Naso 2023

1

“Let them (the Kohanim) place My Name on the Children of Israel and I will bless them”

Num 6:27

2Do not think that the Kohanim have their own independent power to bestow blessings. Rather, God will bless the people and will do so through the placing of His name on the people by the Kohanim.

3R Yehoshua ben Levi elaborates further “How do we know that God covets the priestly blessing? The Pasuk says “Let them (the Kohanim) place My Name on the Children of Israel and I will bless them” (Midrash Yalkut Shimoni Num. 6:27, Sotah 38b)

4R Yehoshua ben Levi’s statement is remarkable. God has given the Kohanim a mitzvah to perform namely “Birkat Kohanim” and yet He “Covets” that they perform this mitzvah! There must be something unique and special about this mitzvah that evokes God’s Covetousness.

5We find a similar statement in an altogether different context with respect to prayer;

6R Yitzchak said, why were our forefathers barren? Because God “Covets the Prayers of the Righteous.” (Yevamot 64a).

7This is an equally astounding Midrash. It characterizes God as acting in a seemingly cruel fashion in order to satisfy a divine yearning. Does this mean that God purposefully caused our forefathers and foremothers to be barren just to hear them pray? And does God not wish to have all people including those who are not righteous engage in prayer? What is so special about the prayers of the righteous?

8There must be some unique quality that “prayers of the righteous” and “Birkat Kohanim” have in common. That quality must be what elicits the divine yearning expressed by R Yehoshua and R Yitzchak.

9

“And Isaac prayed to God on behalf of his wife for she was baren. And God listened to him. And Rebecca his wife conceived.”

Gen 25:21

10Isaac was prostrated in one corner and Rebecca in the other. Isaac prayed that all his children should come only from Rebecca. She prayed that her children should be from Isaac alone and from no other. (Bereishis Rabbah, ibid.)

11

“And God visited Sarah just as He had spoken. And God did for her that which He had said. And she conceived and gave birth to a son for Abraham on his old age on the timeframe that God had commanded.”

Gen 21:1–2

12What is the connection between the healing of the family of Avimelech and Sarah’s divine visit? It is to teach that the person who has a particular need, yet prays on behalf of another with the very same need, that person will receive the first response. (Ber Rabah: ibid)

13In these two stories Abraham, Isaac, and Sarah all pray, not on behalf of themselves but on behalf of another. That is the “Prayer of the Righteous” that R Yitzchak was referring to. God welcomes all our prayers, but what He really “covets” is for us to pray on behalf of another. You do not need to be a righteous person to qualify for God to covet your prayers. What you do need to be is unselfish in your prayers. This exactly why the Torah Portion on the first day of Rosh Hashanah is Genesis Chapter 21, the Divine Visit of Sarah. On a day dedicated entirely to prayer we are reminded how to pray.

14If a town has minyan comprised of only ten Kohanim and no Yisraelim all ten go up to the Duchan (platform) and perform the Birkat Kohanim. Who do they bless? They bless the workers in the field who cannot make it to shul. But who answers Amen to the blessing? The wives and children in shul. (Sotah ibid) If you are wondering why, if their families are in shul why do their blessing need to go out to the field workers? Doesn’t Birkat Kohanim work for the Kohen’s own family? What you see from the Gemarrah in Sotah is that Birkat Kohanim must be to “another”, a non-Kohen. Just like God covets prayers of the righteous when they are directed to others similarly God covets Birkat Kohanim which is always directed to the “Other.”

15Shabbat Shalom