בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יהוה אֱלהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעולָם אֲשֶׁר קִדְּשָׁנוּ בְּמִצְותָיו וְצִוָּנוּ לַעֲסוק בְּדִבְרֵי תורָה:
Blessed are You, Lord, our God, Ruler of the Universe, Who has sanctified us with mitzvot and commanded us to immerse ourselves within words of Torah.
(כב) וַיְדַבֵּ֥ר יהוה אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֥ה לֵּאמֹֽר׃ (כג) דַּבֵּ֤ר אֶֽל־אַהֲרֹן֙ וְאֶל־בָּנָ֣יו לֵאמֹ֔ר כֹּ֥ה תְבָרְכ֖וּ אֶת־בְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל אָמ֖וֹר לָהֶֽם׃ {ס} (כד) יְבָרֶכְךָ֥ יהוה וְיִשְׁמְרֶֽךָ׃ {ס} (כה) יָאֵ֨ר יהוה ׀ פָּנָ֛יו אֵלֶ֖יךָ וִֽיחֻנֶּֽךָּ׃ {ס} (כו) יִשָּׂ֨א יהוה ׀ פָּנָיו֙ אֵלֶ֔יךָ וְיָשֵׂ֥ם לְךָ֖ שָׁלֽוֹם׃ {ס} (כז) וְשָׂמ֥וּ אֶת־שְׁמִ֖י עַל־בְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל וַאֲנִ֖י אֲבָרְכֵֽם׃ {ס}
(22) יהוה spoke to Moses: (23) Speak to Aaron and his sons: Thus shall you bless the people of Israel. Say to them: (24) יהוה bless you and protect you! (25) יהוה deal kindly and graciously with you! (26) יהוה 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.
Rabbi Arthur Green
יאר יהוה פניו אליך ויחונך “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.
Rabbi Arthur Green
ישא יהוה פניו אליך וישם לך שלום “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.