Izzy owned a small deli in Stamford Hill, in London. One day, a tax inspector knocked on his door and questioned him about his recent tax return. Issy had reported a net profit of $250.000 for the year and he wanted to know all about it. "It’s like this," said Issy. "I work like a maniac all year round and all of my family helps me out whenever they can. My deli is closed only five days a year. That’s how I made $250,000."
"It's not your income that bothers us," said the taxman. "It's the business travel deductions of $80,000 that worries us. You entered on the tax return that you and your wife made 28 business trips to Israel, Italy, Switzerland, France, the US, Hawaii, and the Caribbean Islands. What are all these business trips about?"
"Oh," said Izzy, smiling. "I forgot to tell you that we also deliver!"
If you have ever been to the synagogue during the Priestly Blessing—presented in this week’s Torah portion—you know it is a unique moment. The kohen (priest) removes his shoes and approaches the podium, his face hidden behind his prayer shawl. He extends his hands towards the congregation, fingers parted and palms stretched outwards. He waits, in anticipation of the holy moment. Those in the congregation hide behind their own prayer shawls to avoid gazing directly upon the kohen, for the divine presence rests upon the kohen during this time.
Prompted by the cantor, the kohen intones the sacred words of the blessing recorded in this week’s portion, Naso: “May G-d bless you and keep you. May G-d shine his countenance upon you and may he be gracious to you. May G-d show favor to you, and may He grant you peace.”
It was the eve of Yom Kippur 1945, a few months after the war was over. The Rabbi Yekusiel Yehuda Halberstam who lost a wife and 11 children in Auschwitz, staying in a German DP camp was preparing himself for the holiest day. All of a sudden there was a knock on the door. A young girl came in and said, "Rebbe, I do not have a father anymore. No one will be able to 'bless me' before Yom Kippur."
That year, so many children were left without parents. So this girl came to the Rebbe saying, I have no father to bless me and I want somebody to bless me.
The Rebbe put his hands on her head and blessed her the way a father blesses his daughter on the eve of Yom Kippur. With tears in his eyes, he told her how precious she was, what a gift she was, how much he was praying for her bright future…
May G-d bless you and protect you. May He shine His countenance upon you and give you grace. May He lift you up and grant you peace.
Five minutes later there was another knock on the door. It was another girl, again without a father, again with no one to bless her before Yom Kippur. Again the Rebbe went through the same routine. He put his hands upon her head, and he blessed her the way a father blesses his daughter:
This repeated itself again and again. The orphans kept on coming and the Rebbe attended to each of them, as though he was their father. That eve of Yom Kippur, the Rebbe blessed over eighty orphaned girls… He placed his hands on each of them and gave them the love, the undivided attention, the confidence children yearn for so deeply.
What is the secret behind these blessings? What power and message do they contain? The Midrashinterpretation begins by asking, what is the source of Israel’s entitlement to the priestly blessing which begins with the words “So shall you bless the children of Israel”?
The Midrash answers that we merited these unique blessings from three verses concerning our Patriarchs, where the identical term “koh” (so) is used. But what does this mean?
It is this that the Midrash is teaching us. The Jewish People, from its inception, has viewed things in a uniquely Jewish way, and this underlies all of Israel’s blessings.
When the Creator promised Avraham that he would be blessed with children, the Torah tells us that the Creator “took him outside and said ‘Look down upon the heavens and count the stars . . . so (koh) shall be your children.”‘ Rashi interprets the phrase “took him outside” to mean that G-d raised Avraham “above the stars,” that is, outside and beyond the usual process of nature and the normal determinants of history as it is played out in the world under the stars. Astrologically, Abraham and Sarah were told they were infertile; they could not have children. G-d says to Abraham, “Get out from the realm of astrology.”
The promise is that the history of the Jewish people will fundamentally not unfold by the natural laws of politics, economics, military, and social forces which generally determine the fate of nations. Israel is to be guided by a supernatural course, by a Divine miraculous providence, on the basis of which it will survive, thrive, and prevail. Jewish destiny will depend on Jews’ relation to Torah law and prophecy over and above natural law. It is this Divine presence in history which Abraham and his future descendants are bidden to see.
Let me present another example – this time from the very real world.
For decades, athletes sought to break the four-minute mile. Sportswriters wrote off this potential feat, claiming that human athletic prowess had reached its zenith. To run a mile must take four minutes, not a second less.
Then along came an Englishman, Dr. Roger Bannister, and without realizing it, propelled human potential to new heights. When Bannister crossed the finish line of Oxford’s Iffley Road track on May 6, 1954, completing the mile in 3 minutes, 59.4 seconds, he had not only trimmed two seconds off the world record but changed the perception of the world on man’s capacity to run. He thus spawned a host of runners who quickly emulated his success and went beyond it. Currently, the mile record is held by Hicham El Guerrouj, who set a time of 3 minutes 43.13 seconds in Rome in 1999.
A speed barrier that had held for over a century was breached in a few short years. How was this 100-year-barrier broken?
The answer is that Roger Bannister did not know the rule that you can’t run a mile in less than four minutes! Barriers and boundaries of achievement -- be they of mind or the body -- are often self-fulfilling prophecies. To the extent that we believe something is possible, it becomes possible.
This is the core message of the priestly blessings—to be blessed by the vision that G-d’s light guides our lives and defines our reality. That we always have the perception to see meaning in our lives and the presence of G-d and purpose in every reality.
Three message, three blessings, have sustained us for 3000 years: One, we strive to live the most successful life, but never forget that all of our blessings are gifts from G-d. Two, we always remember that G-d has placed each of us here on a mission to impact our environment, to be ambassadors of love, light, and hope, through our Torah and our mitzvoth. Three, even in our downer moments, in our failures, in our challenges, and in our pain, we rise up and continue to run the course, because G-d is with us.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Yoseph Geisinsky
Tom Peacock wrote...