English translation — נשא ב

Sicha on page 50

1.

In the verse¹

"May Hashem bless you and guard you" was said by Chazal

(Sifri,

Tanchuma,

Bamidbar Rabbah and others)

many interpretations in the content of the blessing of "yevarechecha" "veyishmerecha"²,

but Rashi in his commentary on the Torah chose one of them,

as follows.

And together with this he mentioned and concludes "for many midrashim expounded on it" — and defines them as midrash.

2.

At the beginning of the verse, Rashi cites "yevarechecha" and explains that your possessions will be blessed.

And at first glance, there is room for wonder: even according to the simple meaning of the verse, it stands to reason that the Priestly Blessing is a most general blessing — so why then did Rashi choose this explanation "that your possessions will be blessed,"

a blessing limited only to a person's possessions,

and did not explain that it is a general blessing,

that the person will be blessed in all his matters³?

And even more perplexing: the first explanation in the Sifri here on the verse is "May Hashem bless you,

with the explicit blessing

[in the Torah,

in another place]..

Blessed<sup>4</sup>

you in the city and blessed you in the field etc. blessed your basket and your kneading trough blessed you in your coming etc. and there shall come<sup>5</sup>

upon you all these blessings and overtake you, when you listen to the voice of Hashem your God" — and according to this, then in "yevarechecha" is included the blessing not only in a person's assets<sup>6</sup>,

but also regarding his body and the fruit of his womb<sup>7</sup>

; and furthermore — also blessings on spiritual matters of those being blessed

(as it is stated there in the continuation of the verses<sup>8</sup>

"Hashem will establish you for Himself as a holy people etc." and more).

And why did Rashi abandon this explanation,

which fits,

at first glance,

the plain meaning of the verse

(that it speaks of the explicit blessings of Hashem in the Torah

(in another place),

and in the most general blessings)

— and brings the explanation "that your assets be blessed"<sup>9</sup>?

Also, one must be precise in Rashi's language "that your assets be blessed": the source of this explanation is in the Sifri here,

but there the language is "He will bless you with assets".

And it is not understood,

a)

what did Rashi see to change from the language of the Sifri and its content and write "yevarechecha,

that your assets be blessed" that you already have,

b)

what is the repetition of the phrase "that they be blessed",

c)

we find something similar in Rashi's commentary above<sup>10</sup>,

regarding Avraham,

that he explained "and I will bless you — with money",

and at first glance it would have been appropriate to explain in both places equally.

<pg>51</pg>

3.

And one must say the explanation in this:

It is already explained above in parshas Bechukosai the abundance of blessings that come to Bnei Yisrael when they keep Torah and mitzvos.

And when one learns about the matter of the mitzvah of Birkas Kohanim,

that there is a special blessing that the Kohanim must bless Bnei Yisrael — the question arises: what is the novelty in Birkas Kohanim regarding the blessings that the Holy One, blessed be He, already promised them in His Torah¹¹?

And one cannot say that all the novelty in the Priestly Blessing is,

that through it are also blessed those of Bnei Yisrael who, according to their conduct in observing Torah and mitzvos, are not worthy of blessing — because it is obvious that there is a novelty in the Priestly Blessing also for those who observe Torah and mitzvos,

who are assured of all the blessings enumerated in parshas Bechukosai; and on the contrary — it is logical that they have an advantage in this special blessing<sup>11</sup>.

And this is the reason that Rashi did not explain "yevarechecha" according to the explanation

(the first)

in the Sifri,

that it refers to "the explicit blessing" — because on the contrary,

it is that which gives that it is impossible to say

(according to the simple meaning)

that this is the blessing of the Priestly Blessing: since this is an "explicit" blessing

(that the Holy One, blessed be He, promised in His Torah this blessing)

— then it is understood that this is not the blessing that the priests bless the children of Israel.

However, for this reason there is also no place to interpret "He will bless you with possessions"

(or "with money",

or even "with wealth")

as in Bamidbar Rabbah and Tanchuma — because this blessing is already included in the blessings enumerated in Parshat Bechukotai; and moreover — earlier in our parshah¹²

it is said that the reward for giving the priestly gifts is — "he will have much money".

And therefore Rashi explains "that your possessions be blessed",

meaning,

that in the possessions that a person already has

("your possessions"),

a special blessing will rest,

that they will be blessed and increase more than their measure and nature,

meaning a blessing and influence that is above the ways of nature.

Similar to what we find with Isaac — "and he found in that year a hundredfold"¹³,

that even though "the land was hard and the year was hard",

"it produced one hundred times what they estimated"¹⁴

— a blessing above the natural way¹⁵.

