Bless You

“If you follow My chukim and observe My mitzvos and perform them” (Vayikra 26:3).

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here’s a fundamental question about Bircas Kohanim, which we’ll soon experience on Shavuos: When Kohanim give a brachah, it has the power to bring blessing and shemirah to Klal Yisrael. Is that blessing dependent on a person’s merits, or is it independent of his standing? Are the benefits of duchaning a free pass that you receive even if you don’t deserve it, or is duchaning a conduit that allows your merits to bring blessing? (Rabbi Yisrael Reisman, Shiurim on Chumash).

My father z’’l was a champion bentsher. According to the yekkish minhag, he bentshed all his kids Friday night, Shabbos day, and after Havdalah. And every time we went away overnight and every long-distance phone call and every momentous occasion. You get the picture. My mother, on the other hand, bentshed us when the spirit hit her. I follow her minhag.

In the first pasuk of this parshah, which says “If you… observe My mitzvos,” we find every letter of the alef-beis except for the letter samech. The letter samech, which has a gematria of 60, represents the 60 letters in duchaning. The lack of the samech shows us that the brachah of duchaning is independent of whether or not you do the mitzvos. Even if you don’t deserve it, Bircas Kohanim brings blessing.

I’ve bentshed my kids before they went on an overnight hike, the first day of the zeman, as they’ve gone into labor.

Because my brachos are of the more spontaneous sort, they’re accompanied by whatever emotion I’m feeling at the time: Wow, my little boy is starting yeshivah. Help, my daughter’s trekking through the woods at night! (I will not discuss my emotions as my daughter goes into labor.)

But always, as I place my hand on that child’s head, I’m overcome with love and gratitude that this child is mine to bless.