בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יקוק
א‑לוהינו מֶלֶך–הָעולָם
אֲשֶׁר קִדְּשָנוּ בְּמִצְותָיו
וְצִוָּנוּ לַעֲסק בְּדִבְרֵי-תורָה.
Barukh atah Adonai Eloheinu melekh haolam asher kideshanu b’mitzvotav ve’tzivanu laasok b’divrei Torah.
Blessed are you Adonai, our God, Sovereign of the Universe, Who has sanctified us with Your mitzvot and commanded us to engage in words of Torah.
(24) יקוק bless you and protect you!
(25) יקוק deal kindly and graciously with you!
(26) יקוק bestow [divine] favor upon you and grant you peace! (27) Thus they shall link My name with the people of Israel, and I will bless them.
יברכך, "bless you" with material wealth. The reason this is the first of the blessing is explained by our sages in Avot 3,15 אם אין קמח אין תורה, “if there is no flour, (no economic base) a Torah environment cannot flourish.”
וישמרך, "and protect you" and protect you from those who steal material possessions.
"And protect you." For every blessing requires protection so that it does not become an obstacle, God forbid. A master of Torah needs protection from pride, desecration of God's name and the like. And similarly, that they not forget their learning. A property owner needs protection that their wealth not be to their own detriment, like Korach and Navot the Jezreelite and the like. And similarly, protection from theft and loss. And likewise for everything that is in need of blessing, protection from whatever causes trouble is requested.
יאר יקוק פניו אליך THE LORD MAKE HIS FACE SHINE UPON THEE — i.e. May He show thee a friendly (more lit., smiling) countenance — a beaming countenance.
(1) יאר, "shine" may He grant light to your eyes to see and appreciate all the wonderful things G’d has done and keeps on doing. You should become aware that all that you achieve is due to His blessing.
״יאר יהו״ה פניו אליך ויחונך (ו:כ״ה)״. במדרש (במדבר רבה י״א, על פי ספרי זוטא) מפרשים את הפסוק: ״וִיחֻנֶךָּ: יִתֵּן בָּכֶם דַּעַת שֶׁתִּהְיוּ חוֹנְנִים זֶה אֶת זֶה וּמְרַחֲמִים זֶה אֶת זֶה.״
מאור פני יהו״ה ניתן לנו וקורן בפנינו כדי שנוכל להעבירו הלאה בתוך קהילת בני האדם. זאת הזכות הגדולה שיש לאלה המתאמצים לחיות נוכח פני ה׳. אנו חייבים ללמוד איך לחלוק את האור הזה עם אחרים וגם איך לראות אותו בפנים של הזולת. דבר זה עשוי להפוך אותנו ליותר ״חוננים זה את זה״, אנשים שמתנהגים אלו עם אלו מתוך חן וחמלה.
To Dwell Within Them, Teachings on the Weekly Torah Readings, Rabbi Arthur Green
“May Y-H-W-H light up your face and be gracious to you (6:25).” A midrash (Sifrey Zuta) says: “Vi-yeḥuneka means ‘May He grant you the consciousness to be gracious and merciful toward one another, as Scripture says: ‘May He grant you mercy and make you merciful (Deut. 13:18).’”
We are given the light of the divine face to shine in our own faces in order to be able to pass it on to others. That is our great privilege as beings who live in the divine image. We must learn both to share that light with others and to see shekhinah’s light in the face of others. That should help to turn us into ḥonenim zeh et zeh, people who treat one another with compassion and grace.
״יישא ה׳ פניו אליך וישם לך שלום (ו:כ״ו)״. המדרש אומר ״שלא מצא הקדוש ברוך הוא כלי להחזיק בו את הברכה אלא שלום.״ הבעל שם טוב מוסיף שלא די לאדם לבקש ברכה. הוא זקוק גם לכלי הנכון כדי להחזיק בו ברכה זו. ה׳ משפיע עלינו ברכה בכל עת ובכל שעה. אבל בלי כלי להחזיקה, היא עד מהרה הולכת ונעלמת.
״שלום״ פירושו גם שלמות. זה כולל את יכולתנו לקבל את עצמנו כמי שאנחנו, להיות שלמים עם עצמנו. הוא כולל גם שלום בית, שלום עם השכנים, ויכולת למצוא רגעי שלום או איי שקט בתוך העולם הסוער הזה שבו אנו חיים. לא קל הדבר, אבל בלעדיו אין ברכה במעשה ידינו, לא חשוב כמה נרוויח, או כמה נחשב ל״מוצלחים״.
הפועל בברכה הזאת ראוי לתשומת לב. ״וישם (אנו חוזרים עליו בתפילת ״שים שלום״) פירושו שאין ה׳ יכול לעשות יותר מאשר לשים את אפשרות השלום לפנינו. רק אנו יכולים לבחור בו.
To Dwell Within Them, Teachings on the Weekly Torah Portion, Rabbi Arthur Green
“May Y-H-W-H lift His face toward you and place peace before you (6:26).” The Ba‘al Shem Tov reads an old rabbinic tradition to say that shalom is the vessel we need in which to contain God’s blessing. It is not enough to pray for blessing; divine blessing is pouring forth upon us in every moment that we exist. But without a proper vessel in which to hold it, that blessing just washes over us and vanishes.
Shalom means “wholeness” as well as “peace.” It means being whole with ourselves, accepting who we are in the fullest sense. It means being at peace with family members, with our neighbors, with the very unpeaceful world in which we live. This is not an easy challenge, but without it our vessel is not whole and cannot contain blessing.
The verb used in this blessing, ve-yasem, says it all (We re-state it in our prayer that responds to the blessing, sim shalom). All God can do is to place the opportunity for peace before us. Only we can choose it.
Thus they shall link My name with. Literally, "they shall place my name on," which perhaps refers to amulets hung on one's body-as with the silver scrolls mentioned above, which were designed to be worn.
The Divine command concludes: "So shall they put my name upon the Israelites and I will bless them."
Through this blessing, God's name - the Divine Essence - rests upon us.
The privilege of carrying the Name/Essence of God into the world is the greatest blessing we can bear. It is giving and receiving at once. It is the pure state of becoming and being a blessing. When I carry that essence consciously, every moment begins to sparkle with meaning-even moments of suffering, moments of terror, even the moment of my death...
Each moment is received by a heart that is as vast as the sea and alive with compassion. Carrying the Divine Essence is like being a drop that knows the ocean within it. The Divine Name/Essence makes us infinitely large, certainly big enough to absorb and endure the events of our lives.
Parshat Naso, 5700 (1940), the Warsaw Ghetto
"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." That was to ensure that the blessings not remain abstract and good only in a heavenly sense, but they also take care of their physical needs, because they are human and need physical salvation.