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UJCL Parashah Commentaries
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NASO 5769 Bemidbar - Numbers 4:21-7:89 June 6, 2009 – 14 Sivan 5769 By Rabbi Gustavo Kraselnik,
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In 1979, the Israeli archaeologist Gabriel Barkay, of the University of Bar Ilan, conducted excavations at the Ketef Hinnom caves, southeast of Jerusalem, where he found two small silver scrolls inscribed with God’s name (Tetragrammaton). Twenty five years later, researchers from the University of South California, confirmed the date of those small amulets to the final years of the 6th century bCE, deciphering their content: the text of Birkat Cohanim, the priestly benediction that appears in Parashat Naso (Num. 6:24-26).
The discovery in question constitutes our most ancient biblical text (4 centuries before the Dead Sea scrolls), and at the same time is one of the Torah passages most well known and used. Barkay himself commented that, when he was a kid, his grandfather used to recite those same words when they returned home from the temple.
As the amulets show, the priestly benediction with which the Cohanim blessed the people of Israel (there is an entire discussion on whether the priests were the ones who blessed the people or rather asked for God’s blessing) was used from the beginning as the blessing par excellence. Included in the blessing of parents to children, it is also used today in synagogues by the rabbis to bless their parishioners, the bride and groom under the Chuppah, the young B’nei Mitzvah, and even babies after their Brit Milah.
And this is because the words of Birkat Cohanim contain a force that transcends their own content.
If we focus on the Hebrew text of the blessing, we will find fascinating characteristics. Birkat Cohanim consists of three sentences, each one made up by two verbs with God’s name in between.
The blessing goes in crescendo. The first sentence has 3 words, the second 5, and the third 7. The philosopher Bahya ibn Pakuda (author of the “Chovot ha-Levavot – Duties of the Heart”, Spain, first half of the 9th century), in his Torah commentary, affirms that the priestly blessing is the basis of all benedictions, since the 3 words of the first sentence correspond to the 3 patriarchs, the five words of the second to the 5 books of the Torah, and the 7 words of the last sentence, to the 7 heavens (according to the Talmud, 7 heavens constitute the higher world).
Following this crescendo idea, the Birkat Cohanim’s first sentence has 15 letters, the second 20, and the third 25. Professor Casutto, referring to this entry in the Mikrait Encyclopedia, maintains that the sum of the letters, 60, harmonizes with the sexagesimal system basis, used in ancient Babylon. In that world, the number 60 represented integrity, wholesomeness, perfection.
The Midrash (Shir ha-Shirim Rabbah 3:6) associates the blessing’s 60 letters with the 60 brave men around Solomon’s bed (same verse), and declares that the priestly benediction protects Israel from any kind of misfortunes.
Just as the Midrash affirms and the amulets show, Birkat Cohanim possessed a magical dimension, where the correct enunciation of the formula that included the Shem Hameforash – the revealed name of God – was much more powerful than its meaning.
In an attempt to move away from such a superstitious viewpoint, there were those who preferred to emphasize the interpretation of the blessing’s content. Rabbi Shimshon Rafael Hirsch, father of the modern orthodoxy (Germany, 19th century), one of the most renowned authors, explains in his Torah commentary (“The Hirsch Chumash”) that the first sentence blesses Israel with prosperity in all its endeavors, both physical and material. The second phrase refers to the spiritual aspect: may God grant us the ability to recognize His presence. The third phrase combines both, the material and the spiritual. Its meaning is to perceive the proximity of God.
Throughout the centuries, Birkat Cohanim has been recited to bless Israel. Its profound meaning continues to be in force: being able to make God visible in our lives. The words maintain their power. Not because of their magical strength, but rather for the love expressed in that same blessing when it flows from the mouths of parents, grandparents and teachers.
Shabbat shalom, Gustavo |
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This Parashah commentary was done by the Union of Jewish Congregations of Latin America and the Caribbean, and may be reproduced quoting its source.
Forwarded by Rabbi Gustavo Kraselnik, from Kol Shearith Israel Congregation, Panama. |
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