|
June 2, 2023 (13 Sivan 5783) Parshat Naso - Speaking & Looking at You
Dear Friends, I hope this correspondence finds you well, in good health and in good cheer. Having enjoyed Shavuoth last weekend with cheesecake and blintzes, we look forward to welcoming you in our beautiful sanctuary again this Shabbat morning for our in-person services, which will also be accessible through our regular Zoom prayer link. This Monday, we will begin a new adult education series entitled Exclusion & Inclusion. This week, we are thrilled to welcome noted author and poet Deborah Kolb, who grew up in the Hassidic community before leaving the fold and continuing her new life as a fitness instructor and published author. The conversation promises to be fascinating, so please plan to join us at 8:00pm. Further details are below. In this week’s Torah portion of Naso, we are introduced to one of the most well-known sections of the liturgy, the Birkat Kohanim. This 15- word blessing, from Numbers 6:24-26, concludes the final section of the Amidah and dictates the Divine blessing, which the Kohanim direct towards the people Israel. Many of us likely have memories of seeing Kohanim in other synagogues ascend to the Bimah on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, as well as on the Shalosh Regalim (Three Journey Festivals), to chant the antiphonal devotion. With their Tallaisim draped over their heads, the Kohanim would hold their hands in a strange manner with their middle and ring fingers separated, while they recited the blessing, prompted word-by-word by the Hazzan. The resulting cacophony of priestly “singers,” while liturgically unique is usually shocking to the ear. I can still visualize in my mind, my friends hiding underneath their father’s Tallit as we were all warned not to gaze directly at the Kohanim. Some even went as far as to turn their backs to the Bimah, so as not to lock eyes with those blessing us. Given this strange staging, it is fair to ask how we are to understand the choreography of the prayer? Ironically, the Amidah itself is intended to offer the opportunity of direct communication between God and each individual worshipper. The simple grammar of the text, in the second person singular, intimates that during the silent devotion, we are speaking directly to God. Every time that we recite, “Baruch Ata Adonai,” (Blessed are You, our God), we are communicating directly with our Maker. This informal exchange mimics grammatically the way we would speak to someone standing immediately next to us. Some suggest that the Birkat Kohanim, situated at the end of the Amidah, then represents God’s response to us, a direct reciprocal address to the people, albeit mediated through the descendants of His chosen priestly class. This is to say, as we speak to God, at the beginning of the Amidah, He speaks to us at the end. So, if I am speaking to God, and God is speaking to me, which way should I face? Talmud Bavli Sotah 38a teaches that the Kohanim should bless the children (us) face-to-face. The scriptural designation of ”אָמ֖וֹר לָהֶֽם“ (Say to them) (Numbers 6:23) means, like a person who speaks to their fellow. In other words, we are meant to receive this blessing while facing the Bimah and facing the Kohanim directly. Our relationship with God, as expressed in prayer, is therefore one in which we stand and face each other, as opposed to the humbling positioning of prostration, or bowing, or even, God forbid, facing the other way. So, the next time you receive this blessing, there is no need to turn around! In a fantastic Midrash (Tanchuma Naso 8), God is ever more present in the synagogue. The text teaches that Israel said to HaShem, “You told the priests to bless us, but we need your blessing, directly from your mouth.” God responds, “Even though I told the priests to bless you, I will stand with them, directly behind them, and bless you at the same time.” In this Midrash, the priests spread their fingers because Hashem is standing behind the Kohanim, looking subtly and lovingly at His devoted followers. As a lover looks at their intended through a latticework fence (Shir HaShirim), here, Hashem peers through the fingers of the Kohanim to get a glimpse of the object of his eternal love, the Jewish people. Seeing us, He then answers our praise and thanks us by blessing us. Understood this way, it is powerful to think of congregational prayer as a direct back-and-forth between us, as a holy community, and Hashem as a compassionate, caring, listening, and immanently present deity. We praise. We request. God listens. God looks. God responds. As we enter Shabbat, I pray that the holiness of the Sabbath will give us each the chance to pause and consider the limitless personal spiritual possibilities when encountering a God, not transcendent, but rather, directly immanent. Shabbat Shalom, Rabbi Eric L. Wasser, EdD, Hon.DM
|
