Ari Levisohn: Welcome to Into the Verse, the parsha podcast where we dive deep into the verses to share new and unexpected insights into the text you thought you knew.

This is Ari Levisohn, and I am joined today by a very special guest: My little brother, Tani. Why did I invite my brother to this week's podcast? Well I couldn't tell you that without spoiling this week’s episode, so you’ll just have to wait and see. Anyway, here we are.

Tani Levisohn: Hey Ari!

Ari: So, today we're talking about Parshat Naso, and how could we not talk about Birkat Kohanim? Birkat Kohanim is this kind of strange blessing that God instructs Aaron and the priests to bless all of Israel with. It's actually the only aspect of the priestly service that still exists to this day. Still in synagogues, we have a custom for the priests to give this blessing to the entire congregation. And it's also kind of funny because it's made its way into our homes too.

Tani: Yeah, I mean, it's not just something in shul, it's something that's added on to the bracha (blessing) from Yaakov, every Friday night when we get a bracha, יְשִׂמְךָ אֱלֹקים כְּאֶפְרַיִם וְכִמְנַשֶּׁה [God should make you like Ephraim or Menashe], or k’Sarah, Rivka, Rachel, v’Leah.

Ari: Right, it's something that we have a custom for parents to bless their children with. So, it's weird how parents end up giving this priestly blessing on a weekly basis.

Yeah, so high stakes here. It's an important blessing. And it's one which we’re very familiar with, but if we stop for a minute to actually think about what the words of this blessing are and what it might actually mean, it's not so simple. What I want to do today is to really unpack it – to figure out what this blessing is really all about, what it's really trying to tell us.

And to start, let's just open up and read the words on face value. There are three verses that make up this blessing, and each verse has two parts to it. So you can kind of divide it into three, or you could divide it really into six different phrases of the blessing.

So the first verse is: יְבָרֶכְךָ יְקוָה וְיִשְׁמְרֶךָ – God should bless you; That's Phrase One. And He should protect you; Phrase Two. יָאֵר יְקוָה  פָּנָיו אֵלֶיךָ וִיחֻנֶּךָּ – God should shine His face onto you. וִיחֻנֶּךָּ – And He should treat you with chein, which we can roughly translate – probably inaccurately, and we'll come back to that – we can roughly translate chein as “grace.” יִשָּׂא יְקוָה  פָּנָיו אֵלֶיךָ – God will lift his face up to you, וְיָשֵׂם לְךָ שָׁלוֹם – and He will grant you with peace (Numbers 6:24-26).

So all of these sound like nice things, but taken all together, what do they actually mean?

I think if we just read through it really quickly, it almost seems like six disconnected things that have nothing to do with one another. And we just lump them together into one blessing of all the things that we might want from God. Of course, as you probably expect that's not where I'm going to go with this.

And I actually want to argue today that Birkat Kohanim, this priestly blessing, is telling us a story. And what might that story be?

Now, we could speculate as to the story that this blessing is trying to tell, but you know how we like to do it at Aleph Beta; we like to let the text do the talking. And when I let the text do the talking, what I uncovered is that I think Birkat Kohanim is actually telling us a story that we already know.

Tani: Interesting. I'm excited to see where this is going.

The Story Behind the Blessing

Ari: Okay, so I think the key here that's going to lead us to this story that Birkat Kohanim is telling us is the phrase יִשָּׂא יְקוָה  פָּנָיו אֵלֶיךָ – God should lift His face up to you. Now, if you just think about that, God is lifting His face up to you, like what does that mean?

Tani: Yeah, I always translated it in my head as, not that He lifted His face towards us, but that He turned His face towards us. But יִשָּׂא really means “to lift,” and not just to turn His face towards us.

Ari: Right? Lifting implies something that was down is being lifted up. So what in the world does that mean? It's a pretty rare phrase in the Torah. It does come up a couple times later in Devarim (Deuteronomy), but at this point in the Torah, in Parshat Naso, we've only actually seen it once before. Any idea where that is?

Tani: Is it with Moshe?

Ari: Nope. Okay, so if you turn with me to Genesis, chapter 32, verse 21, we're in this famous encounter between Yaakov and Esav. Yaakov, of course, ran away from home in fear for his life after Esav was trying to kill him, because Yaakov stole Esav’s blessing. And after 20 years apart, they're finally about to reunite. Yaakov fears for his life that Esav is finally going to get his revenge and kill him, and he creates this whole plan to try to patch things over. Part of it involves sending gifts ahead. Part of it involves dividing his camp up into two in preparation for an actual battle. And along with that, he also has a really famous prayer that he offers to God. 

But he sums all of that up with the statement in verse 21: אוּלַי יִשָּׂא פָנָי – Maybe Esav will lift my face up. And here, at this point, is the only previous time you actually see this language of “lifting up” someone's face. 

