The Priestly Blessing: Its Contribution to the Jewish Family
The Mitzvah of the Priestly Blessing is recorded in Parashat Naso, which always immediately follows the Yom Tov of Shavuot when the ritual was performed in synagogues the world over. Surely there must be some deep connection between the two, but at least, their juxtaposition should bring to our attention the importance of the blessings and how impactful it is in the Jewish family. As for every Yom Tov, the shuls draw larger attendance among the mothers and children. Perhaps the magic moment is the Bircat Kohanim, because even the youngest children find their way during Musaf into the sanctuary underneath Abba’s talit. Amazingly enough, the children can have decorum because they sense weightiness in the moment, Hashem is putting His stamp of approval on the words emanating from under the talit of the Kohanim.
Jewish custom does not limit the expression of this blessing only to Kohanim during tefillot. There are customs among groups of Jews for Kohanim to also give the blessing during life cycle events. The blessings are expressed by fathers and mothers on Shabbat, before Yom Kippur and other auspicious times. On these occasions, it’s the custom to connect the Holy words of our father Yaakov, “Hashem should make you like Ephraim and Menashe” to the Bircat Kohanim.
I recommend that parents who bless their children regularly’ become knowledgeable in the meaning of the words of the beracha, for a greater connection to it. Then you will have greater concentration, and it will have a greater impact on your children. It is worthwhile to share thoughts about the beracha with your children both in content and in ritual.
Let’s explore the content and see what messages are impactful for parents and children. They are actually three interconnected blessings.
The first one, which is comprised of three words, is focused on material blessings. It includes a person’s wealth; it helps him not to become greedy and blesses good physical health and protection from those who try to take away his possessions.
The second one, which is five words, is focused on spiritual blessings. It includes blessings for children to be Torah scholars and deepening your understanding of the words of Hashem. It includes finding favor with Hashem so that He will dwell in your midst, fulfill your requests, hear your prayers, and help you to find favor with people.
The third blessing, which is seven words, is directed at our relationship with Hashem. This blessing includes Hashem giving you personal attention, removing His anger from you, changing His attitude toward you after you have sinned and long to return to Him. It refers to Hashem putting His focus on you and listening to your tefillot and judging you favorably when you have Mitzvot and Aveirot on your spiritual ledger.
Finally, He blesses you with Shalom. Let’s take a closer look at the blessing of Shalom. Our sages teach that “great is the blessing of Shalom because Shalom concludes all tefillot and it concludes the Priestly Blessings. Many statements made by the sages of the Talmud about Shalom underscore how important it is in Hashem’s universe. Further, Hashem’s name is Shalom, Moshiach’s name is Shalom and Israel is called Shalom. The reason why all tefilllot and Bircat Kohanim conclude with Shalom is because Hashem said, “there is no greater vessel to contain all your berachot than Shalom. Which means, without Shalom in your life, the other berachot from Bircat Kohanim and everywhere else won’t endure.
The Gemara tells us that the final beracha in the Amida, “Sim Shalom”, follows immediately after Bircat KIohanim, because of the common theme, Shalom. In fact, it’s recorded in the Torah regarding Bircat Kohanim, “Put (sim) My Name upon the B’nei Yisrael and I (Hashem) will bless them.” Rav Shimon Schwab Z” L wrote the purpose of “Sim (put) Shalom after Bircat Kohanim is to fulfill Hashem’s request to “Put My Name upon the B’nei Yisrael…).
Rav Schwab further explained that the beracha Sim Shalom provides the content of the beracha of Shalom in the priestly blessings. He wrote that there are three distinct connotations of peace expressed in Sim Shalom. There is peace on a grand scale between nations and large groups of people. There is peace between two individuals and an inner individual peace. All three connotations of Shalom matter in our lives and Hashem’s intervention should be desired by all of us for all three. However, inner peace and peace between individuals are interrelated and have the greatest impact regularly on the lives of people.
When it comes to the wellbeing of children the last two areas are critical. Besides reaching out to Hashem for His help, parents must make every effort. Regarding peace between individuals, the main relationship in this category is husband and wife. It’s a reference to Shalom Bayit. Shalom Bayit/free flowing love in the home is one of three essential ingredients to a true chinuch environment where children’s growth and development is exceptional. Rabbi Shimon Russel wrote that the greatest gift parents can give their children is Shalom Bayit.
Inner peace is the most important peace component. Harmony between people requires that each one has inner peace. Shalom Bayit is a great struggle when one of the partners has inner turmoil. For people to live a life with inner peace, a healthy childhood is essential. Essentially, the parents must lead lives with inner peace for the children to grow up with inner peace.
Parents need to create a home environment which fosters inner peace and allows their inner peace to affect the children. I am referring to a true chinuch environment that is composed of three ingredients, Shalom Bayit/free flowing love, consistent expressions of positivity and a structure of discipline and authority. Of the three, a structure of discipline and authority is so important, because the boundaries that are established through consistently upholding a set of rules and parents serving as true authority figures, will enable children to feel emotionally safe and secure.
Hashem has blessed people with children and has laid out a how-to-manual for raising them. Be proactive, pursue the sources, learn and implement.
If you have questions, dealing with areas of pain, I encourage you to be in touch with me.