Shalom from Beta Vikai and thank you for joining me in the study of Parashat Naso. In Parashat Naso we have many different topics and I would like today to discuss with you Birkat Koani, the priestly blessing. How does exactly it work? A Kohen, a priest, comes along and gives us a blessing, and then we are blessed. So, does he give the blessing from his own? He gets it from God, from Hashem, he gives it to us. How exactly does it work? So let's try to explore it together. Hashem says to Moshe and to Aharon, Hashem says to Moshe, speak to Aaron and to his children. This is the way that you're going to bestow blessings over the Jewish people, Emorlahim, tell them. And then we have the three verses regarding the priestly blessing. So let's try to understand. How exactly does it work and what does it mean to us? So the first source that we're going to analyze together is Bereeshit Rabba, is a midrash, a bit of an ancient midrash around the 5th or 6th century in the land of Israel. And it says the following. What is the merit? What is the origin that the Jewish people merited the priestly blessing? So then we have a dispute among the rabbis. What is the origin? What is the source that gave us the merit to have the priestly blessing? It came from Avraham. Because it says there, Ko iezarecha. Hashem says to Avraham, Ko, meaning this is how, or this is how many your descendants will be, the word Ko. And in the priestly blessing it says, Ko tevarhu edbne Israel. So you see that the first two letters, Kaf Hei, is a blessing to Avraham, and that's the same blessing to us as the priestly blessing. So basically it comes from Avraham. Now we need to understand that what does it mean when it comes from Avraham? It means that Avraham's faith and determination and dedication to Hashem basically gave him the merit that he will have descendants, and those descendants will be us. And as a result, these descendants will be blessed, and how? With the priestly blessings. Rabin Echemia amarmizch. Rabin Hemia says, no, it comes really from Itzhaq, Sheneyama, as it says, when Avram and Isaac were on their way to the Akeida, to the binding of Isaac, it says, and the youth, nel kha ad ko. We will go until there, the word ko. There it says, until there, the ficha marama kom, ko te vahuedbne Israel. And therefore, this is why Hashem, in a way, reciprocate as a result of the Aqeda and gave us the priestly blessing. Now it's interesting. This is a totally different perspective. If we say that the priestly blessing, its origin is from Avraham, we are really talking about Abraham's journey, faith, and determination. With it, we are talking about something else. We are talking about the Mesirut Nefesh, which means the willingness to give up your life for Hashem. And as a result, you get the priestly blessing. And the rabbis, the sages suggested that really the priestly blessing comes from Yaakov. Why? Sheneamar, Ko Tomar Levet Yaakov. This is what you will say to the house of Jacob. And corresponding to it is Kotevahuedbne Israel. Now, obviously, when you look at this midrash, you can look at that in a very superficial way and say, ah, the rabbis basically took the word ko and basically glued it to every other place that it says ko. And it sounds very superficial. It seems to be that the rabbis are basically saying that the Avot, that Avram, Isaac, and Jacob, in their merit, they gave their descendants the priestly blessing. So we need to delve into this idea, the connection between the Avot, Avram, Isaac, and Jacob, and the priestly blessing. And to try to understand and to see, to explore, if there are more connections and deeper connections there. As a side note, I will just say that you can hear many people when the priestly blessing is being recited. After the first verse, they will say Bizchut Avraham in the merit of Avraham. Second verse of the priestly blessing, they will say Bizchut Izrach in the merit of Itzraq. And the third verse of the Birkat Kohanim of the priestly blessing, they will say Bizchut Yaakov in the merit of Yaakov, which basically it's a culmination of this midrash. That instead of saying, Oh, it's only because of Avram, only because of Isaac or Jacob, they basically bring it together and say this entire priestly blessing is because of Avram, Isaac, and Jacob. So I would like to add one more dimension. When we speak about that the Bilkat Kohanim, that the priestly blessing is come as a result of Avram, Isaac, and Jacob, it means something very interesting. The priestly blessing is a blessing that Hashem gives to the Koanim to give to us, and we are blessed, and then it brings us back to the Kohanim and to Hashem, which means this blessing that is being given to us, and in the land of Israel we do it every day, it basically gives us the understanding that Hashem wants to bless us every day. What is a blessing? A blessing is a connection. Someone who cares about you gives you a blessing, he cares about you. Which means Alfom, Itzhak and Yaakov created that connection through faith, through Mesirut Nefesh giving up their lives, Itzhak and Yaakov through Galut, through exile, through the idea that there is a covenant, and all these three ideas are come together in Birkat Kwanim. But we are going to elaborate on it a little bit later. In Midrash Tanchuma, which is a little bit of a later Midrash, says the following. At the beginning I will be the one to bless my creatures, to bless everyone that I created. How do we know that? If you go to Sefer Bereshit, to the book of Genesis, you see that when Hashem created the world, he blessed everything that he created, the animals, the fish, and obviously human