Parashat Naso Our children and grandchildren are our greatest blessing….

In the middle of this week’s Parasha, Naso, which happens to be the longest Parasha in the Torah, Hashem commands Aharon and his sons to bless Am Yisrael.

דַּבֵֵּ֤ר אֶֶֽל־אַּהֲרֹן֙ וְאֶל־בָּנָָּ֣יו לֵאמֹֹ֔ר כֹֹּ֥ה תְבָּרְכ֖וּ אֶת־בְנֵָ֣י יִשְרָּאֵֵ֑ל אָּמ֖וֹר לָּהֶֶֽם׃

Speak to Aaron and his sons: this is how you shall bless the people of Israel. Say to them:

יְבָּרֶכְךֹּ֥ יְהֹוָּ֖ה וְיִשְמְרֶֶֽך׃

May Hashem bless you and protect you!

יָּאֵֵ֨ר יְהֹוָָּ֧ה ׀ פָּנָָּ֛יו אֵלֶ֖יך וֶֽיחֻנֶֶֽךֶָּּֽ׃

May Hashem deal kindly and graciously with you!

יִשֵָּ֨א יְהֹוֵָּּ֤ה ׀ פָּנָּיו֙ אֵלֶֹ֔יך וְיָּשֵֹּ֥ם לְך֖ שָּלֶֽוֹם׃

May Hashem bestow divine favor upon you and grant you peace!

וְשָּמֹּ֥וּ אֶת־שְמִ֖י עַּל־בְנֵָ֣י יִשְרָּאֵֵ֑ל וַּאֲנִ֖י אֲבָּרְכֵֶֽם׃

And they, the Kohanim, shall bestow My name onto the people of Israel, and I will bless them.

While much has been written about the powerful significance of the Birkat Kohanim, two fundamental questions arise.

Why is the commandment to bless Am Yisrael specifically delivered to the Kohanim only?

Secondly, why is the Blessing written in the singular grammatic form and not the plural?

After all, Hashem said to bless all the people.

In dealing with our first question, Rambam explains that “Ko Tevarchu et Bnei Yisrael” means that the Kohen must use these exact words. If, for example, a Kohen wants to embellish or add on to the blessing, he is not allowed to. He must use these words and only these words. Similarly, it doesn’t matter if you’re blessing one person or many, a man or a woman, it is the same wording. But the explanation that sounds most meaningful to me is that “Ko Tevarchu” means that the Kohanim were obligated to bless the people “‘just as they are”. They were to accept them for who they were- whether righteous or a sinner, honest or dishonest, sincere or jealous, it was not their job to judge. All the Kohanim had to do was remember that through their blessing, they were enabling the people to be the best that they could be. Through their blessing, they are giving each person a chance to realize that they have the ability to better themselves- as they realize that Hashem is blessing THEM individually. The blessing was to enable each of these unique people to achieve his or her potential, by understanding that Hashem is blessing them directly. So, when a Kohen wakes up in the morning, knowing that today he will bless the people, he should not ask which Shul I should go to? Which community is worthy of my blessing? Hashem’s message is clear: that everyone is worthy as it is Hashem’s blessing the Kohanim were bestowing on the people, not their own. The Kohen must have a natural love, a natural affection, for the people, for the entire community in order to bless the people with Hashem’s blessing.

The same principle applies to anyone giving a blessing – Parents, Educators, Community Leaders and even Rabbis. In order to make a blessing a true blessing, we need to have true love for those we are blessing.

And why is the Beracha written in the singular tense? Because Hashem knows that we each have different and separate wants and needs. What is good for me, may not be good for others. So, blessing as a general blessing may not be appropriate. For example, a general blessing for rain may be good for a farmer, but not good for a traveler. Therefore, Hashem blesses each one of us individually and not as a collective whole, shown by using the singular tense and not the plural one.

Based on these ideas, Birkat Kohanim is the most appropriate blessing for a parent to bless his children. Just as a Kohen must have love in his heart to bless the people, so must a parent have love for his children. As parents, we are meant to project an ideal to our children of how to act. We are meant as their role models to demonstrate the higher level of Derech Eretz, which may be beyond their reach now but remains as a goal for the future. Through our example, our leadership, our conduct, we can help our children achieve wonderful fulfilling heights, in life and in Avodat Hashem. Similar to the Kohanim, we are uniquely positioned to help our children and grandchildren, achieve the wonderful Brachot we are bestowing on them.

Which is why it is most appropriate to bless our children on Shabbat night, a holy time for an important and holy blessing.

I am blessed and overjoyed to see my own grandchildren fight for the honor of the first blessing on Shabbat night- so I end with the idea that we, as parents, are given the privilege and obligation to bless our children and model them towards the greatness of our Bracha.

And always remember that the words and blessing you speak to your children today, will become their internal voice for years to come.

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