Tani: That's really interesting, that אוּלַי יִשָּׂא פָנָי really is…it's connecting to a lot of other parts in this Yaakov and Esav narrative. The language of panav, “face” is used all over in that narrative

Ari: It is, and we're going to see a lot more about that. For right now, we don't even understand what that phrase means in the context, and there's a lot more to see here. But let's just zoom out for a second and...humor me. Let's just say Birkat Kohanim is telling us the story of Yaakov and Esav. Crazy idea, right? But let's just imagine that it is. You would expect that that story might revolve around some kind of blessing.

Tani: Oh, interesting, yeah. The idea of a bracha, of a blessing, is so central to the Yaakov and Esav story, from their origins with their blessings from Yitzchak, and then carried out through this story, this confrontation here in Genesis 32; where first, Yaakov gets a bracha from that angel, and then Yaakov goes to Esav, and he tries to appease him with this bracha with giving over to him all these gifts and all these blessings.

Ari: Yeah. So it might not be a coincidence that this whole story seems to revolve around this idea of blessings. So let's just go back to that original blessing that Yaakov stole from Esav, and let's just remind ourselves what that was all about.

A Stolen Blessing

So if we turn back to Genesis chapter 27, verse 28, Yaakov goes before his father Yitzchak, dressed as Esav, and Yitzchak, thinking that Yaakov is Esav, gives him this blessing. And he says, וְיִתֶּן־לְךָ הָאֱלֹקים מִטַּל הַשָּׁמַיִם וּמִשְׁמַנֵּי הָאָרֶץ – God should give you from the dew of the heavens and fat of the earth. And he promises him all of this physical bounty. He says, “Your brother will bow down to you.” אֹרְרֶיךָ אָרוּר וּמְבָרְכֶיךָ בָּרוּךְ – Those who curse you will be cursed; those who bless you will be blessed. It's really this very physical bracha about all these physical blessings. It's not exactly the bracha that you would expect our spiritual forefather Yaakov to have gone to such an effort to try to steal.

Tani: Yeah, that was something that's always bothered me, was why Yaakov and in particular Rivka, who was really the mastermind of this, placed such an emphasis on this material bracha from Yitzchak.

Ari: Right. And so I think that's why the Malbim actually argues that Yaakov was never supposed to steal this blessing. In fact, Yitzchak actually had a different blessing, a much more spiritual, probably much better blessing that he was always planning on giving to Yaakov. And we see that, if we look at chapter 28, verse four, right before Yaakov does flee, Yitzchak sends him off with this new blessing, and he says, וְיִתֶּן־לְךָ אֶת־בִּרְכַּת אַבְרָהָם – Hashem should give you the blessing of Avraham. He should give you Avraham's legacy. לְךָ וּלְזַרְעֲךָ אִתָּךְ – for you and all your offspring after you, לְרִשְׁתְּךָ אֶת־אֶרֶץ מְגֻרֶיךָ אֲשֶׁר־נָתַן אֱלֹקים לְאַבְרָהָם – to inherit the land that you're in right now, which God has given to Avraham. So Yitzchak gives Yaakov what seems like a much holier, a much more important blessing, which is, “You are going to carry on the legacy of Avraham, and you're going to inherit this land and create this nation that God blessed to Avraham in this land.” And I think that's why the Malbim says that this was the bracha that Yaakov was always supposed to get.

Tani: I've never thought about it that way, but it makes a lot of sense that the bracha that Yitzchak gave to Yaakov was just the bracha that he intended on giving to Esav, not a bracha that was really intended for Yaakov.

Ari: Exactly. So let's continue on that theme of that bracha and we're going to come back to Birkat Kohanim in a second. But right after Yaakov does flee, right after he gets this bracha from Yitzchak, he stops for the night in a place that is yet to be called Beit El, and he has a famous dream of a ladder going up to Heaven and the angels going up and down. And in this dream, God comes to him and gives him a promise. And this promise is really a continuation of Yitzchak’s bracha. He says, אֲנִי יְקוָה אֱלֹקי אַבְרָהָם אָבִיךָ וֵאלֹקי יִצְחָק – I am God, the God of Avraham your father and of Yitzchak. Invoking Avraham, just like Yitzchak did. הָאָרֶץ אֲשֶׁר אַתָּה שֹׁכֵב עָלֶיהָ לְךָ אֶתְּנֶנָּה וּלְזַרְעֶךָ – This land that you’re sleeping on right now, I'm going to give it to you and to your offspring. It's exactly what Yitzchak just mentioned.

But then God spells it out even more in verse 14: וְהָיָה זַרְעֲךָ כַּעֲפַר הָאָרֶץ – Not just are you going to have offspring who are going to inherit this land, but your offspring are going to be like the dust of the earth and they're going to spread out throughout this land. וְהִנֵּה אָנֹכִי עִמָּךְ – And I'm going to be with you, וּשְׁמַרְתִּיךָ בְּכֹל אֲשֶׁר־תֵּלֵךְ – and I will guard you everywhere you go, וַהֲשִׁבֹתִיךָ אֶל־הָאֲדָמָה הַזֹּאת – and I will return you to this land.

So coming back to the priestly blessing, Birkat Kohanim, for a second, is there anything in this blessing that Yitzchak and God give to Yaakov that reminds you of that blessing of the Kohanim?

