Naso

Over the past few weeks, many of us have enlarged the use of certain words and terms: Covid-19, Corona, pandemic, isolation, ventilator, shelter-in-place, antibodies, physical distancing, quarantine, PPE, N95, Fauci, and oxychloraquine. Turn on the news and you’re bound to hear many if not all of these. Engage in a casual conversation with a friend or colleague, and no doubt they will creep into the dialogue. The words have transformed us, from moving freely around the universe to creating a shield to protect us individually or collectively from what we might share with another.

Our new reality has propelled the professionals within faith communities to squeeze their creative juices so that they can, with confidence, say: “My synagogue/church/mosque is open. It’s open every day. Because my house of worship is not a building. It is the people who are helping each other and their community. It is the prayers for those who are struggling medically, financially, and emotionally. My house of worship is never closed. It just opened in every home.”

On a recent Sunday I was scrolling through my Facebook feed and happened upon an interfaith healing service hosted by Central Synagogue of New York, in conjunction with neighboring Church of the Heavenly Rest. Readings in both English and Hebrew were shared along with prayers for healing. At the end of the service, Rabbi Nicole Auerbach, together with her Episcopalian colleagues, offered the words of Birkat Kohanim, the Priestly Benediction. According to Rabbi Steven Kushner, “there are few texts from the Torah more ubiquitous, more universally invoked than Birkat Kohanim: the Priestly Benediction. We Jews use it all the time. At weddings. And bat mitzvahs. At preschool graduation ceremonies. At the Shabbat dinner table. Indeed, it has become an integral element of our liturgy incorporated into the conclusion of the Amidah as part of the Birkat Shalom, the prayer for peace. And within the non-Jewish world, the three-stanza blessing has come to be such a central part of the service that most worshipers presume it is indigenous to the Christian tradition. But it is not. It comes right from this week’s Torah portion, Parashat Naso ”

As a child I remember the rabbi standing on the bimah at the end of the service, spreading his hands over the congregation, with fingers split between the middle and ring fingers, as he uttered the words. While we Jews generally don’t bow our heads in prayer, when it came time for Birkat Kohanim we always lowered our eyes, as if this emissary of God was putting his hands upon us and delivering the words directly from the Holy One.

Years later while watching Star Trek, I noticed that Leonard Nimoy, portraying the half-Vulcan character, Mr. Spock, used that same gesture as he delivered the Vulcan “salute” along with the greeting, “Live long and prosper.”  The phrase transcends the centuries and a variety of contexts with variations. An ancient Egyptian blessing  translates as "May he live, be prosperous, and be healthy.” The NIV version of the Bible includes the phrase "live and prosper." And Shakespeare’s 1594 “Romeo and Juliet” contains the line, “Live and be prosperous.”

The three-line Birkat Kohanim does seem to invoke a type of magical incantation, with the wand being replaced with the spread hands, thumbs touching, as did the Kohanim of the Torah. The three lines are laid out in fascinating formation. The first line contains three words:

Yevarechecha adonai v’yishmerecha … May God bless you and protect you!

The second line has five words:

Ya’er adonai panav eilecha vichuneka … May God’s face shine upon you and be gracious unto you!

And the third line has seven words:

Yisa adonai panav eilecha v’yasem l’cha shalom … May God’s face lift up before you and grant you peace!

3 – 5 – 7

The symmetry even extends to the letters: 15 letters, 20 letters, and, yes, 25 letters.

The incantation spreads a three-layer blanket onto the Children of Israel, and by extension, upon us. The first line takes us to the dawn of Creation when humanity was created, and then blessed. But as a blessed people, we then needed protection so as not to let our status lead us to take life for granted.

The second line bids God’s presence to shine upon us, to en-“lighten” us with awareness, knowledge, and wisdom, while at the same time granting us chen,  grace, to be part of (and not apart from) those in need. Holding onto what God has granted leads to arrogance. It is incumbent upon each of us to participate with global humanity as we seek to heal our broken world.

And the final line, the climax of the blessing, is the one that is transformative. Seven words, the number being a symbol of completeness, takes us back to when Moses asked God to see His glory. “Vayomer lo tuchal lir’ot et panai ki lo yir’ani ha’adam va’chai – But God said, You cannot see My face for no man shall see Me and live.”

Here now, as the blessing builds to its heights, unlike Moses we are given the possibility of having the veil of God’s face lift before us. When we live with yir’at adonai, a sense of God’s awesomeness, only then can the grand prize of peace be attainable. If we live with the essence of God incorporated into every part of our being, as we live our lives, we stand a better chance of coming face to face with God. And one who stands face to face with our Creator cannot help but stand face to face with humanity in working towards shalom - peace for ourselves, peace for our communities, and peace for humankind.

As we continue to face these unprecedented times, may we feel the hands of the Kohanim upon our heads, absorbing the power that God has imbued in us to rise to the challenges. May we be blessed with prosperity, good health, and long life. May we find light where there is darkness and radiate that light onto others. And may we see the holy in each other as we endeavor to work towards the ultimate gift of shalom – peace for us, for our neighbors, and for the world.

Ken yehi ratzon – May it be God’s will.