God's Blessing Flows Through Us

God's Blessing Flows Through Us 

Parshat Naso: Numbers 4:21-7:89

 

Parshat Naso contains some of the most powerful words of our people:

 

“Speak to Aaron and his sons: Thus shall you bless the people of Israel. Say to them:

Yivarechecha Adonai viyishmirecha /May the Eternal bless you and protect you!

Ya'er Adonai panav elecha veechuneka /May the Eternal deal kindly and graciously with you!

Yeesa Adonai panav elecha viyasem lecha shalom /May the Eternal bestow favor upon you and grant you peace!

Thus they shall link My name with the people of Israel, and I will bless them.” (Numbers 6:23-27)

 

These words, are read every year the Shabbat after the holiday of Shavuot and Matan Torah, the Giving/Receiving of the Torah. They are given to the Kohanim as an eternal charge. The Kohanim, the Priests, are told that one of their responsibilities will be to bless the people; these words are the exact words with which to do so. This section of instruction ends with the phrase, “and I will bless them.” This indicates that the blessing comes not from the Kohanim but rather flows through the Kohanim. The words with which the Kohanim are instructed to bless us, also tell us something important: that the Kohanim are the vessels through which God’s words come to us.

 

When the Israelites lived in the land of Israel and the Temple existed, the Kohanim were able to fulfill their charge and bless the People during a ceremonial Temple service. Once the Second Temple was destroyed, the Kohanim were unable to perform many of their formal roles, including the ritual blessing.  Over time, Judaism evolved/adapted and sometime in the early 17th century the custom of parents blessing their children on Shabbat with these words began to be mentioned in books. (See "Brautspiegel," a popular treatise on morals, written by Moses Henochs; a book which appeared in Basel in 1602.) It is not surprising we took one of our most sacred moments of blessing and innovated using it as a blessing in the home, of our children. The Talmudic Sages began this process of innovation in exile in order to make sure that our heritage, the Torah and its teachings, would survive despite the fact that we no longer had a Temple in which to worship.

  

From Kohanim blessing the Children of Israel at the Temple to parents blessing their children around the dinner table, we have drawn a direct line from the biblical injunction for the Kohanim to bless to recreating that moment of sanctity in our homes, around our tables. We are taught that every Jewish home is a Mikdash Me’at, a miniature Sanctuary, a small holy place. It is as if the table at which our families gather, eat, and celebrate holidays takes the place of the altar. 

  

I have blessed my children nearly every Shabbat of their lives.  It is always the holiest moment of my week – whether the blessing occurs around the dinner table, on the run as the grandchildren are being put to bed, by letter, email, text, phone call or even video chat. The realization that I am transmitting these holiest of words, even in the most chaotic of moments of blessing, brings me peace. It is a profound feeling to know that I am a link in the chain of our long history and our tradition. The words of the blessing, God’s words, flow through us because, as is stated in 6:27b, “and I will bless them.” My greatest desire is that these words will continue to flow through my grandchildren and the generations to come.

 

 Shabbat Shalom!

First posted at https://www.washingtonjewishweek.com/88447-2/

Belated Posts of Chanukah Musings from Las Vegas

Shabbat Chanukah Greetings

The weekend is here and with it the chance to sit back, reflect, and spend some family time (and I hope that includes time that does not involve chauffeuring younger family members!). I'm in Las Vegas this Shabbat - a strange place to be for Shabbos I know. But I've found a lovely Reconstructionist service to go to tonight and a Torah study for tomorrow morning. That should keep me out of trouble.

Being here in Las Vegas is surreal - the lights, the noise, the casinos, the over-the-topness of it all. It feels like an alternate reality to the reality of life before I got here last night. A reality of more mass shootings in the US, more people killed and wounded in Israel, more people saying things publicly that you hope they really don't mean.

This week's Torah portion, Vayeshev (Genesis 37:1-40:23) also reminds us that life holds these contradictions and sometimes, to learn important values, we must view things in a mixed-up sort of way - Joseph's brothers sell him into slavery, Tamar disguising herself as a prostitute in order to fulfill a family commitment from her father-in-law Judah and Potiphar's wife trying to seduce Joseph and getting him thrown in jail after accusing him of attempted rape. These stories are all rather strange but at core they touch on fundamental human values - family, honour, promise keeping, loyalty.