Tani: Yeah, I mean, something that does remind me of it is the וְיִשְׁמְרֶךָ aspect of the bracha. That specifically what Hashem is guaranteeing to Yaakov here is that even though Yaakov is leaving the Land of Israel, Hashem will protect him while he's out of the Land of Israel, and Hashem will keep his promise to him to return him to the land and return his children to the land.

Ari: Right. We see both of the first two aspects of Birkat Kohanim: יְבָרֶכְךָ יְקוָה וְיִשְׁמְרֶךָ – God will bless you and He'll protect you. We see that here, right? The blessing of land and children, and along with this promise of וּשְׁמַרְתִּיךָ – I will guard you, I will protect everything that I've just promised to give you. And if you think about it, those kind of really go together. They're two sides of the same coin. You know, you can promise someone all of the great things in the world, but if it doesn't come with a guarantee of protection, it's not really worth that much.

Tani: Yeah.

Ari: Okay. So we've seen the first two aspects of Birkat Kohanim, y’varechecha and yishmerecha, in this blessing to Yaakov, but we still have a lot more of Birkat Kohanim. So what about the rest of it? Do we see anymore?

How Would You Respond to a Promise From God?

I think we actually don't have to go very far at all in order to see another stage of Birkat Kohanim come up in this Yaakov story. Right after this blessing, Yaakov responds to God. Now, if God came to you in a dream and promised you all of these things, Tani, how do you think you would respond?

Tani: I would probably be very thankful. Maybe I would make a mizbeiach (altar) or two. I would pray to God. I would thank God for protecting me.

Ari: Yeah. And be like, “Oh my gosh, God, this is, like, the best day ever. Thank you so much for promising to give me everything I've ever wanted.” And so it's really bizarre that not just does Yaakov not do that, but he makes this vow, almost this ultimatum, to God in chapter 28, verse 20. Tani, do you want to pull it up and read it?

Tani: Sure. וַיִּדַּר יַעֲקֹב נֶדֶר לֵאמֹר – and Jacob made a vow saying, אִם־יִהְיֶה אֱלֹקים עִמָּדִי וּשְׁמָרַנִי בַּדֶּרֶךְ הַזֶּה אֲשֶׁר אָנֹכִי הוֹלֵךְ וְנָתַן־לִי לֶחֶם לֶאֱכֹל וּבֶגֶד לִלְבֹּשׁ – If my God remains with me and protects me, guards me, on my way that I'm going and gives me bread to eat and clothes to wear, וְשַׁבְתִּי בְשָׁלוֹם אֶל־בֵּית אָבִי – and then I return safely to my father's house, וְהָיָה יְקוָה לִי לֵאלֹקים – and God will be for me a God. He's pretty much saying, “Well, okay, it's great that You promised me that, and I want to see You actually protect me in order to fulfill my side of the deal.”

Ari: Right, it's like he almost doesn't believe God's going to follow through on what He said. God promised He would protect him. What, Yaakov doesn't believe that God's actually going to follow through on what He promised? Like, what is Yaakov doing here? Where is he coming from?

Tani: Right. And the implication is that Yaakov is saying to God, “God, if you don't uphold your side of the deal, then I don't have to follow You, and You're not my God.”

Ari: It's almost unthinkable that Yaakov could be responding in such a way. So here's what I think is going on. There has to be something in Yaakov's response which is different from what God promised him, something that Yaakov is asking for which extends beyond what God originally promised. So let's look at them side by side really closely and see if we notice anything. 

Okay. The first thing God says is, וְהִנֵּה אָנֹכִי עִמָּךְ – I'm going to be with you. The first thing Yaakov demands is אִם־יִהְיֶה אֱלֹקים עִמָּדִי – if God is with me. Okay, so far, exactly the same. God says, וּשְׁמַרְתִּיךָ בְּכֹל אֲשֶׁר־תֵּלֵךְ – I'm going to guard you, I'm going to protect you wherever you go. Yaakov says, וּשְׁמָרַנִי בַּדֶּרֶךְ הַזֶּה אֲשֶׁר אָנֹכִי הוֹלֵךְ – if You guard me on this path which I am going. Again, exactly the same. God says, וַהֲשִׁבֹתִיךָ אֶל־הָאֲדָמָה הַזֹּאת – and I'm going to return you to this land. What does Yaakov say?

Tani: וְשַׁבְתִּי בְשָׁלוֹם אֶל־בֵּית אָבִי.

Ari: וְשַׁבְתִּי בְשָׁלוֹם אֶל־בֵּית אָבִי – If You return me in peace to my father's house. What is Yaakov adding here?

Tani: בְשָׁלוֹם.

Ari: This idea of peace. Yaakov is saying, “Okay, it's nice that You're promising me land and children, all these great things, but if You don't return me in peace to my father's house, then I don't want to have any part of it.” Tani, what's going on right now in Yaakov's life where peace might be so important to him?

Tani: Yeah, I mean, Yaakov is on the run right now for his life, running from his brother Esav, who he believes is out to kill him.

