"In this way you shall bless"

145. "In this way you shall bless the children of Yisrael, saying to them" (Bemidbar 6:23). "In this way you shall bless," namely in the holy tongue. "In this way you shall bless," NAMELY with awe. "In this way (Heb. coh) you shall bless," NAMELY with humility, SINCE MALCHUT IS CALLED "COH," WHEREIN ARE HOLINESS, AWE AND HUMILITY. Rabbi Aba said: "In this way you shall bless." We learned that this righteousness, WHICH IS MALCHUT, is called Coh, since all the Judgments come from Coh, SINCE COH IS DERIVED FROM KEHEH (ENG. 'DARK'), NAMELY WHEN MALCHUT IS IN THE LEFT ASPECT, WHEN SHE IS DIM AND DOESN'T SHINE AND ALL THE JUDGMENTS FLOW FROM HER. That is what Rabbi Elazar said - the meaning of "a great plague (Heb. makah)" (Bemidbar 11:33), is a plague of Coh, as it is written: "till now (Heb. coh) you would not hear" (Shemot 7:16), as Moses threatened Pharaoh WITH THE NAME COH. In accordance with this, it is written: "In this (Heb. zot) you shall know that I am Hashem" (Ibid. 17). THAT IS, HE WAS THREATENING WITH THE NAME OF ZOT and all is one, SINCE MALCHUT IS CALLED BOTH COH AND ZOT. It is also written: "Neither did he set his heart even to this (zot)" (Ibid. 23), which is ready to destroy his country.

146. From that Coh, WHICH IS MALCHUT, Judgments are aroused. When Chesed joins with her, she is mollified. Therefore, it is given to a priest who comes from Chesed so that this Coh will be blessed and perfumed. Hence, it is written: "In this way (coh) you shall bless the children of Yisrael." THE MEANING IS that you should bless Coh with this Chesed and appease her for the sake of Yisrael, so that there will be no Judgments in her.

147. Hence, it is written: "In this way you shall bless the children of Yisrael, saying to them." "Saying" is not written in the plural form, but in singular. This is for reasons of excluding. When transgressors of laws have increased, the matter is not publicized, since it was not commanded to make known the name of Coh. That is derived from the words: "Saying (sing.) to them," "saying" in singular INSTEAD OF 'SAYING TO THEM' IN THE PLURAL. Another explanation for "saying (sing.):" Since it is written, "You (pl.) shall bless," why is it not also written: 'saying (pl.) TO THEM?' But Rabbi Yehuda taught, "saying to them:" If they are worthy, it is "to them;" THAT IS, THE BLESSINGS REACH YISRAEL. If they are not worthy, it is simply "saying."

148. Rabbi Yitzchak opened the discussion with the verse: "And I Daniel alone saw the vision: for the men who were with me did not see the vision..." (Daniel 10:7). HE ASKS: "And I Daniel alone saw," yet here we learned that he was not a prophet but there were prophets there - and who are they? They are Chagai, Zechariah and Malachi. If so, the holy becomes non-holy and here it is written: "did not see." Why should they fear then? About Daniel, it is written: "And I Daniel alone saw." Yet he is not fearful though he is not a prophet. Here the non-holy is holy, MEANING TO SAY THAT HE WHO IS NOT A PROPHET IS HOLIER THAN A PROPHET.

149. We learned that it is written: "Though a host should camp against me, my heart shall not fear: though war should rise against me, even then I will be confident (lit. 'trust in zot')" (Tehilim 27:3) Here Zot is precisely what we said, THAT IT IS MALCHUT. Zot was his portion and his lot, to become stronger and execute vengeance. We learned that the Holy One, blessed be He, made David into a holy Chariot with the Patriarchs, AND HE RECEIVED the uppermost of all holy crowns that the patriarchs bequeathed to him. We have further learned that that kingdom was inherited by David and his sons thereafter. In the place of the uppermost Malchut, he was strengthened. He and his sons inherited this kingdom, so that their dominion was not shaken for many generations.

150. We have learned that when the Sfirah of Malchut was roused for the sons of David, no one was able to oppose them. THAT IS WHAT IS MEANT BY: "And I Daniel alone saw the vision," WHICH IS MALCHUT REFERRED TO BY "THE VISION," since he was from the offspring of David, as it is written: "Now, among these were the children of Judah: Daniel, Hananiah..." (Daniel 1:6). THEREFORE, he saw and rejoiced in it, since it pertained to the lot and inheritance of his ancestor, DAVID. Since it was his, he was able to bear IT AND WAS NOT FEARFUL, while the others could not endure AND WERE AFRAID. EVEN IF THEY DID NOT SEE, THEY DID PERCEIVE THEIR FORTUNE, as Rabbi Shimon said: When that Coh is roused together with her Judgments, the inhabitants of the world cannot resist it.

151. BUT when the priests spread their hands that stem from Chesed, upper Chesed awakens and bonds with this Coh, which is appeased and blessed with the shining faces of the children of Yisrael. The Judgments are removed from them, as it is written: "In this way you shall bless the children of Yisrael" and not the rest of the nations.

