Priests and Blessings: Naso
This week in Naso, we have the longest parsha of all the 54 weekly portions, and interestingly, we have the shortest, most concise blessing, so poetic, that appears in the Torah.
It is what we call the Priestly Blessing, which appears in an interesting place in the Torah this week:
We have just learned of what will happen to a woman (through magic, or a type of witchcraft, mind you) if she has been unfaithful to her husband; “her belly shall distend and her thigh shall sag; and the woman shall become a curse among her people.” (Ugh.)
(Nothing, on the other hand, will happen to her husband if he was seized by a fit of jealousy and was wrong. Ugh again.)
Following this curse is a description of the Nazarite, the one who dedicates themself to God, shaving/not cutting their hair for a certain period of time, making special burnt offerings in the Temple.
After this, we get the Priestly Blessing, so commonly used, in blessing our children at home and in shul, on Holy Days, in our traveling prayers.
I keep my writing brief this week, as I have continued to recover from Covid (doing much better now!), and basically felt inspired by nothing this week (well, not exactly).
But I think we need a blessing.
May you be blessed and protected
May life deal kindly and graciously with you
May favor be bestowed upon you
And may you be granted peace
Blessings for our country, our world, our dear Earth, and for each of us as we go through our personal struggles.
And say Amen.