Ari: Right. He's escaping for his life from his brother who's trying to kill him. God's promising him these things about land and family, and those are really, really important things. But for Yaakov right now, what's on his mind more than anything else is his relationship with his brother, which has deteriorated so low that he's fleeing for his life because Esav is trying to kill him. And so now Yaakov turns to God, and he says, “All those things you promised me are great, but that's not enough. וְשַׁבְתִּי בְשָׁלוֹם אֶל־בֵּית אָבִי – I need You to help me return to my father's house in shalom, in peace. 

Tani: Yeah. You know, Ari, if I left our house because you were out to kill me and God guaranteed me all these blessings, I probably would do the same. I would probably ask for one more thing: That I'd be able to go back home without struggle with my brother.

Ari: That's really nice, Tani. You know, I think I would do the same.

So of course, shalom isn't just an important thing that's going on in the Yaakov story here, too, right?

Tani: Shalom is a central idea in Birkat Kohanim.

Ari: Right. It's the keystone piece to Birkat Kohanim. It's the final phrase: וְיָשֵׂם לְךָ שָׁלוֹם – God should give you shalom, peace. It's what everything leads up to. And here Yaakov is, right after God has promised him blessing and protection, the first two elements of Birkat Kohanim, and now Yaakov is demanding the final element of shalom, too.

Praying for the Fulfillment of a Blessing

Okay. So we see the beginning, and we see the end of Birkat Kohanim, but what about the middle? Everything that comes before shalom?

Well, of course the story of Yaakov and Esav is far over yet. There's a 20-year hiatus where Yaakov is living in Charan, in Lavan’s house, and him and Esav don't have anything to do with each other. But 20 years later, they do come back together. And we've already seen a hint of some of Birkat Kohanim in that point where they reunite. But let's go to that part of the story now, in Genesis 32. We’re going to start in verse 10, when Yaakov is preparing to reunite with Esav.

So, as you said before, he goes through a few different types of preparation. He divides the camp into two. He prepares these gifts of animals to give to Esav. But in between all of that, he stops, and he turns to God and offers this prayer. Tani, why don't you read for us 32, verse ten?

Tani: Sure. וַיֹּאמֶר יַעֲקֹב אֱלֹקי אָבִי אַבְרָהָם וֵאלֹקי אָבִי יִצְחָק – So Jacob says to God, he says, ‘God, the God of my grandfather, Avraham, then the God of my father, Yitzchak…’

Ari: Okay. What does that remind you of?

Tani: That reminds me of the bracha that both Yitzchak and Hashem gave Yaakov when he was originally leaving Yitzchak’s house, and now he's beginning the process of returning.

Ari: Right. It's invoking that bracha. Okay, continue.

Tani: יְקוָה הָאֹמֵר אֵלַי שׁוּב לְאַרְצְךָ וּלְמוֹלַדְתְּךָ וְאֵיטִיבָה עִמָּךְ – The God who said to me, ‘Return to your land and your birthplace, and I will be good to you.’

Ari: Alright, so now he's explicitly mentioning that blessing that God gave him. The first part of the blessing that God promised him is, “I'm going to return you to this land.” And what was the other part of the blessing?

Tani: His children will be plentiful.

Ari: Right. Okay, so now keep reading.

Tani: קָטֹנְתִּי מִכֹּל הַחֲסָדִים וּמִכׇּל־הָאֱמֶת – I am unworthy of all the kindness and all the trustworthiness, אֲשֶׁר עָשִׂיתָ אֶת־עַבְדֶּךָ – that you have done for your servant, כִּי בְמַקְלִי עָבַרְתִּי אֶת־הַיַּרְדֵּן הַזֶּה וְעַתָּה הָיִיתִי לִשְׁנֵי מַחֲנוֹת – because with my staff alone did I cross this Jordan River, and now I have two camps.

Ari: So what is he saying here?

Tani: He's saying that not only did God fulfill the portion of the bracha about returning to his birthplace, but he also fulfilled the bracha about multiplying his children.

Ari: Right. He says, “I crossed this river the first time on my way out of the land that You promised me, just a single man with nothing but the staff in my hand. And now I'm coming back here, and I'm two camps worth of people. God, you really have followed through on Your promise to give me not just land, but also this huge, flowering family.”

Tani: Wow.

Ari: Okay. So, if the first part of God's promise before was this idea of bracha, of these blessings that he's giving to Yaakov, what's the second part?

Tani: Yeah. Ari, I've learned with you enough times to, I think, see where this might be going. The next part of the bracha, you have וְיִשְׁמְרֶךָ, the guarding over him.

Ari: Exactly. Alright, so let's go ahead and read verse 12.

Tani: הַצִּילֵנִי נָא מִיַּד אָחִי מִיַּד עֵשָׂו – Save me from my brother, from Esav, כִּי־יָרֵא אָנֹכִי אֹתוֹ – because I fear him, פֶּן־יָבוֹא וְהִכַּנִי – lest he come and strike me, אֵם עַל־בָּנִים – mothers, both mothers and children. This is Yaakov really echoing the bracha that Hashem gave to him. He's saying, “God, you've already fulfilled the first half in returning me to the land and in giving me all these children. Now fulfill the second half as well and guard me in this encounter with my brother.”