beings. However, says the Midrash, Mikanveh from now on, Areha Brachot Mesurot Lachem, Vitium Vachimet Bne Israel. From now on, says Hashem to the Quran, you are the one to give the blessing to the Jewish people. So he says to Moshe, warn Aaron and his children to recite the blessing for the Jewish people. Minain, how do we know that? From the fact that Hashem says to Moshe to tell Aharon and his children to recite that priestly blessing to the Jewish people, we know that they are now become in charge, which is very interesting. In a way, now this Midrash says, until now, Hashem was the one to bless his creatures. Now it was given to the Kohanim. Which means the Kohanim becomes now the emissaries, God's emissaries to carry on and to give this blessing. We want you, God, we want you directly to give us a blessing, not to go through the Kohanim. I will stand with them and I will recite the blessing for you. Which is unbelievable. In the beginning it was only Hashem, gives a blessing. Now it's going through the Koanim, but Hashem is with the Qanim. And therefore, this is why the Qanim, when they give the blessing, they open up their fingers, and in a way, Hashem goes through their fingers and gives us a blessing. There is a verse in Shira Shrim in the Song of Songs that Hashem is like, in a way, stands behind the wall and he looks from the windows, from the crack of the window, he looks at us. This is an incredible midrash. It basically says that Hashem chose the Koanim to recite the blessings for us, but it doesn't mean that Hashem left. It means that Hashem now stands with the Koanim and gives us the blessing. Now, this is there are there is like two ideas here. A, this is one of the reasons that you should not look at the Koanim at the priests when they recite the blessing. Because Hashem, in a way, reveals himself there and you can't look at Hashem through their fingers. B, Hashem in a way is telling us. I can obviously continue to give you a blessing directly, but I want this chosen tribe, the Kohanim, to convey this blessing, to bestow that blessing with me. I'm interested in partnering with you. It's not going to be just top-down, I'm giving you a blessing to you, all of you here. I'm going to go to do it through other people. So, how does it work? That was our initial question. Hashem says to the Koanim, you have now the power to recite the blessing. This power comes for me. And it's not just that I gave you the power and I empowered you and then I'm leaving. I will come with you. This is the way you're going to recite the blessing while I'm there. So now the priestly blessing, I think, receives an enriched dimension. It's not only birkat Kohanim, the priestly blessing. It's Birkat Kohanim Ve Hashem. The priests are reciting the blessing that Hashem tells them, and he is with them there. The Babli, the Babylonian Talmud in Hulin, says the following. Rabbi Ishmael said something very interesting. He says, Okay, the priests are reciting a blessing and they give us a blessing, but who gives the Koanim a blessing? This is a very fair question. You know, I give you a blessing, but who is giving me a blessing? Says Rabbi Ishmael, Hashem. It goes like that. Hashem gives the Koanim the right to give us a blessing. They bless us. And then Hashem blessed the Koanim. So they are blessed by God, and we are blessed by the Koanim. That's according to Rabbi Ishmael. Rabbi Akiva mer, Lamadnu brachal Israel mi pi Koanim. So we learn that the Koanim give us a blessing. But how do we know that we are blessed by God? So Rabbi Akiva's opinion is the Kuanim recite the blessing to us, and Hashem says, good, I'll confirm this blessing. So obviously, and that's very similar to what we said in the previous midrash. But now the Gmarah is asking a very good question. El Rabbi Akiva, brachala kuanim in Ale. So how do we know that the Kuanim themselves are being blessed? Which means Hashem says to the Ku'anim to give us the blessing. And Hashem confirms that. But who is giving a blessing to the Qanim? According to Rabbi Ishmael, God gives them the blessing. But according to Rabbi Akiva, who gives them a blessing? Because when Hashem spoke to Avraham in Bereshit, Hashem promised Avraham, when you bless others, you will be blessed. And those who bless you will be blessed. Which means the Qanim were empowered by God to give us a blessing. And when they do it, they themselves immediately are being blessed by God. It's a very interesting and delicate relationship. The Qanim needs to find this inner strength and generosity of the heart to give us the blessing. And then, because they blessed us, they will be blessed. And it comes from Avraham. And then the Gemara says, okay, so if that's true, how the Kohanim are going to uh basically are doing here? So he says, because we are establishing the fact that Birkat Kohanim is Bim Kom Brachad Israel. They are like God's emissaries, so they are doing God's job. So what do we have here? We have a machloketanaim, we have a dispute between Rabbi Ishmael and Rabbi Akiva. Regarding what? Regarding the following question. How does it work? How does it work towards us, and how does it work for the Kohanim? The fact that we have such a discussion, it means what? It means that Rabbi Ishmael and Rabbi Akiva look at Birkat Ku'anim definitely as something essential to the relationship between God and us. But then there is an additional question, which is okay, the Koanim are doing their job, they give us a blessing, but what about them? How are they going to be blessed? And here we have an interesting dispute. Rabbi Ishmael says they will be blessed by God. Rabbi Akiva says they will be blessed by us. Us, the non-Kohanim, by them giving us a blessing, they will be blessed. And I think that there is something very deep in this dispute. According to Rabbi Ishmael, you look at the priests, Mo is like God emissaries. They're a little bit aloof from us. And therefore they are blessed directly like it used to be from God Himself. Rabbi Akiva says something a little different. He says, the Kohanim are blessed because they are our emissaries. When they bless us, they will be blessed. And this is two different approaches towards the Kohanim, which the Gemara itself, in a different place, really try to understand. Our Kohanim, the priest, Shluhe Didan or Shluche Rahmana, which means are they our God emissaries or they are our emissaries? The Kohanim has a very unique position. On one hand, they were chosen, they are very unique, they serve in the temple, little bit separate from us, at the same time, they are fully dependent on us for anything that they need: land, food, anything that sustains them. So, in a way, God created this hybrid system that on one hand they are close to Him, on the other hand, they are very close to us. And the priestly blessing, in a way, is the instrument that brings these two dimensions together. And it's being reflected with all these disputes between Rabishmay and Rabbi Akiva, the Midrashtan Khumah, all the Midrashim that we studied before. Where exactly is the origin of the priestly blessing, and how can we really fulfill it, or how can we really understand it when they give us a blessing? Says Rashi on this Gmara in Hulin that we just mentioned. Says Rashi is adding another component to Rabi Akiva. Rabi Akiva says not only that the Koanim are being blessed through us, it's better that they are part of us. Which means the Ko'anim give us the blessing. Rabbi Ishmael says, okay, God gives them a blessing. Rabbi Akiva says, no. We, Am Israel, just the non-Kohanim, through us, they are being blessed. Says Rabbi Akiva, it's even better because they are part of us. They are part of Am Israel. We all have unique people, unique groups, but they need to understand that their uniqueness is really empowered by us, by Am Israel, to be part of the collective, to be part of the nation. This is according to Rabia Akiva the ultimate understanding of Birkat Koanim. Rashbam, who is Rash's grandson, talks about Birkat Koanim and he suggests the following. He says, when Hashem told Aaron and his children to recite the blessing to Amisraid, he says to them, it's very specific. It's a designated blessing, you can't change it. And he says, Hashem told them, I'm not allowing you to say whatever you want. You need to see this to say this specific paragraph. You need to pray to me that I will pray Am Israel, that I will give a blessing for Am Israel. The priests say, Hashem will bless you. And I will listen to you and I will give the blessing to the Jewish people. The Qanim are basically just an instrument. They are the instrument to ask God to give a blessing to Am Israel through them. So it's not a Qanim. It's not that the priests are giving us the blessing. They recite the words of the blessings that Hashem gave them, and in a way they prayed to God, please, please bless Am Israel through these three verses that you gave us. Again, Rashbaam, in a way, probably followed the idea of Rabi Akiva. It's all about Am Israel. The Kuanima is just an instrument. And we will talk about the idea of instrument in a few minutes. If you remember the verse, Hashem says to Moshe, tell them, and then emor la him, tell them. So the first reason for the idea of the redundancy of the twice to say to them comes to teach them that it's not reshut. It's not like on a volunteer basis. If the Koanim would like to recite the blessing, they will, and if not, they don't. No, no. They are obligated. They are obligated on a daily basis to recite that blessing. It also came to teach us that it was not a commandment only for Aaron and his children, but for generations to come. So there are two ideas here. A, the idea that that's an obligation, that's a commitment. The Koin needs to know that he must recite the blessing. Unless there are other circumstances that he cannot, he must do it. B, it's for generations to come. So now Rabshim Rafael Hirish elaborates on this idea and he says, it's not a non-obligatory commandment. There is an obligation for the Koanim to recite the blessing for the Jewish people. It's not as a result of the generosity of the heart of the priest. Part of their service in the temple, it's not only to bring sacrifices and to sprinkle the blood, but it's also to recite the priestly blessing. This is the way that the verse, that the narrative defines the service, the priestly service. To stand in front of God, to serve him, and to recite a blessing in his name. Which means the priestly blessing is attached to the priestly service in the temple. This is also the reason why the Koanim will recite the blessing after the service. And by the way, in Davening, we call the Kuanim when Ritse. That's in the middle of Tfilach Monasra, the silent prayer. Ritse is what we called avoda. That's the service. Therefore, we finish the service and then they recite the blessing. So, what is the meaning of it? What Rapshim Shon Rafael Hirsch did, he first defined it as part of the service. So now what does it mean? Says Rav Hirsch, as a result, or due to the fact that the priestly blessing is part of the service, it has the same nature, the same DNA of the priestly service in the temple. Which means, like in the service itself, when the Kohen brings a sacrifice, it's not that he is the one to make the sacrifice. He is