This note to you is my transition into Shabbat. My time to reflect about what is important in life: family, community, love, peace. May we all take into account what our important values are and try to uphold them as best we can. May we pray this Shabbat for peace for all peoples and strengthen this prayer by doing acts of loving kindness.

Oseh Shalom bimromav, Hu ya'a'seh shalom aleinu, v'al kol Israel, v'al kol yoshvei tevel. V'imru Amen.

May the Awesome One who brings peace upon us, bring peace upon all of the people Israel and upon all those who reside on this planet. And let us say, Amen.

Shabbat Las Vegas Musing

It's strange celebrating Shabbat in a casino resort, a place that has no havdil/differentiation between day and night, light and dark. It's as if the Awesome One skipped this place during the first day of creation. I need to think on this a bit. 

Went to a lively Kabbalat Shabbat service at Pnai Tikvah Reconstructionist shul with Rabbi Yocheved Mintz and some very enthusiastic younger people. Really needed that to help usher in the existence of Shabbat.

Shabbat Blessings.....

May the light of Shabbat, along with the last lingering tendrils of light from the Chanukah candles, brighten this Shabbat with love, peace and tolerance. May our eyes be opened and our hearts accepting of all who come to us in friendship.
Shabbat Shalom u'M'vorach (Shabbat blessings of Peace)

It's Raining in Jerusalem!! (and eruvs)

תודה רבה! Thank you to all of you who took seriously my request to send rain to Jerusalem. It's quarter to eight on a Thursday evening and there is a lovely, steady drizzle outside. The air is cool (only around 70 F but feels much cooler), people are carrying umbrellas, the sidewalks and streets are sparkling, the leaves have little droplets on them ... okay, so I am waxing on a bit much, but my sinuses are just so happy that it's raining! We allergy sufferers have been pretty miserable lately. Of course, that's not why I wanted it to rain - you know, all those crops and little things like drinking water - but the cleared air is a blessing. It's supposed to rain all through Shabbos - fairly heavy rain too.

So the question I have now is, can one carry an umbrella within the Jerusalem eruv on Shabbat? 

There are plenty of people who tell me that one can, however I distinctly remember learning that once cannot carry an umbrella on Shabbat. In fact, I remember arguing with my mom (the Great Nana Harri) about this when I was in high school. I would walk to shul in the pouring rain without an umbrella b/c it was forbiden to carry one on Shabbos.  I'd be dressed in a raincoat and rain hat and make pretend that these things would actually keep me dry on my mile plus walk to shul. Oh well.

Back to umbrella facts: One cannot carry an umbrella on Shabbat, even in an eruv, because (and here I quote Chabad b/c they are so much more into this than I): "Opening or closing an umbrella is akin to assembling or dismantling a tent—an act forbidden on Shabbat." (for more info on eruvim go to http://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/700456/jewish/What-is-an-Eruv.htm#footnote3a700456) I'll keep an eye out this Shabbos and let you know what I see.

What is a good reconservadox gal like me doing worrying about an eruv? Good question. It's just that living in Jerusalem makes me think about these things;  Shabbat observance is so much easier here than when living in America. For example, at home I live within an eruv that is maintained by an orthodox day school about 1/2 mile from my house. However, the eruv only covers 1/2 the distance to my Conservative shul, so theoretically I could carry my tallis and siddur halfway to shul, leave them at the edge of Rock Creek Park, and then head on to shul without them. I could then retrieve them on my way home for Shabbos lunch and schluff. Not a very effective way of managing one's Sabbath.

Ranted enough this evening, am going to enjoy the rain (which is getting a bit heavier) and see if Yerushalmis know how to drive in the rain. As a former transportation specialist, I know for a fact that too many people do not know how to drive in the rain which usually results in them slowing to a crawl and causing traffic jams (פקקים or P'kakim in hebrew).  Strangely enough, here the drivers just seem to speed up! 

Keep dry!

Next time:  The Conservative Yeshiva (www.conservativeyeshiva.org), where I spend the majority of my time.