Ari: Right, exactly. And then he continues, וְאַתָּה אָמַרְתָּ הֵיטֵב אֵיטִיב עִמָּךְ – You said You were going to be good to me,  וְשַׂמְתִּי אֶת־זַרְעֲךָ כְּחוֹל הַיָּם אֲשֶׁר לֹא־יִסָּפֵר מֵרֹב – that my children were going to be like the sand of the sea, impossible to count. You know, that's only good as long as You follow through on Your second part also to protect me, וּשְׁמַרְתִּיךָ. So right before this encounter with Esav, Yaakov is invoking this idea of יְבָרֶכְךָ and וְיִשְׁמְרֶךָ that we saw earlier.

Face to Face

Okay, let's move forward. The next stage of Birkat Kohanim is יָאֵר יְקוָה  פָּנָיו אֵלֶיךָ – God should shine, or enlighten, his face to you. Now, if you’d just describe from the perspective of the recipient, if someone enlightens their face to you, what would you say you experienced?

Tani: I don't know. I can't say I've ever experienced someone enlightening their face to me.

Ari: So try to connect it to maybe something that you have experienced.

Tani: The first thing that comes to mind is someone greeting you with a smile and with a certain amount of joy.

Ari: Or maybe even simply just greeting you, right? Someone's basically showing you their face.

Tani: Right, yeah. You know, I'm on a college campus now, and what this reminds me is if you pass someone on campus and you don't know them, you might make eye contact but you're not really going to look at each other too much. If you pass by someone you know, you're going to acknowledge each other, and that kind of brings to mind here יָאֵר פָּנָיו.

Ari: Yeah. It's like you're on Zoom, you turn your camera on. So, Tani, do we have anything of God showing someone His face in this encounter with Yaakov and Esav?

Tani: In Yaakov’s interaction and struggle with the angel, where Yaakov names the location that he fought the angel because of his interacting with God's face.

Ari: Yeah. So, Tani, let's take a look at that. Go to chapter 32, verse 31. Yaakov says, כִּי־רָאִיתִי אֱלֹקים פָּנִים אֶל־פָּנִים – I have seen God face-to-face. So here we have it, Yaakov seeing God's face. 

So let's think for a minute about, who is Yaakov actually fighting here?  The night before Yaakov was about to meet Esav, he has this kind of weird, mystical wrestle with some kind of angel, some kind of representation of God, and he says, “I've seen God's face,” which seems to be kind of represented in this being. But, Tani, you mentioned earlier that Chazal actually have a different interpretation of who this man is.

Tani: Yeah. I believe Rashi cites the Midrash that this angel that Yaakov encounters is the angel of Esav.

Ari: And I think Chazal are getting that because, later on, Yaakov says to Esav, רָאִיתִי פָנֶיךָ כִּרְאֹת פְּנֵי אֱלֹקים – I have seen your face like the face of God (Genesis 33:10), which seems to imply that that angel had Esav’s face. So it's like, which is it? On one hand, it seems like he's encountering God's face, but it also seems like he's encountering Esav's face. So, truth is, I think that the angel actually tells us exactly who he is.

Tani: That's right, because we're not the only ones curious about who the angel is. Yaakov, himself, is curious as to who the angel is and specifically what his name is.

Ari: Right. The angel doesn't tell him his name, but what he does tell him is, שָׂרִיתָ עִם־אֱלֹקים וְעִם־אֲנָשִׁים – Yaakov, you have fought both with God and with man. So is it God or is it Esav? Well, it's both. It's almost like this angel has two faces. And to whatever extent this fight is metaphoric or symbolic of what's going on in Yaakov's real life, it seems to reflect his struggle both with Esav and with God.

A Struggle With God

So, it makes sense why we're talking about Yaakov's struggle with Esav. That's the story of what's going on right now. Last time we saw Esav, he wanted to kill Yaakov. But why might it also be referencing a struggle that Yaakov’s having with God?

Tani: Well it's possible that Yaakov is struggling with the fact that he obtained his bracha and the bechorah (firstborn rights) from Esav through possibly unethical or unjust manners.

Ari: Right. Whether or not Yaakov was supposed to take that bracha or he was supposed to wait for the other bracha, certainly the way he went about it was dishonest and kind of an affront to the values of truth and straightness that God believes in.

Tani: Something that I've thought about, Ari, is that, if there's any time for Yaakov to be struggling with this, it's after he was on the other end of so much unjust treatment and unfair treatment and being tricked time and time again by the hands of Lavan for the last 20 years, and now he's finally leaving that situation and that environment. And if there's any time for him to be feeling that guilt for his actions earlier in his life, it's now.

