A Thought on Parshas Naso

"...ko tevarchu..." "...this is how you should bless..." (6:23) The Torah commands the Kohanim to offer blessings to the Jewish people. We are all familiar with this practice, which remains today as a remnant of the service which was once done in the Bais HaMikdash. The three blessings are recited by Kohanim, as instructed by our verse. The Panaeach Raza offers some insights into this commandment. He begins by saying that "I have heard that in some sefarim which are written with precision that the first word (koh, which our sifrei Torah write as kof hae) is written kof vov hae." [ The letter vov can serve as a consonant or as a vowel yet that vowel's sound of "o" can be inferred through the invisible notation which we know as a nekuda. In our sources, the "o" is implied whereas the Panaeach Raza writes that he heard of other texts which have the "o" sound written as a vov ]. He suggests that an interpretation of the word koh, should it be written with a vov, might allude to the Aramaic word koh which refers to an aperture or opening. When the Kohanim hold up their hands, they do so in a way which allows one to "peek" through the spaces between their fingers, as if one could peer in or out. This would hint at the verse in Shir HaShirim (2:9) "peering through the lattice and looking through the window", which is a kabbalistic concept of how we have but a glimpse of the spiritual dimension beyond. During this service of the Blessing of the Kohanim, they enact this mystical principle through the positioning of their hands as they pronounce the brachos. This signifies how the blessings for which the Kohen is a conduit, are a glimpse into the holy and the sacred.The Panaeach Raza attributes this insight to Rabbeinu Aharon HaTzarfati of France. The Panaeach Raza then writes that he puzzled over the necessity of Birchas Kohanim. He reasoned that if the intended recipients of the blessing are righteous people, we already have been promised (Devarim 28:2) that those who adhere to the ways of HaShem are blessed. If the intended recipients are the wicked, we have already been told (Devarim 28:30) that those who forsake HaShem's ways are not blessed. If so, he asks, what is the point of the Kohanim telling anyone that they get these three blessings? Either they are already blessed or are destined not to be. What function is added by the Kohanim? The Panaeach Raza answers that while it is a Torah principle that pious people are blessed from Above, there are times when good people are despised by others. When a righteous person is degraded and people speak ill of him, there is the possibility that his reputation will be damaged and his life will seem haunted by the ill will of others. He reasons that it may be for this reason that the Kohanim pronounce their blessings of peace. Their bracha serves preemptively as a remedy against those who might curse the righteous. That which HaShem grants one can at times seem "ruined" by the plotting of the wicked who seek to harm the tzadikim. When the Kohanim extend the three-part blessing, some of the contamination brought about by others' schemes to discredit can be neutralized. This is the answer offered by the Panae'ach Raza. Birchas Kohanim serves to insulate good people from the negative wishes of others. Wishing us all a blessed Shabbos. D Fox