Naso
Numbers 4:21-7:89
Judges 13:2-25
This week’s parashah contains some of the most beloved words of blessing in our tradition. In ancient times, these were the words used by the kohanim to convey God’s blessing to the entire Jewish community. Today, as Jewish parents, we bless our children with these sacred words every Friday night. But have you ever thought about how divine blessing moves through the world? A Chassidic master gives us an extraordinary vision of how this works.
“God spoke to Moses, saying: Speak to Aaron and his sons. Thus shall you bless the people of Israel. Say to them:
“‘May God bless you and protect you.
“‘May God deal kindly and graciously with you.
“‘May God look on you with favor and grant you peace'” (Numbers 6:22-26).
Rebbe Levi Yitzhak of Berditchev relates a teaching of the Ba’al Shem Tov about the nature of blessing. A clue is found in the verse in the Psalms, “God is your guardian; God is your protection, at your right hand” (Psalms 121:5). The Ba’al Shem Tov calls attention to the word tzil’cha, meaning that God is our protection, or literally, our “shade,” evoking a great mountain or massive tree that would completely shield us from harm. But the Ba’al Shem Tov reminds us that the same word, tsel, also means “shadow.”
“Just as the shadow does what the person does, so too, the Blessed Creator, as it were, does what the person does. For this reason you must do mitzvot, give tzedakah and have mercy on the poor, so that the Blessed Creator will also treat you with goodness… For it is known that the Blessed Creator wants to treat the people of Israel with goodness, for more than the calf wants to suck, the cow wants to nurse” (from Kedushat Levi on Parashat Naso).
The imagery here is stunning and perplexing. We so often reflect on the call to emulate God, to walk in God’s ways, to do as the Divine would have us do. Turning this on its head, what might it mean to think of God as “our shadow?” Are we to imagine that the Infinite can only act as a mirror reflection of our own deeds?
Strikingly, this image endows the Creator of all with limits, with pathos, with a deep longing to be engaged with us in an intimate way. This metaphor asks us to consider the possibility that there is a profound harmony between the world as we know it and the upper realms, or the spiritual dimension of life. The material and spiritual dimensions of life, in this view, are a mirror image of one another, intimately connected to one another.
This image of the divine as our “shadow” may also suggest that we have profound impact on the world, in ways far grander than may be visible to us. In essence, the cosmos reflects back what we create in our own lives. If we turn our backs on others, if we fill our own lives with anger and hate, this will be reflected back to us. If we treat others with kindness and blessing, life will respond in kind — clearly, not in the sense that we will never know pain or harm, but in the deeper sense that we will be protected, accompanied, not alone.
In this view, we are asked to imagine that the Mystery of Life depends on our actions, our good intentions, our blessings, as it were, to give It pleasure, just as the mother needs her baby to bring her relief and joy. Imagine the heart of the world aching for us to act with peace, goodness and lovingkindness, so that It can do what It most wants to do — to bless us with favor and with peace. Imagine life itself yearning for us to act with blessing, in order to call down just those qualities of generosity and loving-kindness that the Holy One most desires to offer to us.
Think of this next time you bless your children, or wish someone well in synagogue, at your workplace or at the checkout counter of the supermarket. Dare to imagine that your words and acts of blessing have power in the world, that the way in which you live has an impact on what you will receive in your life and on Life itself. Think of this next time you are in conflict with another or about to say a hurtful word. Act with blessing, for your sake, and for the sake of all.