“God spoke to Moses, telling him to speak to Aaron and his sons, saying:
‘This is how you must bless the Jewish people. Say to them:
“May God bless you and keep watch over you.
“May God make His presence enlighten you and grant you grace.
“May God direct His countenance toward you and grant you peace.”
They will put My name upon the Jewish people and I will bless them.’ ” (Numbers 6:22–27)
We need to understand what this is hinting to us. Why must Aaron and his descendants bless the Jews with the blessing that God bless them? As the verse states, “They will put My name upon the Jewish people, and I will bless them,” it is obviously God Who blesses the people. Furthermore, what is the meaning of “They will put My name upon the Jewish people”? What needed to be added, after the blessing was so specifically spelled out?
Rashi’s explanations (ibid.) are well known: “And I will bless them” means “I will give my approval to the priestly blessings.” Another explanation quoted from the Talmud (Hullin 49a) says, “And I will bless the priests.”
The Tosaphists (Shabbath 88a) ask: “Why at the giving of the Torah did the Jewish people need to have the mountain held over them, when they had already said ‘We will do and we will listen’?” The Tosaphists answer: “Perhaps they might recant, because of their fear at seeing the fire.” We need to understand why, if this was so, the mountain was not held over them before they said, “We will do and we will listen.” Surely there was more reason to suspect they might not accept the Torah in the first instance, than to recant for fear of the fire, after already having said, “We will do and we will listen”?
A simple interpretation, applicable to our situation, is that it was only during the actual event, at the receiving of the Torah, that their innate corruption, the self-seeking brought about by the original sin of Adam and Eve, was removed. Only at that moment, when their bodies and their lives were as nothing, were they able to fully accept the Torah, even while a mountain was held threateningly over them and they were told, “If you accept the Torah, ‘tis well; if not, there shall be your burial.” (Shabbath 88a) Before the events at Sinai however, because they were not yet relieved of their innate corruption, they were still physical, human beings. No matter how saintly they were, even when saying in the manner of angels, “We will do and we will listen,” they were yet unable to accept the Torah when frightened to death. So, God did not hold the mountain over them beforehand. It was only later, when their taint was removed and they were completely nullified as human beings, when their bodies did not matter to them at all, that they were able to accept even as they were being coerced.
We have already spoken about the teaching from the holy book, Tanna D’Bai Eliyahu, that says that the Torah is for the sake of Israel. What this really means is that by observing the commandments alone the Jew does not fulfill his obligation. His duty is done only if the observance transforms him into a Jew, as it is written, “And you will be for Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” (Exodus 19:6) The real meaning of the verse is that you, your essential self, will be entirely given over to God. This is why the Jewish person must serve God by putting all his attributes, his nature, and his disposition into the service of holiness.
My grandfather, the righteous, holy Rabbi of Lublin, of blessed memory, cites the following parable in his book Zot Zikharon, in the name of the Great and Holy Maggid of Mezeritch, of blessed memory. “When a person, before praying, seeks to awaken within himself love for God, he should remind himself of the love that he already has—for example, for his children or his possessions. When he feels his love is aroused, he should remind himself of God, of His greatness and of the goodness of all that God has done for him, and then his love for God, blessed be He, will also be awakened.” This means that even mundane love, such as that which a person has for his material possessions, can be elevated to become love of God.
In the sacred literature on the verse (Exodus 10:26) in which Moses speaks to Pharaoh regarding the livestock of the Jewish people, “We must also take of them to serve God our Lord,” we learn that in order to serve God, we must take also from the animal in ourselves, as this transforms darkness into light and bitter into sweet.
It is impossible to do this when we are suffering, God forbid. And this is why we pray to God that He redeem us with loving-kindness.
My holy, sainted father of blessed memory, comments on the verse from the daily liturgy, “Requite us with loving-kindness.” “Everything the Holy Blessed One does for us is kindness, but we pray ‘Requite us with the sort of kindness that will also seem loving to us.’ ”
We pray for this because even though we keep commandments, if we are crushed, God forbid, then an essential part of ourselves is not observing the commandment. For how is it possible to study the Torah when every head is stricken? Is it possible to be inflamed with passions of the heart when every heart is broken, God forbid?
“My strength and song is God, and this is my deliverance. This is my God; I will enshrine Him. My father’s God; I will exalt Him.” (“Song of the Sea,” Exodus 15:2) Because He has delivered me totally, because I feel so good and can savor the redemption, it is possible for me to sing, “This is my God,” the God whom the essential self of me wants to worship. He is “my father’s God; I will exalt Him.” At this level of joy and freedom, I am not satisfied with the holiness and worship that was given to me as an inheritance from my fathers, but more than this, “I will exalt Him.”
This could be the meaning of the well-known saying: Every generation is appropriate to its leaders, and the leaders are appropriate to the generation. Why must the leader be appropriate to the generation? So that he can be close to them in their desires and needs, in order to help them devote their essential, individual selves to the worship of God. Then the salvation that God causes to flow upon them will not be suspended above their level, pertaining only to spiritual matters, but will become concrete, and appropriate to them and their essential, individual, and physical needs.
As we learn in the writings of my father, (Divrei Elimelech, p. 154) about the talmudic teaching (Berachoth 9a) on the verse (Exodus 11:2), “Speak, please, in the ears of the people. Let each person request of his friend vessels of silver and gold,” the Holy Blessed One said to Moses: “I beg of you, go and tell the Children of Israel to request from the Egyptians vessels of silver and gold, so that Abraham the Righteous should not have cause to complain, saying, ‘You promised that my descendants would be slaves in a strange land, and fulfilled Your promise, but the promise that they would leave with great wealth, You have not kept.’ ” About this talmudic teaching, my father asked the following: What if Abraham had not complained, would then the Holy Blessed One not have had to keep His promise?” He answers, “God could have given them great wealth without monetary value; it could have been spiritual riches. But because of his promise to our father Abraham, and so that Abraham should not have cause to complain, He also made sure we left Egypt with gold and silver.”
Returning to the original text we quoted, “This is how you must bless the Jewish people . . .”: It is true that the cohen (priests) must bless them, but the blessing must become concrete. So God commanded, “Put My name upon the Jewish people.” This was to ensure that the blessings not remain abstract and good only in a heavenly sense, but that they also take care of their physical needs, because they are human and need physical salvation. This is explained by Rashi, in his commentary on this verse: “Bless them with children, bless them with money, etc.”