just an instrument, he is a tool, he is the connection in a way that helps us to connect to God. But he is not God. He is not the main purpose of the service. He is just helping us. The same thing with the priestly blessing. They are not doing from that from their generosity of their heart. They are not doing that as because they just love us. They are doing that as part of an obligation, a commitment. The bracha, and here I'm going to talk about the bracha, is an instrument to connect us to God. And here is where the Hebrew is so meaningful. The word bracha is spelled bet. It comes from the word berich. Ni. The berich helps connect the lower parts of our body and our upper part of our body, which allows us to walk, to continue our journey. When someone gives you bracha, he's basically connecting the upper world and the lower world. Basically creating this link between these two realms. Birkat Koanim, and this is why the Koanim were chosen, the Koanim are in a way themselves are birk. They are, in a way, God's emissaries, and they are our emissaries. They are exactly this link between God and us. Mediators. They are not here to replace God, God forbid. They are not here to be themselves like some kind of a divine entity or a deity, but rather they are just there to help us connect to Hashem. And therefore, they need to understand that it's part of their avoda. Same way that they treat the Qurban, a sacrifice, same way that they treat any other thing in the Beta Migdash, the priestly blessing is part of their service, part of their commitment. Rafsalovechik says Maimanadis indicates that the Kohanim, the priest, hold their fingers closed until the beginning of the blessing and then open them. The fingers represents represent men's possessiveness. Hence the commandment not to close one's hand to the destitute. During the priestly blessing, these fingers of the hand are spread apart, the open fingers serving as a conduit for blessing. Raf Salovechik basically takes it in a very metaphoric way. We spoke about the idea that the Qanim basically opened their fingers. According to the Midrash, it's in order to allow God's divine presence to go through those fingers and to give us a blessing. According to Raf Salovechik, there is perhaps another metaphor. When the Torah warns us to give tzdaka, to give charity to the destitute, we says, You should not close your hand and not give to your brother who is destitute. However, you should open up your hand and give tzdaka. The idea of spreading the fingers and allowing this plenty to come, it shows generosity. It shows the idea that we try to take care of everyone who is in need. The priestly blessing and the commandment for them to open up their fingers basically shows that they are an instrument for that tremendous blessing that Hashem has to give us. The Svatemet concludes this idea by saying, Meaning it's not only that the Kohanim are an instrument or a vessel to carry on the blessing, but we, Am Israel, are also an instrument, a vessel to carry on the blessing to us and to everyone else. The Ita, as it says, the only vessel that can maintain peace, that can maintain a blessing is peace. But what is peace? It's not just shalom, but it's shlemut, it's wholesomeness. The Jewish people are called in Song of Song Shulamit. What is shulamit? We are being blessed by the Birkat Qanim every day, and the last word in the priestly blessing is shalom. Does that mean just peace? Shalom in Hebrew is shlimut, wholesomeness, harmony, full understanding of each other. Because we have this ability to create this harmony, so Hashem gives us a blessing every day. So now let's try to bring all those sources together. So how does it work? So this question really has two answers. First, the Koanim are an instrument to give us a blessing. According to one opinion, they were empowered by doing so, and God gives them later on a blessing. According to the other opinion, they are being blessed by us, and a shem stands with them and gives us a blessing. The second idea was the idea that the Koanim are not giving that blessing on their own. It's not part of a volunteer job, it's a commitment, it's part of the service. It's part of this idea that the Qanim were chosen to be designated for a holy service, but they never should lose sight from the reason for that. The reason for that is that we have a dedicated group that on a daily basis are serving God, but their aim, their goal, their purpose is to bring us and to elevate us to the same level until we will all be Mamlechet Kohanim Vigoi Kadosh. We will be all a priestly nation. Does not mean that we're all going to be Kohanim, but we will be able to connect to God on a daily basis. And then the last idea is that it works because we are a cle. We become a vessel. And this is, I think, something very important for all of us. We need to always prepare ourselves to be a cle, to be an instrument, to be a vessel that can maintain the blessing, that we will have enough quote-unquote space in us to be able to maintain the blessings that God gives us, but also to be able to give it to others. So when the Qanim gives us a blessing, it's not that we got a blessing and we are blessed and then we can go home. We are blessed with a purpose. We are blessed with a meaning that now, after you are blessed, you need to bless others. And to bless others does not mean just to put my hands and to give you a blessing. It's to do things, to create things that are a blessing for everyone. So now, when we hear the priestly blessing, we don't need only just to receive the blessing, but we also need to receive the responsibility that comes with it. Thank you.