Birchas Cohanim
MR re mishkan he annointed and blessed it. 7:1 "vayimshach oso, vayekadesh oso""
Ends with "zos Chanukas hamizbeach"
A Biblical prophecy about the post-Biblical holiday Hanukkah
Much of this week's portion 'Naso' is about the the dedication of the mishkan, specifically the "chanukat ha'mizbeach", "inauguration/dedication" of the altar of the newly-built mishkan (tabernacle). The description of the effect is awe-some, the presence of God is manifested by the anan hakavod ('cloud of glory') resting on the mishkan, and then the last passages of the portion describe how the voice of God speaking to Moses emerged from the between the cherubs on top of the ark at the center of the mishkan (see Bamidbar ("Numbers"): 6:22-7:11, and 7:84-89).
Since this is the end of the reading, the passages that follow are in next week's reading, ie the beginning of "Baha'alotcha"(8:1-2). The passages describe the first lighting of the newly-crafted menorah as part of the dedication of the mishkan. The exact description of the menorah directly uploaded by God into Moses's brain, like a high-quality photo/blueprint implanted telepathically.
The midrash [as brought in the bible commentary of the great spiritual rabbi known as "Ramban" (Nachmanides) , and mentioned by the Ba'al HaTurim] speaks of the juxtaposition of the "chanukat hamizbeach" altar dedication (in Naso), and the inaugural lighting of the menorah (in Behaalotcha), as being a prophecy about events a thousand years later, when the Jewish People did this again - they re-dedicated the 2nd Temple and lit the menorah, and established a holiday centered about lighting the menorah, calling it appropriately "Chanukah".
(Perhaps this idea in the midrash was meant to signify that despite the lack of the ark in the 2nd Temple, nevertheless it could function, and be dedicated, and even re-dedicated after the defilement by the SyrianGreeks).
Conclusion: : The events performed by our ancestors as recorded in the Torah had a special potency, and blazed spiritual pathways that we their descendants can benefit from, and perhaps the midrash is also implying that the success of the Hanukah endeavor was partly due to the spiritual efforts at the time of the dedication of the mishkan. May we be strengthened in time of crisis by the knowledge that whatever we succeed in overcoming, whatever spiritual goals we manage to achieve despite difficulty and adversity, our efforts also help future generations, our own descendants and others.
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[in this week's portion 6:23] & the Leonards (Nimoy & Cohen): Spock (of StarTrek) was not a cohen but made the priestly-blessing finger-pattern world famous (he was very moved by it as a child in synagogue), see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DyiWkWcR86I, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y5_HpzhLWNQ, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UdYbpMkH_XQ, and Leonard Cohen's concert (one of his last) with the actual words of the blessing is youtube-world-famous (and see his fingers at the end) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eitGGBoncN0
People can be blessed by God directly, or can read words of God to the effect that God is blessing them, but the method here is interesting - God wants the kohanim to bless the people, not that the people should read a blessing from God. In other words, there is a special power to the blessing when it comes (from God) via the kohanim.
[The introductory words are 'koh tevorchu': 'and in this way you will bless": so maybe it also included the finger positioning]
So in this context it is interesting that when the kohanim bless the people, it is NOT that the Kohanim read passages in which God says 'I will bless you', nor words composed by the kohanim conveying a blessing, but rather a set of key phrases composed by God for this purpose - God is placing these words in the mouths of the kohanim to say to the Jewish People, "God bless you"! (Yevarechechah H)
And in the introductory and postscript passages God is conveying to them and us that if they say it, God will indeed bless the people. (So the blessing is particularly powerful, worth coming to synagogue to receive.)
When God tells the kohanim THEY should bless the people it also means that they should feel that they want the people to be blessed, not just to mumble some words, it must be heart-felt. And they have to bless ALL the people assembled, not selectively, not according to whether they consider this or that person to be deserving. Perhaps by eliminating any element of judgement from their hearts and putting themselves in a state of unselfishly giving a heartfelt blessing to people they don't even know and to some who they don;t like or respect, their ego is lowered and their essence can shine forth, the breath of God, our soul, God's presence, and in this way indeed God's blessing is activated.
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Adam was the highest of the created living beings, but his function in the Garden of Eden was "to serve it(develop it) and t watch over it", ie the highest duty is to serve the other living beings including the vegetation.
Noah was the most righteous on the planet, but his role was to work hard to build an ark to save the other living beings, and to feed them all throughout the flood.
The kohanim are made to understand tha they were specially chosen to do the service, but the service is meant to be for the benefit of all the People.
Note that in the Torah God calls the Jews 'mamlechet cohanim' a nation of priests, ie cohanim to the rest of the world, in other words with a mission to bless the other nations (or be a blessing to them).
Shlomo Carlebach taught that we were chosen to tell all other humans that they are chosen (they are all "created in the image of God").
Adam is humanity, not a Jew. Ruach elokim, tzelem, is all humans, not just Jews. So our mission is to tell this to all nations, that is why it is the opening of the Torah.
The prophet Yeshayahu (Isaiah) teaches us that God said "And my House (the Temple) will be considered as a place of worship for all nations". So God is telling us that our mission is to be the ones who will bring about God-awareness.
Message: In other words in the absence of the Temple we can act as messengers to teach all humans that they are created in the divine image, and when we as a nation create our Temple, part of its purpose is so that other nations can come there to worship God. Perhaps it doesn't hurt that two famous personalities made the priestly blessing known to so many.
Perhaps God is requiring that the kohanim truly feel that they wish the people to be blessed....because real blessing flows when humans are happy at the good fortune of others and can bless them. And why is God telling humans to bless, and say ‘God bless you”? Because humans are tzlem elokin, ruach, etc, and when ouir ego is lowered, ie when we want to bless another image of God, the ruach elokim that is our essenceis no longer blocked by our ego and we are acting as image of God, and this causes blessing, and thus the blessing is really from God.
Conclusion: May we be blessed to channel this priestly blessing, which we received in synagogues everywhere the other day on Shavuot (and in Israel all year long) - as the kohanim were channeling the blessing for us, for us to be a blessing for others.
AR: