יברכך יהוה וישמרך
יאר יהוה ׀ פניו אליך ויחנך
ישא יהוה ׀ פניו אליך וישם לך שלום
“May the LORD bless thee, and keep thee;
May the LORD make His face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee;
May the LORD lift up His countenance upon thee, and give thee peace.”
Numbers (Bemidbar) 6:24-26
Straight from the mouth of G*d, given to Moses, this is one of the highest blessings one can receive. Moses was instructed by God to have Aaron use this blessing for Israel. This is very unique blessing, as it literally was dictated by our Divine Creator, Blessed Be He.
In 1979, a 2800 year old silver scroll was discovered in a tomb opposite the Temple Mount in Jerusalem containing this priestly blessing; word for word. This attests to the authenticity of The Holy Bible and how it has not been altered by man over the years. It is the oldest surviving biblical text surpassing the age of the Dead Sea Scrolls by four hundred years. It was written in the ancient Paleo-Hebrew language.
There is an ancient, fifteen-word formula that they recite, while spreading their fingers in an unusual pattern. This particular hand gesture represents the Hebrew letter Shin ( ש ).
This is very significant, as Shin ש is the first letter of the Holy Name Shiddai (Almighty) - as in G*d Almighty or El Shiddai ( אל שדי ).
The letter Shin is usually found on the Mezzuzah, that we use to protect our homes.
There is even physical evidence for the divinity of the letter Shin, as it is litterally The Creator's fingerprint, that is plainly visible on the topography of Israel!
The Kli Yakar (Number 6:24) states that there are secrets to creation hidden within the ritual.
The ten fingers refer to the ten revealed physical attributes of a person and the ten hidden spiritual aspects of a person. He explains that each parent contributes five physical attributes to their child, while God bestows all ten of the spiritual characteristics.
The father is responsible for all the “white” in a person: tendons, bones, brain, fingernails, and the white of the eyes.
The mother is responsible for all the “red” in a person: skin, muscles, blood, hair, and the dark of the eyes.
God infuses man with ten spiritual abilities: spirit, soul, features of the face, vision, hearing, speech, walking, knowledge, understanding and wisdom.
The priests, during their blessing, are directing divine energy towards us. The blessings are directed to both the openly physical aspects of our being, as well as the hidden spiritual dimension.
Notice how it is divided into three parts…now think of that in relation to The Holy Trinity...or Keter, Chochmah and Binah, in Kabbalistic terms.
I pray that we continue to absorb these priestly blessings for generations to come.
Much Love!
This short video teaches us how to read and say this Most High Blessing in Hebrew:
Rabbi Isaac, from the Assembly of Called Out Believers, breaks this one down for us here:
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