Ari: That's so true, Tani. Something that's often talked about is how all of his hardships, hard experiences in the house of Lavan, where Lavan keeps tricking him, seems to be what we call middah knegged middah, it's like measure-for-measure in the way that he tricked Esav. It's all kind of coming back at him now. So it's a great point. Maybe he is now kind of reckoning with what he's done, and maybe realizing that that actually wasn't so great, what he did. And so while his primary struggle is with Esav for having wronged Esav, he's also now kind of coming to the realization that there's a struggle between him and God as well, and that him and God are actually not on perfect terms. But what does this idea of seeing someone's face have to do with Yaakov's struggle between God and between Esav?

Stages of Reconciliation

Well, Rabbi Fohrman actually has a whole theory about Birkat Kohanim. He put it together in a really beautiful, animated video on AlephBeta.org. We'll link to that in the description. But in it, he basically argues that the entirety of Birkat Kohanim is actually all about reconciliation.

Now, I'll be honest. The first time that I heard that, I thought it was really beautiful, but I was a little skeptical. I honestly wasn't a hundred percent convinced that Birkat Kohanim could really possibly be talking about reconciliation. But after seeing what we've seen so far and what we're about to see, I’ve got to say, Rabbi Fohrman really found something incredible. The way I'm going to interpret the actual lines of Birkat Kohanim is slightly different than what Rabbi Fohrman has, so if you don't like how I do this, then definitely go check out Rabbi Fohrman's version.

But if we're thinking about reconciliation here, what is the first stage of reconciliation? After you haven't seen someone in 20 years, what's the very first thing you need to do?

Tani: I would say the first step is just getting to the point where you're willing and able to interact with someone and run into them without there being a huge conflict or without anything blowing up.

Ari: Right. That first stage is seeing someone's face. It's this idea of יָאֵר יְקוָה  פָּנָיו אֵלֶיךָ, right? It's the encountering the face of God and with Esav. The very fact that he's about to encounter Esav and see Esav’s face, that's huge. That's Esav basically telling Yaakov, “Hey, I'm willing to sit down and have coffee with you. I'm willing to open the door again, to have a relationship, despite all the bad feelings that I have in my heart right now. I'm willing to open things up. And that's exactly what happens right here, and we see this in the metaphorical way where he encounters this God-like being, which somehow represents both God and Esav. But we also see this in a very literal, real way, and we'll see later on, he even describes the encounter with Esav as seeing Esav's face.

Finding Favor

Okay. The next stage in reconciliation is chein, right, which is also the next stage in Birkat Kohanim: יָאֵר יְקוָה  פָּנָיו אֵלֶיךָ וִיחֻנֶּךָּ – God should give you chein. Now, Tani, we usually translate chein as “grace,” but from your experience, do you have any idea what this word really means, how it's used in the Torah?

Tani: Yeah. In my memory, one of the times that comes to mind is with Yosef; how Yosef is matza chein (finds favor) multiple times, I believe, in his story.

Ari: He finds favor in the eyes of Potiphar, his master.

Tani: And I think in that context what it means is going from a place of not having a real relationship to a place of having a cordial relationship and to a place of being able to interact with each other, not as strangers, but as more than that.

Ari: Interesting. I never really thought about that. In general, I think that that is true in the case of Yosef and probably true in what we're about to see with Yaakov and Esav, too. I was actually thinking about it more in terms of, this is a kind of a favor which isn't really earned by anyone. Yosef didn't do anything to earn this from Potiphar. Potiphar kind of fell in love with him, completely blind to any real reasons. And if you look throughout the Torah, the way that chein is used, I think this really holds true. It's a kind of way to act nicely, to do good things for someone blind to whether or not they deserve it or whether it makes sense.

Tani: Yeah. I think that fits really well with the language that chein is often used with in the Torah of matza (found), that it's something that is not present and obvious about why the chein should be felt, about why this favor should be felt between these two individuals. It's not something that is obvious. It's something that, you know, it almost comes from nowhere – matza, it's just found out of nowhere and not because of any specific reason.

Ari: Exactly. So, Tani, what does chein mean in the context of reconciliation? If the first step is being able to sit down and have coffee, being able to show someone your face, how does chein act as Step Two?

Tani: I'd say chein acts as Step Two because if you're in conflict with someone, if you’re in a fight with someone, sometimes there's a necessary step of being able to treat them nicely and treat them with kindness, despite the fact that there's a history of struggle and there is a history of fighting; finding chein in someone and finding a reason treat them well.

Ari: Exactly, Tani. I could not have said it better myself. So do we see chein in this encounter with Yaakov and Esav?

Tani: I believe we do.

Ari: Look at the very first thing that Yaakov says to Esav in Genesis, chapter 33, verse five. Esav saw all of Yaakov's children, and he says, “Who are all these people?” And Yaakov responds, הַיְלָדִים אֲשֶׁר־חָנַן אֱלֹקים אֶת־עַבְדֶּךָ – these are the children which God has graced me,  He has given to me, with chein. In other words, Yaakov is recognizing that, you know what, I might not have deserved this whole amazing family that God gave me. God and I are actually not on perfect terms right now, because I haven't acted perfectly. I've been quite dishonest in my past. And yet, God has shown me chein, and He has done all of this for me regardless of anything I have done.

