Naso 5774 - English

By Rabbi Daniel Kripper

Beth Israel, Aruba

The Lord bless you and protect you!

The Lord deal kindly and graciously with you!

The Lord bestow His favor upon you and grant you peace!

(Num. 6:24-26)

One of the most well known passages of our religious inheritance is this triple priestly benediction, which we find in this week’s parashah.

What is a blessing?  How can a person bless someone else?  Can a person change the future or fate of another person, just by saying a few words?  Of course prayer helps, but how can the fact of blessing change something?

Our sages teach us that true blessing comes from the person’s actions.  The midrash quotes a famous game with the word brachah, blessing, and breichah, water pool, suggesting that a person must grant a blessing in the same way that a water current cleanses and purifies, until it finally refines whatever it bathes.

Such was Abraham’s quality: he taught his descendents that Blessings are associated with noble and positive examples.

The cohanim bore the same responsibility.  According to our tradition, they were the first mentors, in the dawn of our history.  They taught through a paradigm of excellence, with actions that reflected the spirit of our patriarch Abraham. And by acting in this exemplary way, cohanim were filled with the same blessing they shed over others.

This applies not only to the cohanim in ancient times.  The efforts and struggles of a person, carried out with devotion and love, can transform into the best source of blessing.  All of a sudden, that person becomes a model for others, and produces wonders.  The effort and time devoted intensifies the passion for the cause served, finally resulting in something much more enriching.

The greater our commitment toward others, and the greater our dedication, the greater our personal growth, and greater the blessing we will be able to give and receive.

Abraham was extremely blessed, for he was a source of benedictions for all his neighbors, just like each one of us can be favored with the divine blessing, to the extent that we act as a source of light and inspiration for others.

Rabbi Daniel Kripper

Beth Israel, Aruba