And this is the innovation in the Priestly Blessing regarding the blessings in Parshat Bechukotai,

that the essence of the blessings in Parshat Bechukotai is in the matter of the increase of good in quantity

("abundant grain"¹⁶)

that will be bestowed upon the children of Israel through the fulfillment of Torah and mitzvot,

but this blessing is unique — that the assets that are already in the possession of the person,

they themselves are blessed and multiplied¹⁷

several times over,

in a manner that is above nature¹⁸.

And even though we have already found a similar blessing also in Parshat Bechukotai,

as Rashi explains on the verse¹⁹

"And you will eat<pg>52</pg>

"Your bread for satiety" — "He eats a little and it is blessed in his intestines" — this blessing does not reach the wonder of the blessing "that your possessions be blessed": that the food is blessed supernaturally in the "intestines" of a person who fulfills Torah and mitzvos,

a)

it is not revealed to the eye at all,

b)

the effect of the blessing is on the body of the one who toiled in Torah and kept the mitzvos; but in the Priestly Blessing a)

the blessing is revealed to all b)

also a person's possessions,

which are outside the person who fulfills Torah and mitzvos,

will be blessed and increased supernaturally.

And the reason that Rashi specifies "

(that be blessed)

your possessions" — and not "your money" — is because "possessions" include all types of property²⁰,

that in all of them this additional blessing will rest.

4.

Rashi's commentary on the conclusion of the verse "and guard you": that

robbers should not come upon you to take your money, for one who gives a gift to his servant cannot guard it from every person, and since bandits come upon him and take it from him, what benefit does he have from this gift? But the Holy One, blessed be He, is the Giver, He is the Guardian.

And many midrashim expounded on it in the Sifri.

And behold, the reason that Rashi removes his interpretation of "and guard you" from its plain meaning — guarding the body of the person himself

[in the manner of the blessing of the Holy One, blessed be He, to Jacob "and I will guard you wherever you go"

(and according to the plainness of the language "and guard you"

which refers to the person himself)]

— and interprets it regarding the matter of guarding a person's money — one can say:

It could be said that this is a blessing for the preservation of the human body,

it would be appropriate to precede this blessing to "yevarechecha"

(which is a blessing only on a person's possessions),

as understood simply,

that first of all a person must be whole and healthy,

and only afterwards is there room to bless him with possessions and money;

And therefore Rashi explains that "v'yishmarecha" here is a continuation of "yevarechecha",

and this is that the necessity of this protection is because of the blessing of "yevarechecha": after a person's possessions have been blessed

("your possessions will be blessed")

and have increased beyond the ordinary,

this is liable to arouse the desire of robbers,

when they see such wealth with him.

And behold, assets in general are divided into two: land and movables,

And among movables themselves, the easiest to take is money.

And about this comes the blessing that also from this one is guarded,

that they should not come and rob his money.

Therefore an additional special blessing came — "

(May Hashem bless you)

and guard you",

that the Holy One, blessed be He, guard this gift&lt;sup&gt;26&lt;/sup&gt;

from robbers.

&lt;pg&gt;53&lt;/pg&gt;

And with this is resolved another precision in Rashi — who explains that the blessing of guarding here is only in that "robbers should not come upon you to take your money",

for at first glance it is not understood,

why does Rashi limit this blessing only to guarding from robbers alone,

and did not write

(in brief)

"and guard you,

your assets"

(like the language of the Sifri),

or "that your assets should be guarded" and the like — a language of general guarding from all kinds of loss,

such as from fire and the like,

and not only from robbers?

But the content of "and guard you" is a continuation of "bless you",

namely, guarding from the damage of robbers that may come specifically from the abundant influence of "bless you",

as above,

but it does not speak of mere guarding from losses

(like fire)

that branch off from side causes²⁷.

Heh.

But still it requires examination of the length of Rashi's continuation,

that distinguishes between "one who gives a gift to his servant" and the gift of the Holy One, blessed be He,

that "He is the Giver, He is the Guardian" — for seemingly it would have been sufficient to say "and guard you,

that robbers should not come upon you to take your money",

from which the content of this blessing is already understood.

Also one must be precise about the change in Rashi's language,

that regarding the blessing of the Holy One, blessed be He, it says "that robbers should not come upon you",

whereas regarding "He who gives a gift to His servant" it states "from every person..

bandits".

And according to what was explained above, Rashi's language comes simply:

Just as the blessing "Yevarechecha" is a special blessing that we have not found its like in the rest of the blessings explicit in the Torah — likewise it must be said regarding the blessing "Veyishmerecha",

that it is a special guarding,

that is only in the power of the Holy One, blessed be He.

And for this reason it is impossible for Rashi to explain that the intention of "Veyishmerecha" is guarding a person's property in general — because such guarding has no special novelty.

And furthermore — general guarding of property is included in the essence of the blessing,

and in the language of the Midrash²⁸

"But if they are blessed, are they not guarded"

("For a blessing without guarding is nothing"²⁹).

