In this week's Torah portion, Naso, we find the Birkat Kohanim, Priestly Blessing, (Num 6:24-26), with which the priests are to bless the people of Israel.
May God bless you and protect you!
May God deal kindly and graciously with you!
May God bestow favor upon you and grant you peace! (Num 6:24-26)
It is God blessing us through the Kohanim, priests. The big idea of the priestly blessing is that we are vessels for Divine blessing, all of us. The big Jewish idea of this blessing, so central to Jewish life over the centuries, is that we humans bless each other. We have the power to bestow God’s blessing on each other, to be vessels for Divine blessing, through our words, through our actions, through our presence. Just like the Kohanim, we have the gift of blessing each other.
And how do we do it? How do we bless others? How are we vessels for Divine Blessing? Perhaps it is attending Shabbat services this summer and adding your voice to our kehillah, community, as we pray together. Or, perhaps it is attending one of the events Beth Emet has planned for the upcoming summer months (Like the
Reparations, Reconciliation & Repair: Evanston's Interfaith Reparations Launch Event on Monday, at 12:00 pm or the
Young Families Event celebrating Pride Month on June 26). It may even be bringing a friend along with you to see just how amazing our community can be.
I look forward to seeing how each of us bring our Divine Blessing to Beth Emet as we enter these long, summer days.
Shabbat Shalom,
Geoff Prass
Director of Operations
