page_title: Naso (parsha)
section_title: The Priestly Blessing
hierarchical_section_title: Naso (parsha) / In classical rabbinic interpretation / Numbers chapter 6 / The Priestly Blessing
context_page_description: Naso or Nasso is the 35th weekly Torah portion in the annual Jewish cycle of Torah reading and the second in the Book of Numbers. It constitutes Numbers 4:21–7:89. The parashah addresses priestly duties, camp purification, restitution for wrongs committed, the wife accused of unfaithfulness, the nazirite, the Priestly Blessing, and consecration of the Tabernacle. Naso has the largest number of letters, words, and verses of any of the 54 weekly Torah portions. The parashah is made up of 8,632 Hebrew letters, 2,264 Hebrew words, 176 verses, and 311 lines in a Torah Scroll.
  Jews generally read it in late May or June, typically on the first Shabbat after Shavuot. As this parashah includes the story of the consecration of the Tabernacle, Jews also read parts of it as Torah readings on the eight days of Hanukkah, when they commemorate the reconsecration of the Temple in Jerusalem.
context_section_description: A Midrash taught that the Priestly Blessing in Numbers 6:22–27 follows immediately the laws of the nazirite in Numbers 6:1–21 to teach that God commanded that just as a nazirite must not taste wine, so shall the priests must not taste wine when they are about to bless Israel. And for a like reason, the priests do not lift their hands in blessing during the afternoon service because of the possibility of intoxication.
  Rav Havivi (or some say Rav Assi) of Hozna'ah said to Rav Ashi that a Tanna taught that Aaron first said the Priestly Blessing of Numbers 6:22–27 on "the first month of the second year, on the first day of the month" (Exodus 40:17, the first of Nisan), the same day that Moses erected the Tabernacle (as reported in Numbers 7:1), and the same day that the princes brought their first offerings (as reported in Numbers 7:2–3). A Tanna taught that the first of Nisan took ten crowns of distinction by virtue of the ten momentous events that occurred on that day. The first of Nisan was: (1) the first day of the Creation (as reported in Genesis 1:1–5), (2) the first day of the princes' offerings (as reported in Numbers 7:10–17), (3) the first day for the priesthood to make the sacrificial offerings (as reported in Leviticus 9:1–21), (4) the first day for public sacrifice, (5) the first day for the descent of fire from Heaven (as reported in Leviticus 9:24), (6) the first for the priests' eating of sacred food in the sacred area, (7) the first for the dwelling of the Shechinah in Israel (as implied by Exodus 25:8), (8) the first for the Priestly Blessing of Israel (as reported in Leviticus 9:22, employing the blessing prescribed by Numbers 6:22–27), (9) the first for the prohibition of the high places (as stated in Leviticus 17:3–4), and (10) the first of the months of the year (as instructed in Exodus 12:2).
  The Mishnah taught that the priests recited the Priestly Blessing of Numbers 6:24–26 every day.
  The Mishnah taught that in the province of Judea outside the Temple, the priests would say the Priestly Blessing as three blessings, but in the Temple, they would say it as one single blessing. In the Temple, the priests would pronounce the Name of God as it is written, but outside the Temple they would say its substituted form. In the province, the priests raised their hands at the height of their shoulders, but in the Temple, the priests raised their hands above their heads, except the High Priest, who did not raise his hands higher than the frontlet on his forehead. Rabbi Judah said that even the High Priest raised his hands higher than the frontlet, as Leviticus 9:22 reports, “And Aaron lifted up his hands toward the people and blessed them.”
  A Midrash taught that great is peace, for the world could not be maintained except by peace, and the Torah is wholly peace, as Proverbs 3:17 says, "Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace." The reading of the Shema concludes (in the Evening, Maariv, Prayer Service) with the words: "He spreads the tabernacle of peace over His people." The Amidah prayer concludes with peace. And the Priestly Blessing of Numbers 6:24–26 concludes in Numbers 6:26 with peace. Rabbi Simeon ben Halafta observed that there is no vessel that holds a blessing save peace, as Psalm 29:11 says, "The Lord will give strength to His people; the Lord will bless His people with peace."
  In a Baraita, Rabbi Ishmael interpreted Numbers 6:23, “In this way you shall bless the children of Israel,” to report the priests' blessing of Israel, and Rabbi Ishmael interpreted Numbers 6:27, “And I will bless them,” to mean that God then blesses the priests. Rabbi Akiva, however, interpreted Numbers 6:27, “And I will bless them,” to mean that when the priests bless Israel, God affirms their blessing of Israel. The Gemara explained that according to Rabbi Akiva's position, the priests also receive a blessing according to the teaching of Rav Nahman bar Isaac, who deduced from God's promise to Abraham in Genesis 12:3, “And I will bless them that bless you,” that since the priests bless Abraham's descendants
caption: Nachshon ben Amminadav (1511–1512 fresco by Michelangelo in the Sistine Chapel)
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