Download V`aysem Lecha Shalom: The Threefold Road to Peace

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V’aysem Lecha Shalom:
The Threefold Road to Peace
Parshat Naso 5769
By Rabbi Mark B Greenspan
This Shabbat our Torah portion contains one of the best known passages in the Bible: the Birkat
Kohanim or the Priestly Benediction. This simple but eloquent statement is one of the most often
quoted sections of the Bible. Jewish parents use it on Friday nights to bless their children; rabbis and
priests alike invoke these words regularly in prayer and celebration. The Birkat Kohanim is also among
the oldest sections of the Bible of which we have physical evidence. Among the exhibits in the Israel
Museum (in Jerusalem) you’ll find a small silver plaque from the first temple period which contains
the words of the Priestly Blessing.
The Birkat Kohanim, then, is the quintessential blessing, dating back almost three thousand years, and
yet timely enough to find its way into the Star Trek movies! This passage contains three statements
made up of fifteen words: “May Adonai bless and guard you. May Adonai shine his face upon you and
be gracious to you. May Adonai show you kindness and grant you peace.” In Hebrew these verses are
made up respectively of three, five and seven words. But what do they mean? Is there logic to the order
in which they’re recited? And why do they end with shalom, with peace?
The sages make a great deal of the fact that the Birkat Kohanim ends with shalom. There are many
statements in rabbinic literature about the importance of shalom, the most precious of all vessels, as the
sages like to say and one of the names of God. The rabbis tell us that shalom is the culmination of all
blessings; that is why all of our major prayers end with shalom. At the end of the Amida and the
Kaddish concludes with Oseh shalom bimromav, “May the one who makes peace above, make peace
for us and for all the people of Israel.”
It’s no accident that the Birkat Kohanim ends with shalom. Without shalom, none of the other
blessings have any meaning or purpose. Shalom is more than just an absence of war; it is a sense of
wholeness, harmony and goodness. It is the essence of what we strive for in the world and what we
want for ourselves as individuals. The Birkat Kohanim is not just a blessing but a road map. It teaches
us how to attain shalom in our lives. It suggests that there is the threefold path that leads to peace, to
shalom in our lives and in the world.
First we say Yivarechecha Adonai v’yishmerecha, “May Adonai bless and guard you.” The sages
generally understand this statement as a blessing for the material necessities of life. We ask God to
bless us with the things we need to live a wholesome life: food, shelter, and health, and then we ask,
‘having given us these blessings, please God, preserve them as well. There can be no peace for people
who live in a state of constant need and deprivation. Those whose lives are filled with misery will
strike out at the world and grasp wildly at the basic needs of life.
Having asked for our most basic physically needs, we then say, Ya’er panav elecha vihuneka, “May
Adonai shine His face and be gracious to you.” This is probably the most difficult of the three
statements in the Birkat Kohanim to understand. The Midrash offers many different interpretations for
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these words: What does it mean to have God shine His face upon us? Is this the mystical light of the
Shechinah? Does it mean to have a cheery and positive outlook on life? Or is the light of which we are
speaking here the light of Torah; that is, insight and understanding?
Whichever interpretation is correct, I believe the underlying idea is to see the world in a new way, in a
new light. It means to leave the past behind and perceive new opportunities and challenges. Having
food and shelter and the physical necessities of life aren’t enough if we live in a state of constant rage
and defensiveness or if we believe we are victims; if we cannot see the possibility of leaving the curses
of the past behind and creating new opportunities for the future. This light, then, is insight,
enlightenment and openness to a better world. It is to gain a new outlook on life and a different insight
into ourselves. When God shines His light upon us we see the world differently!
And finally we say Yisa Adonai panav elecha v’yasem lecha shalom, “May God be kind to you and
grant you shalom.” It is only when our stomachs are full, when we feel secure and safe, and when we
are prepared to see the world as a place of light and not darkness that we can begin to speak about
shalom, about peace. The Birkat Kohanim ends with peace because peace is not the beginning of the
conversation but its culmination. It is not the starting point but the destination. You cannot begin by
making peace until you know that you and the one with whom you are fighting are no longer hungry,
that you and he have a place to live, that you and your adversary both feel safe and that you both can
see that there is a better way of seeing the world. Only then can you speak of peace.