And this is the intention of Rashi in his lengthy language,

in the distinction between "one who gives a gift to his servant" and the gift of the Holy One, blessed be He, that "He is the Giver, He is the Guardian" — because this is the novelty in this blessing,

that it is a special protection of the Holy One, blessed be He,

that is not within the ability of flesh and blood "one who gives a gift to his servant

(that)

he cannot guard him from every person."

That is: Rashi's intention is not to say that only the Holy One, blessed be He, "He is the Giver, He is the Guardian",

but unlike flesh and blood who does not guard at all

(for it is within the ability of flesh and blood to guard his possessions from several types of damages),

rather the precision is — that the Holy One, blessed be He, can guard "from every person",

whoever it may be,

which is not within the ability of flesh and blood.

And based on this, the precision of Rashi's language is also understood, that the protection of the Holy One, blessed be He, is "that robbers should not come upon you to take your money"

(and not "bandits",

as his language afterwards)

:

The term "robbers" indicates a special type of bandits,

who plunder and rob all of a person's possessions

(not like ordinary bandits,

who usually take only part of a person's possessions)

— either because they are very strong,

or they come<pg>54</pg>

in a gang etc.

And this is what Rashi precisely notes and emphasizes the distinction between the guarding of the Holy One, blessed be He, and the guarding of "the one who gives a gift to his servant" — that a human being cannot guard his gift even from bandits

(and all the more so from robbers),

whereas the Holy One, blessed be He, can guard His gift from every person,

(not only from bandits,

but)

even from "robbers" — which a human being is not able to guard himself from them at all³⁰.

6.

And in this way will also be settled Rashi on the verse after this — "May Hashem shine His face upon you" — "He will show you a smiling face, a bright face."

For at first glance it is puzzling — why did Rashi change from the language of the verse

("May He shine..

His face")

and wrote "a smiling face, a bright face"?

And in particular, also in the Midrash&lt;sup&gt;31&lt;/sup&gt;

the expression "He will look at you with a luminous face and not with an angry face",

and we find this expression in Rashi above — on the verse&lt;sup&gt;32&lt;/sup&gt;

"And you shall see the glory of the Lord",

"with a luminous face..

the glory of the light of His face".

Also it is perplexing the double language in Rashi "a smiling face a cheerful face",

for from this that Rashi repeats also the word "face" it is proven that they are two matters

(and not two expressions for one matter)

— and in addition to the question what are the two matters,

from where does he derive in the plain sense of Scripture that "may He shine etc." includes two matters?

And according to the above, this is also resolved:

The blessing of "illuminated countenance" simply is already included in the blessings of the portion of Bechukotai,

for when the children of Israel toil in Torah and keep His commandments,

then certainly they merit all the blessings enumerated in the portion with "illuminated countenance".

But the novelty here is that there should be "illuminating faces" in a special manner — "smiling faces, yellow faces",

that is,

"illuminating faces" that come as a result of a state of "smiling faces" — great joy and revealed joy,

which is understood,

that the illumination of the face in a state of joy is in a most elevated manner.

And this is what Rashi precisely wrote "yellow faces"

(not simply "illuminating faces"),

and this is as Rashi explained above&lt;sup&gt;33&lt;/sup&gt;

that "the language of yellow is similar to the form of gold,

yellow like golden",

and likewise in our matter,

not simply "illuminating",

but an appearance

(and color)

of golden — yellow.

7.

And behold the commandment of the Priestly Blessing is in every place and at every time&lt;sup&gt;34&lt;/sup&gt;

— for even in the time of exile and outside the Land it is a positive commandment from the Torah upon the priests to bless the children of Israel.

From this it is understood,

that these blessings are not dependent on the state of Israel,

but are drawn to each one of Israel,

whoever he may be,

in whatever state he is.

And this corresponds with what we explained regarding the content of these blessings — that they are special blessings that are not among the other blessings that were promised to Israel because of keeping the Torah and mitzvos — because the blessings of the Priestly Blessing come and are drawn from a most high place³⁵,

relative to which the service of the <pg>55</pg>

Created beings occupy space,

and therefore

(a)

they are blessings that are entirely above nature,

and only in the ability of the Holy One, blessed be He, to give such blessings,

(b)

they are drawn to each and every one of Israel,

whoever he may be,

at any time and in any place.

And so may it be for us — to see the blessings of the Lord,

below ten handbreadths,

according to the simple meaning of the verse that "the Lord bless you and guard you"

(the first blessing)

is specifically in physical matters — and then we will be "free to become wise in Torah and to engage in it"³⁶,

out of rest of the soul and rest of the body,

until the true rest — "a day³⁷

that is entirely Shabbat and rest for the life of the worlds."

(From sichos of Shabbos Parshas Nasso 5737,

Shabbos Parshas Nasso and Shabbos Parshas Beha'aloscha 5741)