Tani: Yeah. And I believe that's not the last time that chein is used in this story. 

Ari: Right, because who else does Yaakov need chein from?

Tani: Esav, his brother.

Ari: Look at verse 10. Yaakov says to Esav, אִם־נָא מָצָאתִי חֵן בְּעֵינֶיךָ – if I have found favor, if I have found chein in your eyes, וְלָקַחְתָּ מִנְחָתִי מִיָּדִי – take these presents from me, כִּי עַל־כֵּן רָאִיתִי פָנֶיךָ כִּרְאֹת פְּנֵי אֱלֹקים וַתִּרְצֵנִי – because I have seen your face like I've seen the face of God.

Here Yaakov is asking for chein from Esav. And I think that the other way to interpret this end of the pasuk about Yaakov saying, “I've seen your face like I've seen the face of God,” Yaakov’s saying, “I had a struggle both with you and with God. God took that first step of showing me His face, and He also showed me chein. Now you have shown me your face, too. רָאִיתִי פָנֶיךָ – I've seen your face. We're standing here now. You haven't killed me yet. You’ve gone that far. Are you, too, going to go the next step and grant me chein, just like God did?”

Tani: That fits so well, Ari, and the parallels between Esav and God here are really clear. And in fact, I think when you compare this verse 10 in Genesis 33 to what we saw earlier with the struggle between Jacob and this angel, at the end of that, he says that he has fought with anashim (men) and with Hashem. And here, in 33:10, Yaakov himself is substituting Esav for anashim. He’s telling us that, this whole time, the anashim that he's been struggling with, that was Esav.

Ari: Exactly. Okay, so Yaakov's successful, right? Esav’s willing to love him even despite his mistakes.

Tani: I have a feeling that that's not where this story ends. 

Ari: It's not, because a relationship that stops at chein is still a flawed relationship. The sin hasn't been forgiven. The sinner still walks around with their head down, knowing that their relationship, even possibly their life, exists only due to the chein of the other person, this favor that the other person is being so nice.

Lifting Faces

The ideal would be that no one has their head down anymore, but they both lift their heads up and look each other in the eye, as equals. Or in other words, yisa panim, right? The “lift up the face.” No one's walking around in shame anymore. And we got a peek of this earlier, but what does Yaakov express in 32, verse 21, is his ultimate goal for this encounter with Esav? He says כִּי־אָמַר אֲכַפְּרָה פָנָיו בַּמִּנְחָה הַהֹלֶכֶת לְפָנָי – I'm going to appease his face with this offering that's going before me, וְאַחֲרֵי־כֵן אֶרְאֶה פָנָיו – then I'm going to see his face, then I'll get to the stage where he’ll be willing to show me his face. אוּלַי יִשָּׂא פָנָי – Maybe he will lift up my face. Maybe, just maybe, Esav will be able to get to the point where I can lift my head up and look Esav in the eyes and have a real, full, complete relationship.

Now, you might be wondering whose face is actually getting lifted here, because in Birkat Kohanim, it's יִשָּׂא יְקוָה  פָּנָיו אֵלֶיךָ – God will lift His face up to you. But here, it seems to be that Yaakov’s face is the one getting lifted up. And the truth is, I think it's both of them, because the whole point here is that they both are...they're lifting up their faces and meeting each other's eyes, and they're able to look at each other as equals. And I think the evidence for that is in 32, verse 21, where Yaakov says, כִּי־אָמַר אֲכַפְּרָה פָנָיו בַּמִּנְחָה הַהֹלֶכֶת לְפָנָי וְאַחֲרֵי־כֵן אֶרְאֶה פָנָיו אוּלַי יִשָּׂא פָנָי – his face, my face, his face, my face. The whole point here is that both of those faces are now going to be able to be like equals, and they're going to be able to see each other face-to-face, just like he says in verse 31, רָאִיתִי אֱלֹקים פָּנִים אֶל־פָּנִים. That's the real goal here.

But, Tani, how do you get to that stage? I think there's really only one way, and it's really quite simple. If what's getting in the way of this is the damage that you have done to the other person, really the only way to get back to where you were before is to undo that damage. Tani, look at chapter 33, verse 11, when Yaakov presents these gifts to Esav.

Tani: Sure. קַח־נָא אֶת־בִּרְכָתִי אֲשֶׁר הֻבָאת לָךְ – take this bracha (I'm going to leave that as it is) which I have brought you.

Ari: He doesn't call it a gift. He doesn’t call it a present. He calls it a blessing.

Tani: Yeah. It's hard to read this without feeling like Yaakov was hearkening back to 20 years earlier in the house of Yitzchak. He's trying to undo the wrong that caused the rift in this relationship in the first place.

Ari: He's giving back the blessing. Remember, we said before, that blessing was a particularly materialistic blessing. It was all about these physical things, and here is Yaakov taking all of these physical things, all of this cattle, and presenting it back to Esav. And he says, “Take my blessing back, the blessing that I stole from you. I don't need it anymore. I don't want it. I'm realizing now that it wasn't the blessing that I was supposed to have. I had a different blessing that was coming from, which was much better. I want you to take it back.”