As you all know President Barak Obama gave a major, if not controversial address in Cairo this week
on the need to find a common ground for Moslems and the western world. His words were addressed
primarily to the Moslem world though Americans and Israelis listened carefully to what he had to say
in order to wring out every possible nuance from his words. For Israel and for Jewish people, this
address has been a topic of anxiety. Would our president question the historic alliance between Israel
and America? What would he say about the need for compromise and concessions? For some this
speech was sign of the President’s naiveté in dealing with terrorism; for others his speech did not go
nearly far enough. The fact that people on the right and the left were unhappy with what the president
had to say suggests to me that he found just the right tone: one which called on both Israelis and the
Palestinians to account for their actions and to look forward and not backward; one which demanded
that the Moslem world think seriously about the issues which divide us and that Israel recognize the
inevitability of a two state solution.
The truth is that a speech is just a speech no matter how beautiful and articulate it is and that in the end
what will matter is not what Barak Obama said in Cairo but what actions he takes in the coming
months in Washington. I, for one, am willing to wait and see. Being a good friend sometimes means
being a critic and telling the truth even when it hurts. Being a friend to Israel does not mean agreeing
with all its actions; being an ally means standing by Israel and assuring its security while helping it out
of the quagmire in which it finds itself today. I believe that this is what most Israelis and Arabs want
more than anything and that most people in Israel recognize that Israel cannot afford to hold on to
territory in which one must rule over a majority of Arabs with an iron fist. Very quickly such a state
will cease to be Jewish or democratic.
But to have such an agreement there must be someone with whom both sides can speak freely and with
trust – and Israel has yet to find such partners. That is what Barak Obama needs to understand. If the
present government in Israel is more right wing and more reticent to talk with its neighbors, it is
because the democratically elected majority of people in Israel are weary and no longer trust the people
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on the other side of the table. They have not been given any reason to extend a hand of peace to their
neighbors.
There is no equation of moral equivalency when comparing Israel and its Palestinian neighbors. Israel
has repeatedly searched for compromise and solutions and has had its efforts frustrated by violence and
war. The thing I found most disturbing about Barak Obama’s speech the other day was his comparison
of Jewish history of anti-Semitism with “the suffering of the Palestinian people in pursuit of a
homeland.” First the Jewish people never represented a threat to the nations that persecuted them; and
second every effort to create a Palestinian state has been dashed not by Israel but by the Palestinians
themselves.
That being said, Israel actions are seen as provocative, whether it is building a security fence through
the middle of Palestinian communities or putting up new settlements in contested areas. In the Middle
East we talk about facts on the ground – groups establishing themselves in order to redefine the
borders and boundaries of a nation. These are controversial issues – and I am not a diplomat so I won’t
try to solve them this morning.
But what I can offer, as a Rabbi, is that peace is a process, and it must begin by each side recognizing
the suffering of its neighbor much as each wishes its neighbors to recognize its legitimate rights to a
homeland. As long as there is misery in the Palestinian world, there can be no possibility of peace. As
long as Israel continues to thrive while others live in refugee camps there can be no conversation. It
doesn’t matter whether Israel was responsible for the situation. It simply means that there can be no
peace unless those who live in the Middle East feel safe, and comfortable and well-fed and unless there
is an attempt not to repeat the old narratives but to create a new one.
So I may not have agreed with all the details of Barak Obama’s words in Cairo but I wish him a
Yasher Koach on their essence. The time has come to look forward and not back – to begin to build a
future rather than ruminate on past injustices. Until both Israelis and Palestinians understand this,
peace will not be possible.
One final thought. The Baal HaTurim, a commentary on the Torah which loves to play with gematriah
points out that the word shalom has the same numerical value as the name Esau. Esau, the brother of
Jacob, was the founder of the Edomite people and the paradigmatic enemy of the Jewish people.
Among the descendents of Esau was the nation of Amalek. This teaches us that there can be no peace
unless we recognize that Esau – our greatest enemy is a part of it.
So, we are collectively holding our breaths. What we need to do today is to look at the world in a new
light and to reach out with a new generosity to our neighbors. We can only hope Israel’s neighbors
with do the same!
Shabbat Shalom