you know what? Let's let's give peace a chance. Let's let's try. Let's maybe we can somehow convince them that we are not here to harm them, we can find this harmony between them. Let us just give us a safe passage, we will go to the land of Israel. We're not going to do anything to you. Let's try it. And that's why they send those emissaries. Hashem never told them to do it, they decided it on their own. Because there is another commandment that Hashem says, Bakesh alone. And Hashem is allowing that to happen. Hashem is not angry with them that they violate his commandment. Hashem is not upset with them that they did something wrong. Hashem says, you want to try it, try it. You will be disappointed, but you should try it. I think now we have a better understanding. Not only of why Aharon was chosen, what is the nature of Bilkat Ku'anim, but what is shalom. Shalom is the ability to create harmony, to create this tapestry of different voices, different opinions, and they all can be in the same basket. They can all be in the same framework, they can all be around the same table. The easiest thing is to sit around the table with your friends that believe that everything you says is right and correct. But that's not life. Those are yes men's. Lincoln, if I'm not mistaken, was the one that after he won the elections, he invited his opponents to sit in the cabinet in order to hear other voices. And even though they were really his enemies, they could not not be impressed by the fact that he invited them in to hear their opinions. Shalom does not mean to submit yourself to others. You can still make a decision, even though some others can disagree with you. But it's the understanding of the big picture. It's the understanding that everyone has something to contribute. The last blessing of the priestly blessing is shalom. Hashem's name is also shalom. Because Hashem obviously has the ability to maintain different things that at first glance might be mutually exclusive to each other. And that's what Hashem demands of us. Bakesh Shalom. Seek peace. Try to find it in your heart. Your ability to maintain others, to contain other opinions, to hear them out, to try to understand it. And then so when you hear the priestly blessing, obviously we need to pay attention to all the verses and all the blessings. But don't forget the ultimate one. Shalom. Thank you.