Y-H-W-H spoke to Moses, saying "Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying: 'Thus shall you bless the Children of Israel. Say to them..." (Num. 6:22-23)
Why is the word saying repeated? And since the words Thus shall you bless [referring to Aaron and his sons] are in the plural, why does the text then switch to the singular form in Say to them? RaSHI notes that the verb say is in a grammatical form called the "source" (infinitive absolute), vocalized with a kamats and a holam, as in such words as zakhor and shamor.
Holy books teach us that God created the world so that His kingdom [would] be revealed over Israel. For their sake were all the worlds created and linked to one another, reaching down to this world where God's kingship would be revealed through them. The last link in this chain is the aspect of malkhut ("kingship"). All the upper worlds and their lights are manifest in it, and all beings above and below are included within it. Malkhut is the image or mirror in which all are reflected, as the Zohar teaches (Tikkuney Zohar t. 18, 31b).
Y-H-W-H gave blessing to Abraham our Father, who passed it on to Isaac, and he to Jacob, and then his sons. But God then gave the act of blessing to the kohanim ("priests"), since they represent divine compassion (hesed) and love. When the kohanim arouse themselves in love to bless Israel, they awaken love far, far above in the uppermost Source, showering goodness and blessing upon Israel. That is why the form of their blessing is uniquely coined as "who has commanded us to bless His people Israel with love." In arousing their own quality of love to pour blessings upon Israel, they cause love and blessing to flow from that highest Source into malkhut. Malkhut is indeed called kenesset yisra'el, "the assembly of Israel." Thus all Israel, but also all the worlds and all creatures that are rooted in malkhut, receive that blessing [of love] from the uppermost Source...
But how were the kohanim able to attain a state of such pure love? Surely they had to repent completely, seeing themselves in an absolutely humble way. This was like Sinai, when all of Israel stood at the level of total love and unity, because they had to return to Y-H-W-H.
Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying. This act of "saying" takes place within the heart, as in: "Should you say in your heart" (Deut. 7:17). The heart is the seat of binah, the place to which we turn in repentance. They should repent in order to come to love all Israel.
Say to them, in the realm of thought. This form, vocalize d with kamats and holam, is indeed a "source." By reaching there they were able to draw blessing upon Israel and upon malkhut, from the highest Source. All worlds and all creatures partook of that blessing.
Why is the word saying repeated? And since the words Thus shall you bless [referring to Aaron and his sons] are in the plural, why does the text then switch to the singular form in Say to them? RaSHI notes that the verb say is in a grammatical form called the "source" (infinitive absolute), vocalized with a kamats and a holam, as in such words as zakhor and shamor.
Holy books teach us that God created the world so that His kingdom [would] be revealed over Israel. For their sake were all the worlds created and linked to one another, reaching down to this world where God's kingship would be revealed through them. The last link in this chain is the aspect of malkhut ("kingship"). All the upper worlds and their lights are manifest in it, and all beings above and below are included within it. Malkhut is the image or mirror in which all are reflected, as the Zohar teaches (Tikkuney Zohar t. 18, 31b).
Y-H-W-H gave blessing to Abraham our Father, who passed it on to Isaac, and he to Jacob, and then his sons. But God then gave the act of blessing to the kohanim ("priests"), since they represent divine compassion (hesed) and love. When the kohanim arouse themselves in love to bless Israel, they awaken love far, far above in the uppermost Source, showering goodness and blessing upon Israel. That is why the form of their blessing is uniquely coined as "who has commanded us to bless His people Israel with love." In arousing their own quality of love to pour blessings upon Israel, they cause love and blessing to flow from that highest Source into malkhut. Malkhut is indeed called kenesset yisra'el, "the assembly of Israel." Thus all Israel, but also all the worlds and all creatures that are rooted in malkhut, receive that blessing [of love] from the uppermost Source...
But how were the kohanim able to attain a state of such pure love? Surely they had to repent completely, seeing themselves in an absolutely humble way. This was like Sinai, when all of Israel stood at the level of total love and unity, because they had to return to Y-H-W-H.
Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying. This act of "saying" takes place within the heart, as in: "Should you say in your heart" (Deut. 7:17). The heart is the seat of binah, the place to which we turn in repentance. They should repent in order to come to love all Israel.
Say to them, in the realm of thought. This form, vocalize d with kamats and holam, is indeed a "source." By reaching there they were able to draw blessing upon Israel and upon malkhut, from the highest Source. All worlds and all creatures partook of that blessing.
Note the repeated insistence that blessing was to flow both to Israel and to all creatures, since malkhut contains all the worlds and all creatures within it. This dual sense of Israel-centered piety and a desire to bring about universal blessing is typical of the best of Hasidic teachings.