Tani: That's really beautiful. It all comes full circle.

Ari: Yeah. And in accepting these gifts, Esav is allowing Yaakov to get back to a place where he can lift his head up again. They can both lift their heads up and look each other in the eyes.

Tani: Yeah. You know, in a way, this is not just a reconciliation between Yaakov and Esav, but an internal reconciliation for Yaakov that, only after his struggle with Esav is resolved and he's able to undo the wrong that he did to him earlier in his life, only after that can Yaakov reach this internal comfort and peace.

Ari: Exactly, and to reach that peace with God. By doing this, Yaakov is able to repair his relationship, both with Esav and with God at the same time.

Achieving Peace

Okay. All of this leads up to the final stage of Birkat Kohanim, which is shalom. It's that thing that Yaakov wanted the whole time. To finally have peace in his father's house, to finally have peace with Esav and with God. Does Yaakov ever find that peace?

Tani: I think so.

Ari: Scroll down to chapter 33, verse 18. Right immediately after Yaakov parts from Esav, and he finally goes back into the Land of Canaan, what does it say?

Tani: וַיָּבֹא יַעֲקֹב שָׁלֵם – and Yaakov came shalem. Could be translated as “whole” or it could be translated as “in peace.”

Ari: Right, “shalem” and “shalom,” they're from the same etymological root of peace or wholeness. Yaakov comes into Eretz Canaan, into Shechem, which is his first back in the land, in peace. Peace with Esav, peace with God.

Tani: Yeah. Wow. And I think the pasuk really drives this home by telling us that the time that Yaakov is coming in shalem, where is he coming? עִיר שְׁכֶם אֲשֶׁר בְּאֶרֶץ כְּנַעַן, that this bracha that God gave him of returning to the land is happening at the same time. All of it together was granted by God.

Ari: And the interesting thing, though, is that it was kind of all granted by God. Because God granted the bracha and the shemira, the blessing and protection that He promised, and God did help him get to this stage of shalom, but it was really up to Yaakov to bring about that peace. It was through really difficult decisions and processes of reconciliation that he was able to achieve that peace with Esav. But that's something which God alone can't promise and just hand out. And maybe that's why God didn't promise it originally. God was waiting for Yaakov to step up and take responsibility for that peace, because peace is something that's really only in our hands, with God's help, but in our hands to achieve.

Tani: Wow, Ari. This is so cool, and it really shows Birkat Kohanim in a new light.

Ari: I'm so glad you enjoyed this, Tani, and this has been so fun doing this with you.

Brothers, Parents, and the Priestly Blessing

But before we go I'll now reveal the reason why I invited you to join me for this podcast today. Because there's also something strange about our custom that nowadays, it's not just the priests who give this blessing, but we actually have a custom for parents to give this blessing to their children every Friday night. Now, this might be totally speculative, and I have no idea the origin of this custom. If any of our listeners know more about that, I'd love to hear it. Again, leave us a voice note. But maybe, just maybe, it's not a coincidence that parents are giving this blessing to their children. This whole story, it's about the fight and reconciliation between two brothers, two siblings. It's about this effort of Yaakov to return peace to the house of his father, so the parents are kind of acting as priests in this role, as the bearers of peace within their own homes, and expressing the wishes for their children to follow – hopefully not to follow in the beginning of the path of Yaakov and Esav, hopefully it never has to get to that point – but to strive for the kind of shalom which Yaakov and Esav strove for.

Tani: Yeah. Wow. And you can only imagine that Yitzchak would've wanted the same things for his children, to reconcile.

Ari: Right, and it's like we model what Yitzchak did by giving a blessing to the children, but we don't stop there. We continue to tell the whole story of everything that happened with Yaakov and Esav, and even how it got kind of rough at a point, but how, despite all odds, there was this path toward reconciliation, and they really were able to rebuild their father's home.

Tani: Yeah. That's really beautiful. And it makes sense of the fact that we have this Birkat Kohanim, which really seems out of place in the bracha of the home, the bracha the parents are giving to the children. But when viewed in this light, it makes perfect sense. That's exactly the place that this bracha should be made. It should be made in a home. It should be made to children who have to live in peace with each other.

Ari: Tani, it's been a pleasure having you today. I hope this is fuel to our continued peace between the two of us.

Tani: You know, I hope that in the light of this bracha, you can find me some forgiveness for all the times that I ruined your Lego projects growing up or tried to tackle you out of nowhere. That, maybe, in light of this bracha, you can forgive me for that.

Ari: You know, when you send me dozens of sheep in the mail, I'll think about it.

Tani: Okay, I'll get to work. 

Credits

This episode was recorded by me, Ari Levisohn together with my brother, Tani Levisohn.

Editing was done by Evan Weiner.

Audio editing was done by Shifra Jacobs.

Our managing producer is Adina Blaustein

Our senior editor is me, Ari Levisohn. 

Thank you so much for listening, and we’ll see you next week.