I would like to thank Rabbi Avraham Daniel Ebstein for sharing with me the thoughts that make up this class.
Birkat Kohanim is a daily occurrence for Sephardim, whereas Ashkenazim must wait until the next holiday or a visit to Eretz Yisrael to hear it.
It says the following:
וידבר ה׳ אל משה לאמר:דַּבֵּ֤ר אֶֽל־אַהֲרֹן֙ וְאֶל־בָּנָ֣יו לֵאמֹ֔ר כֹּ֥ה תְבָרֲכ֖וּ אֶת־בְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל אָמ֖וֹר לָהֶֽם :
Hashem told Moshe to tell Aharon and his sons to bless Bnei Yisrael as follows:
יְבָרֶכְךָ ה' וְיִשְׁמְרֶךָ:
יָאֵר ה' פָּנָיו אֵלֶיךָ וִיחֻנֶּךָּ:
יִשָּׂא ה' פָּנָיו אֵלֶיךָ וְיָשֵׂם לְךָ שָׁלוֹם:
And it ends off with
וְשָׂמוּ אֶת שְׁמִי עַל בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל וַאֲנִי אֲבָרֲכֵם
They will place My name upon Bnei Yisrael, and I will bless them.
There is an argument in the Gemara about what this means. Who is G-d blessing? Does it mean that after the Kohanim bless Bnei Yisrael, Hashem will bless the Kohanim, or does it mean that after the Kohanim bless Klal Yisrael, G-d will bless Klal Yisrael. If that’s the case, the Gemara asks, who blesses the kohanim? And the Gemara answers that Hashem told Avraham that whoever blesses you will be blessed, so by the Kohanim blessing the Jewish people, they will be blessed.
We will go with the approach that אני אברכם I will bless them, means that G-d is going to bless the Jewish people.
On this, the Sefer Akedat Yitzhak, by Rabbi Yitzhak Aramah, asks, if G-d is blessing the Jewish people, what do we need the blessing of the Kohanim for? What is more powerful than the blessing of G-d?
The Sefer Akedat Yitzhak answers that the main success that man has, and the main goodness that man has, is dependent on his clarity and strong emunah that all success and all goodness come from above. And that everything we have is all ultimately from G-d- not because of any coincidence or a person’s strength or power, or any celestial forces or Mazalot. Therefore, G-d wants us to focus on our Father in heaven. He says that what the Kohanim are really doing with
וְשָׂמוּ אֶת שְׁמִי עַל בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל
Placing My Name on the Jewish people
is that they are helping them and strengthening them in the fundamental that all blessing comes from G-d.
“Please My Name on them”
means they should realize that I am the source of all their blessings.
When the kohanim say
יְבָרֶכְךָ ה' וְיִשְׁמְרֶךָ:
G-d will bless you and He will guard you,
that’s a mussar speech; to help us realize that G-d blesses and G-d guards. Rashi says no human being can both bless and guard. A human can give a gift, but he can’t protect it from thieves.
The lessons of Birkat Kohanim, (which we aren’t going to go through one by one today), strengthen our Emunah and Bitachon in G-d, and that’s what brings the beracha.
What a beautiful thought!
For those of us that don’t hear Birkat Kohamin every day, he says that in truth this is the reason we make any beracha. The Birkat Kohanim aren’t because G-d need our blessings, Rather, we should remember G-d we should have G-d on our minds, and then we will be blessed. So, when we make berachot, we aren’t blessing G-d, we are causing ourselves to be blessed. We are stating that G-d is the source of all blessings, and with that clarity we will be blessed. That’s what happens with 100 Berachot every day we aren’t blessing G-d, it’s actually our source of beracha. It’s the realization that everything comes from G-d.
But if that’s the case, then why can’t any rabbi get up and give a speech on bitachon. What do we need the Kohanim?
There’s a rule called- נאה דורש ונאה מקים
In order to give a good Derasha, you must be someone that doesn’t just talk the talk- they have to walk the walk. As we know, the Kohanim, and shevet Levi at large were designated to be the tribe of Bitachon.
Once in seven years we have shemitah, but the Leviim had shemitah every year. They didn’t have a piece of lan. Everyone else had to give up their land every seven years to remember that they aren’t in charge. But the Leviim had to do that every year. The Rambam says that they didn’t have any land, nor did they go to war or share in the booty because they have been designated to serve Hashem and be the teachers of G-d’s ways to the masses. They are the tribe of the clergy. They are separated from worldly matters. They don’t go to war, they don’t inherit, they don’t merit anything through the power of their bodies, because they are G-d’s army and G-d will take care of them. As G-d says,
I am your portion, I am your inheritance
The Rambam continues and says this isn’t only for the tribe of Levi, but for anyone who dedicates himself to stand before Hashem and serve Him, who removes the yoke of all the calculations of man. He becomes the Holy of Holies. Hashem will be his portion and inheritance forever. And he will get, in Olam Hazeh, enough that he needs, like G-d gave the kohanim.
Rav Aharon Kotler used to say that this Rambam is the source for the concept of having a kollel. It’s not just for the tribe of Levi. Today, anyone can dedicate themselves, if their bitachon is on the level, and be zoche to a portion.
So, the ultimate, designated tribe is the Kohamin, and therefore they’re the ones to give us that blessing and that lesson.
A further point is that, as Rabbi Ebstein says, the reason the Kohanim lift their hands is that hands always designate power. They raise their hands as if to say, Our hands don’t do anything. It’s all coming from Hashem’s decree. And that is the source of all blessing.
Have a wonderful day.