152. It is therefore a priest THAT GIVES THE BLESSINGS and nobody else. It is the priest in order to awaken through him his own Sfirah of Chesed, because he is called pious (Heb. chasid), as it is written: "with your pious one" (Devarim 33:8) and he comes from the side of Chesed. It is written: "And your pious ones shall bless you (Heb. yevarchuchah)" (Tehilim 145:10). Do not pronounce it "shall bless you," but rather "shall bless (Heb. yevarchu) coh" with the ineffable Name. 'Thus (Heb. coh) you shall bless,' in the holy tongue.

153. We learned that Rabbi Yehuda said: When the priest below rises and spreads his hands, all the holy Sfirot above are awakening. They are getting ready to be blessed and illuminate from the depth of the well THAT IS BINAH, which flows to them from that depth that flows continuously. The blessings that flow do not cease; THEY BECOME springs to all the worlds, which are blessed and watered from them all.

154. We also learned that during that time, WHEN THE PRIESTS RAISE THEIR HANDS, secrecy and silence prevail in all the worlds, SIMILAR to a king that wishes to mate with his queen and approaches her secretly. All his servants awaken excitedly during that time and whisper to each other: Behold the king comes to unite with the queen. Who is that queen? That is the Congregation of Yisrael. Who is the Congregation of Yisrael? It is a Congregation of Yisrael; THAT IS MALCHUT.

155. We learned that Rabbi Yitzchak said: The priest has to raise his right HAND over the left, as it is written, "And Aaron lifted up his hands (Heb. yadav) toward the people, and blessed them" (Vayikra 9:22). Yadav is spelled without Yud, the mark of plural. That is due to the preference of the right HAND over the left. Rabbi Elazar said: That is a secret, since it is written: "And he shall rule over you" (Beresheet 3:16). THE MALE, WHICH IS RIGHT, SHALL DOMINATE OVER THE FEMALE, WHICH IS THE LEFT.

156. We learned that a priest who wishes to raise his palms, holiness should be added to his holiness, THAT IS, he should sanctify his hands by a holy hand. What is the holy hand? It is the Levite that the priest needs to accept holiness of water from his hands, as it is written that you shall sanctify the Levites. It is written of the Levites: "And your brethren also of the tribe of Levi, THE TRIBE OF YOUR FATHER..." (Bemidbar 18:2), SO THAT THEY ARE included in the tribe of your father. From here we understand that every priest who raises his palms needs to be sanctified through one who is already sanctified, in order to add holiness upon his holiness. Therefore, he must not receive the sanctity of water from another person who is not holy.

157. We learned in Safra Detzniuta (the hidden book) - that the Levite, through whom the priest is sanctified, must first sanctify himself. HE ASKS: Why through a Levite, instead of through another priest, AND HE REPLIES: Another priest has no such need TO SANCTIFY HIS FELLOW PRIEST, SINCE HE COULD BE an imperfect priest himself WHO IS NOT PERMITTED TO PERFORM PRIESTLY DUTIES. A perfect priest must not be flawed by a flawed priest who is imperfect. However, a Levite who is perfect, and is worthy to ascend the platform and do the duties of the Tent of Meeting, is considered perfect and is referred to as holy, as it is written that you shall sanctify the Levites. Rabbi Tanchum said: He is also called pure, as it is written: "And cleanse them" (Bemidbar 8:6). Therefore, a priest needs to add holiness upon his holiness BY BEING INCLUDED OF A LEVITE ALSO, SINCE THE ASPECT OF PURIFICATION APPLIES ONLY TO THE LEVITE.

158. We learned that the priest who raises his palms needs to avoid having his fingers touching one another, so that each of the holy Sfirot shall be blessed individually, as is proper for it. The Holy Name needs to be expressed in letters inscribed so they are not mixed with each other. And he should pay attention to these matters.

159. Rabbi Yitzchak said: The Holy One, blessed be He, wished to have the upper grades blessed so the lower grades would be blessed, SINCE AFTER THE UPPER SFIROT ARE FILLED WITH ABUNDANCE OF BLESSINGS, THEY BLESS THE LOWER GRADES. Let the upper grades who are holy with the highest degree of holiness be blessed through the lower grades who are holy with the highest degree of holiness and are holier than any that are holy below, MEANING THE PRIESTS, as it is written: "And your pious ones shall bless you" (Tehilim 145:10).

160. Rabbi Yehuda said: Every priest that does not know this secret, nor to whom he gives his blessing, nor what the blessing is that he makes, his blessing is not considered a blessing. This is the meaning of: "For the priest's lips should keep knowledge, and they should seek Torah at his mouth" (Malachi 2:7). What is knowledge? It is simply Da'at (Eng. 'knowledge'), MEANING THE SFIRAH OF DA'AT THAT COMBINES CHOCHMAH AND BINAH. "And they should seek Torah at his mouth:" The upper beings will seek at his mouth. What will they seek at his mouth? Torah, meaning Torah in general, WHICH IS ZEIR ANPIN THAT THEY WILL INQUIRE OF HIM TO KNOW how the Torah above is unified, which is called Torah in general, since we learned that the Written Torah and the Oral Torah are the supernal crowns that are so called, MEANING IN ZEIR ANPIN CALLED THE WRITTEN TORAH, AND IN MALCHUT CALLED THE ORAL TORAH. What is the reason THAT HE KNOWS ALL THAT? THE VERSE CONCLUDES: "For he is a messenger of Hashem Tzva'ot" (Ibid.). We have learned that the priest must meditate on these matters above to unify the Holy Name as is required.