Kol Shearith Israel - Panamá
The biggest moment of a Bar or Bat Mitzvah celebration is when the young man or woman goes up to read from the Torah. Beyond all the expressions and traditions of this rite of passage, the act of being called up, in front of their family and congregation, to fulfill a responsibility limited only to adults, encloses the importance of the experience.
After carrying out the reading of the Torah, with the corresponding blessings – before and after – included, it is tradition to recite to the young man/woman the “Mi Sheberach”, an invocation that begins with these words: “Mi Sheberach Avoteinu – He who blessed our ancestors” and in which we ask God to extend His blessings.
Truthfully, the Mi Sheberach, as a liturgical resource, is used with diverse goals: in honor of who rises to read from the Torah, for the healing of the sick, to name a baby girl, etc. The first mention of this blessing is from the Machzor Vitri (France, XIII Century) and that is the Mi Sheberach for the well-being of the congregation - text that is used up to this day.
Coming back to the Bar/Bat Mitzvah Mi Sheberach, what surprises me the most is that the better-known text (there are two different versions) has a structural anomaly.
As any Mi Sheberach, it begins with the blessing of the person to whom it is intended for – in this case, the young man/woman – and then it goes to their parents: “May they have the joy of seeing him/her enter the Wedding Chuppah and a lifetime of good deeds”, and when we think it should conclude, it returns to the Bar/Bat Mitzvah with the words: “Venimtzah Chen Vesechel Tov Beeinei Elohim Vaadam”, “May you find grace and good favor in the sight of God and man”.
What is the meaning of this last sentence that made it be included in an extemporary manner in the Mi Sheberach? We should begin by saying that it also appears in the Birkat Hamazon, the blessing after a meal, and it is almost identical to a biblical verse from the book of Mishlei (Proverbs, 3:4). The only change is the initial verb conjugation.
The content contains a concept that personally I find very valuable. If we assume that the grace and good favor refers to the emotional and rational field respectively, both reactions should be part of the dynamic relation in both divine and human dimensions. In other words, the prime of life requires the finding of grace and compassion in the eyes of God and our fellow men.
This match arises from an interesting rabbinical discussion of a verse from our Parsha. Moses, in his long farewell to his people, insists on the importance of obedience to the pact: “Observe and hear all these words which I command you, that it may go well with you, and with your children after you for ever, when you do that which is good and right in the eyes of Adonai your God.” (Deut. 12:28)
The Midrash (Sifre Devarim 79) is focused in the difference between “good” and “right”, and quotes the opinions of two Tannaim: “Good for heaven’s eyes and right for men’s eyes, is Rabbi Akiva’s opinion. Rabbi Ishmael states: Right to heaven’s eyes.”
A probable conclusion that this rabbinical discrepancy can leave us is to accept that, finally, we need to do good in the sight of God and man, as we can expect that both areas agree, or even better, complement each other in the appreciation of our acts. As the verse from Proverbs reads: Find grace and good favor in the sight of God and man. And the link is the key.
Probably, the bridge between Rabbi Akiva and Rabbi Ishmael could have been built by a contemporary of both, Rabbi Janina ben Dosa, who teaches: “If one is found pleasing by his fellows, then he is pleasing to Adonai; but if one is not pleasing to his fellows, then he is not pleasing to Adonai.” (Pirkei Avot 3:12)
Shabbat Shalom
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