In Parshat Naso (Bamidbar 6:23-26) we are given the formula for Birkat
Kohanim, the Priestly Blessing:
This is
how you shall bless B’nai Yisrael, saying to them: May God bless you and
protect you. May God cause His countenance to shine upon you and favor you. May
God lift His face to you and grant you peace.
In
Israel, the Kohanim bless the congregation with the Birkat Kohanim every day,
while outside of Israel it is only performed on the holidays. The Rama in
Darchei Moshe on Orach Chayim 128:21 explains why:
In
those lands, where the Kohanim and the Jewish nation are worried about
supporting themselves while living in exile, they are not in a state of
happiness and therefore the custom is that Birkat Kohanim is only performed on
Yom Tov.
Birkat
Kohanim ends with the word peace. There is a discussion in the Talmud, Rosh
HaShana 18b about peace:
Rav Ḥana bar
Bizna said that Rabbi Shimon Ḥasida said: What is the meaning of that which is
written: “Thus said the Lord of hosts: The fast of the fourth month (17th
of Tamuz), and the fast of the fifth (Tisha B’Av), and fast of the seventh
(Tzom Gedalia), and the fast of the tenth (10 B’Tevet), shall become times of
joy and gladness, and cheerful seasons, to the house of Yehuda” (Zechariah
8:19)? It calls them days of “fast” and it calls them “times of joy and
gladness.” How so? When there is peace, they will be times of joy and gladness,
but when there is no peace, they are days of fasting.
What is meant
by “peace”?
According to
Rashi, peace is when the non-Jews are not attacking Israel.
Rav David
Avraham Spector comments:
We are at peace
when the Jewish people are an independent and sovereign nation in the Land of
Israel. When the Jewish people have internal peace within ourselves, we will
have outward peace with the nations of the world. The Maharsha taught: When you
have peace amongst yourselves, it will be a happy time. The next step will be
the building of the Beit HaMikdash.
May we merit to
have peace amongst ourselves, with our neighbors and with all of the nations of
the world. May this war come to an end and may all of the hostages be returned
home.
