While the Kohanim were given the power to bless the Jewish People in this week’s parsha, today it is not only the priestly among us who can bestow the special triple blessing that we still call “The Priestly Blessing.” All Israel uses the very formula that was once reserved for the Koheinic class. “May God bless you and keep you…May God shine Divine light upon you…May God turn the Divine Face towards you and grant you peace.”
Parents use that formula to bless their children at the Shabbat table. At the end of a wedding ceremony a bride and groom receive this blessing from the m’sader kiddushin, the master of the ceremony. The leader repeating the Amidah in a prayer service pronounces the triple brakha each time we recite the liturgy aloud.
We are granted the power to bless and instructed to use the words of the ancient priests so that any of us can ask for Godly light and hope for peace in each others’ lives. When we answer “kein yehi ratzon!” to this liturgy during an Amidah we are saying: “May it be God’s will that we indeed experience feeling guarded, like light is overcoming darkness and that we may experience peace.”
Come hear the blessing read as part of the weekly Torah reading. We’ll have a chance to say amen to more blessings this week, as we will celebrate a 40th anniversary and an aufruf.