Container Of Containment
Adapted by Channie Koplowitz Stein
One of the key features of Parshat Naso is Birkat Kohaim/The Priestly Blessing. So much is packed into these three short verses that it is best that we record the actual words themselves:
יברכך יקוק וישמרך/May Hashem bless you and safeguard you:
יאר יקוק פניו אליך ויחנך/May Hashem illuminate His countenance upon you and be gracious to you.
ישא יקוק פניו אליך וישם לך שלום/May Hashem lift His countenance to you and establish for you peace.
This blessing is so important that while it is included in the holiday liturgy outside of Israel, it is part of the daily prayer in Israel itself. Further, it has become customary for fathers to bless their children using these verses on Friday night.
So many blessings are contained in these verses. As Letitcha Elyon writes, these verses encompass both physical and spiritual blessings, and they are capped with the blessing of peace, for Hashem could find no better container for His blessings than peace. Therefore it is included as the final stamp of the blessings. However, does that mean that the blessing of peace is included only as part of the third blessing, or is it meant to be the summation of all three blessings?
We begin our discussion with the observation of the Tallelei Chaim. He notes that the three blessings seem to be on three levels in ascending order. The first verse is a physical blessing; the second verse is a spiritual blessing; the third verse, the highest level, is a blessing for closeness and connection with Hakodosh Boruch Hu.
Each of the blessings also has parallel construction. The first half is the blessing itself, while the second half is a guarantee that the blessing will endure. "Hashem will bless you," Rashi says, refers to wealth and possessions, in the city and in the field. But only if you are guarded from thieves [or destructive forces] will that wealth endure. Within this rubric, one must also be a proper vessel to receive the blessing, to have the proper character and mindset that protects the blessing. How many people have been blessed with winning the lottery, only to squander the wealth and end up in a worse situation than they were in before the "blessing." Each blessing needs a counterpoint to protect and contain it, not only from outside danger, but also from the recipient himself.
But there is no gift and no blessing without a receiver. Rabbi Dessler discusses this very point in Michtav M'Eliyahu. We are told that when Hashem created the world, He created yesh m'ayin/ something from nothing. However, Rav Dessler argues that in fact creation was a manifestation of God's thought, and therefore was created from something already existing, albeit not physically. What was new in God's creating the world was the idea of a recipient. Hashem created the world and especially Man, to be a recipient of His blessings. As we recite after a drink or small snack, "Blessed... Who creates living things with their deficiencies..." It is only if we create a container within ourselves that we can receive Hashem's blessing and the contentment they hold.
Rav Dessler cites the Malbim on a verse in Isaiah, that Hashem's kindness falls constantly like the rain. But like the rain on a field, if we are not properly prepared to receive His kindness, it will fall and run off, leaving no benefit. How ready are we to be mindful of the beauty around us, of the treasures that fill our world and our homes? It is only through mindful readiness that we can appreciate what Hashem has given us and build our relationship with Him.
How can we prepare ourselves to be ready for Hashem's blessings? Rabbi Tatz points out that blessings can flow continuously as long as there exists an empty vessel to receive it. As proof, Rabbi Tatz cites how the Prophet Elisha brought Hashem's blessing to the poor woman. Elisha started pouring from a small amount of oil into every pitcher and jar the widow had brought. The oil flowed continuously, but when all the containers were filled and there were no more empty pitchers left, the blessing ceased and the oil stopped flowing.
Similarly, we ourselves must also be vessels to receive Hashem's blessings. But if our minds and hearts are filled with clutter, there is no room left for anything else. Only when we clear our minds of self, can the light of Hashem enter and shine through us. As Tallelei Chaim explains, when we focus on self, we tend to see what we lack, a perspective that makes us unhappy. In contrast, when we are appreciate all we have and fully accept that what we do not have we do not need, we generate happiness, for "Who is rich? He who is happy with his portion." [A similar approach to happiness has been studied on a more mundane level: Decluttering one's home from all the impulsive and "must have" purchases filling our closets and living spaces leads to greater happiness. We then have more space - literally and figuratively - to breathe. CKS] What we don't have, we don't need. It is like wanting a dress that is in the wrong size. It just won't fit. Gratitude is the cornerstone of happiness.
The Tallelei Chaim continues this train of thought in our second verse. What light is the verse talking about? The light of Hashem accessed through Torah. We pray that Hashem bless us with the wisdom to study and understand the Torah because only with this wisdom can we receive the messages of the Torah, process them, and integrate them into our lives. The light of Torah can penetrate someone who is transparent and open, but we have to flip the switch to turn on the energy. What enters is dependent on our preparation. The light of the Torah comes from above, but the vessel must be prepared below.
