It took me a few months, after moving to the South, to stop bristling at language of “blessing” in everyday speech. It just wasn’t something that I was accustomed to, but I’ve come to embrace it. I’ve learned some of the subtleties, the differences between “bless you!” and “bless her heart.” In many ways, I absolutely love that the language of blessing becomes a part of someone’s speech patterns, because I believe there is power in the way we conceive of offering blessing to another individual.
To bless someone is to believe in their potential. To bless someone is to believe in their own growth and their sense of integrity. It’s believing that something is possible, dreaming up that which is not yet attained.
In this week’s parashah, Naso, we read the famous priestly blessing that the Kohanim are instructed to give to the Children of Israel. We know this blessing well:
Adonai bless you, and guard you – יְבָרֶכְךָ יהוה, וְיִשְׁמְרֶךָ Adonai make God’s face shine unto you, and be gracious to you – יָאֵר יהוה פָּנָיו אֵלֶיךָ, וִיחֻנֶּךָּ Adonai lift up God’s face to you, and give to you peace – יִשָּׂא יהוה פָּנָיו אֵלֶיךָ, וְיָשֵׂם לְךָ שָׁלוֹם (Bemidbar 6:24-26)
The 14th century commentator RaLBaG wrote on these words that ‘blessing’ means increasing the good in someone’s life, which he understands as perfection, as far as is possible, of one’s soul. I’m struck by RaLBaG’s interpretation because typically we think of development of our soul as an individual pursuit, something that wouldn’t require anything from others, such as blessing. But he teaches us something that we deeply know to be true: it is often someone else’s belief in us, in our potential, in our own capabilities, that allows us to achieve. That belief then translates to action, to behavior. That is the power of blessing. Blessing allows someone else’s good to be increased.
This week has been an important reminder of the role we can play in lifting others up, in bringing blessing to their lives. Blessing isn’t just an utterance of words, it is a lived practice of bringing dignity to other people, of allowing them to reach their potential as a human being. In the language of RaLBaG, offering someone blessing is giving them the opportunity to achieve, it lifts up their soul. This is our charge and this is our responsibility. May we all work together to ensure everyone’s future is full of abundant blessing, a future reaching closer to perfection.
Shabbat Shalom, Rabbi Sarit
We will NOT be having services at shul this Shabbat. I hope you will join Abe and me for Hachanah l’Shabbat (Preparing for Shabbat at 6:30PM this evening), and for Havdallah (Saturday at 9:15PM). Click those links to connect on Zoom!
Please check out our website for some Shabbat-related learning resources.
