Naso - English

Rabbi Rami Pavolotzky

B’nei Israel Congregation, Costa Rica

Difference is a Blessing

The birkat cohanim or priestly blessing, with which the priests, or cohanim, had to bless the people appears on this week’s parashah.  This famous blessing goes like this:  "May the Lord bless you and keep you.  May the Lord let His face shine upon you and be gracious to you.  May the Lord look kindly upon you and give you peace" (Numbers 6:24-26).

When the Temple of Jerusalem still existed, priests used this formula for certain special occasions. After the Temple was destroyed, different traditions were developed regarding the time and form in which this blessing was to be recited.  The Ashkenazi custom is that in the Diaspora, it is only pronounced for holidays, while in Israel, it is read every day.

For those of you who have never witnessed it, it is a very attractive ritual:  at a particular moment of the worship, the cohanim present at the synagogue leave the main hall and wash their hands, helped by the attending leviim.  Then they go back, take off their shoes and walk to the front of the synagogue.  Once there, they cover their heads with their tallitot and recite the blessing with a special chant, moving along with their bodies.  It is something pretty to see.

As many of you know, the priestly blessing occupies a prominent place on Jewish liturgy.  Moreover, it is used to bless a Bar or Bat Mitzvah, a couple who is getting married, and is also the phrase that parents say to their children before the Kiddush, on Friday nights.  It is a blessing deeply loved by the Jewish people, and which everyone wants to receive.

With regards to this blessing, the Talmud offers a lovely explanation (Babli Sotah 38b).  The sages wonder what should be done in a synagogue where everyone is cohanim, all are priests.  The question is reasonable, for if all the cohanim present rose for the benediction, then there would be no one left at the synagogue to receive it…. And then, what would be the sense of the blessing?

My intention is not to dwell on this discussion among the sages, but rather to pay attention to the problem posed.  At first sight, it would seem to be an ideal situation:  at a time of so much religious holiness and intensity, such as the priestly blessing, the synagogue is full of priests… what else could we ask for?  However, what seems sublime is actually a problem, since as I mentioned before, there is no one there who can receive the blessing.

Perhaps the difficulty of a synagogue where everyone is a priest lies precisely in the fact that everyone is equal, there are no differences.  One of the greatest treasures that a synagogue can have is to know how to value the differences among its people.  There are many roles in a synagogue, that when filled, make it grow in originality and vitality.   There is always someone deemed as “the one who knows plenty” and another that “never knows anything”.  There is the one who sings like an angel and the one who inevitably goes out of tune.  The one who arrives before anyone else, and the one who is always late.  The expert who criticizes all that is done and the one always willing to contribute in whatever is needed.  The one who never fails and the one who appears just once a year.  The one always smartly dressed and the one who’s always too casual.  The one who prays devoutly and the one who quickly gets bored and looks for someone to talk to.

Well, when all these roles begin to fill and are easily recognizable, a synagogue becomes much richer and achieves a much greater creative power.  On the other hand, when all worshippers “are equal”, the matter becomes so boring that it ends up creating problems.

The priestly blessing, and Jewish community life in general, only acquires its most profound meaning when the people who receive it and experience it are different among themselves, when each one of them can bring on their own personality, which in Martin Buber’s words, is unique and never-to-be-repeated.  Let us enjoy and appreciate our differences.

Shabbat Shalom!

Rabbi Rami Pavolotzky
B’nei Israel Congregation, Costa Rica