The vessel for Torah is one who has חן, who is gracious and sensitive, who embodies the essence of Torah. This comes from the third blessing,ישא פניו/lifting the countenance. As Hashem lifts His countenance toward us and forgives us our sins when we do do teshuvah, so are we to abide the idiosyncrasies and missteps of others, to give the benefit of the doubt, and in this way create shalom/peace. For when our relationship with others is pleasant, Hashem Himself enjoys our presence. We need to open ourselves up to goodness, to spirituality, and to a closeness with Hakodosh Boruch Hu. As Rabbi Kaplan observes, if you want to know how one relates to Hashem, see how he relates to others, especially to his spouse.
The priestly blessings are overflowing. However, before the Kohanim ascend the bimah to bless the congregation, the Leviim wash the hands of the Kohanim. Rabbi Miller explains the significance of this partnership. The kohanim/priests themselves represent chesed personified. But untempered giving, without any guidelines, can be destructive. Chesed must be within the guidelines Hashem has set. [“He who becomes compassionate to the cruel will ultimately become cruel to the compassionate." Medrash] The Leviim are known for their strict adherence to Torah law. Their attribute of strictness, tempering the overflowing chesed of the kohanim, brings the ultimate shalom. From this perspective, it seems that the three independent verses form one overarching brachah under the umbrella of shalom.
The first of the three brachot, although referring to wealth, teaches us to use that wealth for spiritual purposes, writes Rabbi Sheinerman in Ohel Moshe. That is reflecting the light of Hashem, as we see in the second brachah, and ultimately leads to the shalom of the third brachah.
What is shalom? Artscroll clarifies that shalom/peace is not simply the absence of war. Rather it is maintaining a harmonious balance between conflicting elements that achieves a sense of wholeness and integrity. It is a balance between the physical needs of the body and the spiritual mission of the soul, between the holy and the mundane. As the Netivot Shalom, the Slonimer Rebbe, explains, shalom is not passive. It is active. It is a lesson inherent in creation itself. The universe is created from four major "elements:" earth, water, fire and air. [I interpret these elements in today's terminology as solid, liquid, energy, air. CKS] These are often in conflict, Yet Hashem created shalom in the heavens to birth the world. For the world to exist, these elements must maintain a balance of shalom. The shamayim/ heavens is, according to Rashi, a combination of aish/fire and mayim/water, two absolute antagonists who made peace to coexist and serve Hashem.
It is in this vein that we sing in our Shabbat zemirot, "va'u chulam bivrit yachad na'aseh venishma omru k'echad," that we merited receiving the Torah because we came together as one to accept the Torah with the proclamation of "We will do and we will hear." It was the active effort to be united, to have shalom among all of us that allowed us to receive the Torah.
But, as Rabbi Kofman points out in Mishchat Hashemen, shalom starts not in the macro world, but within the individual, with one's internal peace and harmony. From here Rabbi Menachem Zaks notes that all of the terminology in Birkat Kohanim is in the singular, "יברכך יקוק וישמרך," you in the singular. The blessing is thus tailored to what each of us needs individually. To receive as an individual, to have inner peace. The blessing of peace is that we are able to maintain harmony between our inner world and our outer world, to balance our time so that we do not pursue financial success at the expense of family, for example. As we recite this blessing in our morning prayers, we should be striving to begin each day with this mindset. Everything we ask for must be predicated on asking ourselves what Hashem wants of me now. This mindset creates a sense of peace and calm, encompassing the full extent of the blessing.
Rabbi Zaidel Epstein notes that one of the Names of Hashem is Shalom. This is the intrinsic quality of Hakodosh Boruch Hu. If one is trying to emulate Hashem, he must himself strive for balance and integration within himself, to become whole and complete as is Hashem Himself. We should strive to achieve internal peace by connecting our will to His will.
The Torah introduces the mitzvah of Birkat Kohanim by the word koh/this is how you should bless. In Through the Prism of Torah, Rabbi Roberts observes that the word koh is used in connection to each of our forefathers, to Avraham Avinu's chesed, to Yitzchak Avinu's forbearance and willingness to forgive [the people of Grar who had stopped up his wells], and to Yaakov Avinu's honesty. Our Sages have said that Birkat Kohanim was given to us in the merit of our forefathers. The introductory word koh bears witness to this thought. Therefore, if we emulate these attributes of our forefathers in kindness, in forbearance, and in honesty we will create the environment for the blessing of shalom to infuse our lives.
By working on creating an inner balance in our lives and dealing with the outside world in a way that promotes harmony, we will emulate our forefathers who emulated Hashem, and merit the ultimate blessing the blessing of peace.