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Some of the earliest memories I have are of my dad standing on the bima, pulling his tallit over his head, lifting his hands over the congregation, and intoning the sacred words of the Priestly Benediction slowly, clearly, and with intention. As a kohen, someone who traces their lineage to the priestly line of Aaron and his sons, my father was one of the men responsible for blessing our congregation. I remember watching him with awe and with pride as he stepped onto the bimah to perform this sacred task. It was both a tremendous honor and a great responsibility. And even from a young age, I could see the joy it brought him to give such a beautiful gift to his community.

In the Orthodox shul that I grew up in, that lineage determined who offered this blessing to the community. Yes, it is certainly a joy, but it is also an enormous responsibility. And a surprising one at that. “We, bless the people? Isn’t that God’s job?” I’ve so often wondered. No, God says, it’s our job to bless each other. As you bless each other, says God, I will bless you (adapted from BT Chullin 49a).

Now, in our Temple community, and in most Reform congregations, we do not limit the gift of this blessing to just the kohanim, just the priests. The clergy use these beautiful, ancient words to bless our consecration and b’nai mitzvah and confirmation students. We use them to welcome new babies into the world and we use them to honor the important moments in our lives. 

We lift up the ancient words of this blessing from our Torah portion this week, Parashat Nasso, in the book of Numbers. 

Y’varechecha Adonai v’yishmarecha. 
May God bless you and protect you.
Ya’er Adonai panav eleicha vichuneka. 
May God’s face shine upon you and be gracious to you.
Yisa Adonai panav eleicha, v’yasem lecha shalom. 
May God’s face be lifted toward you and grant you peace. 

Thus, says God, they shall link My name with the people of Israel, and I will bless them. 

Rabbi Leah Berkovitz reminds us of a teaching from Midrash Tanchuma, which imagines God saying to the priests, “From the beginning I have blessed my people; from now on the blessings are transmitted to you. You are to bless My children.” This transition from divine blessing to human blessing began when Isaac and Jacob blessed their sons (Midrash Tanchuma Naso 8-9). We can use this argument to give all humans the power and permission to bless each other.” 

What an incredible and powerful notion – Judaism not only allows but, in fact, requires that we bless one another. The words of the priestly benediction are clear and yet they are ambiguous at the same time. What does it mean for God to protect us or to be gracious to us? What does it mean for God’s face to shine upon us? 

These questions are open ended, and perhaps have as many different meanings as there are people in the world. But these undetermined boundaries give us the ability to bless one another in the ways that we need it most. 

Over the past year, our congregation has been truly blessed. We have been blessed with a Rabbi who blessed us in the ways that we needed it most. 

Rabbi Batsheva Appel joined our clergy team as our Interim Rabbi last July to help our congregation move into a new chapter of our journey. With kindness and calm and a great deal of wisdom, she came to our community and cared for us. 

One of Rabbi Appel’s gifts is her ability to listen and to hear not only what is said, but what is not said. This past year, she listened. She listened and she listened some more. She heard our needs, our wishes, our yearnings, our dreams, and she worked every day, to make those needs and wishes and yearnings and dreams move closer to reality. 

Rabbi Appel jumped into the work of our congregation with gusto, bringing joy and excitement into her work. She is a gifted teacher, bringing us into conversation and learning, and sharing her true love of Torah with all of us.

Rabbi Appel worked with our staff and our lay leadership to help us to improve upon the ways that we partner to serve our community. She asked us to dig deep as we reflected on the thoughtful and thought-provoking questions she posed. 

This year, Rabbi Appel celebrated our simchas with us and mourned our tragedies with us. She has been a kind and compassionate pastoral care presence who stood by our sides as we sang in joy and as we cried in sorrow.  

Rabbi Appel blessed us with her presence, with her teaching, with her friendship, with her caring, with her wisdom, and with the heart and soul that she brought to our community. She helped us to heal and to move into the next chapter of Temple’s life in a way that we needed at this moment in our journey. She blessed us in the ways that we needed to be blessed. 

And so now, it is time for us to offer Rabbi Appel our blessings. After all, it is our responsibility to bless each other. Bless each other, God says, and I will bless you. 
As you go on your journey, Rabbi Appel, we wish to bless you as you have blessed us. 

May you be blessed with safe travel and with a smooth transition.
May you be blessed with strength and patience and wisdom as you help a new community find their way forward, as you helped ours. 
May you find friendship and connection wherever the road takes you.
And may you be reminded that you have made a difference in our lives, and in the life of our congregation. 

And finally, in the words of one of your favorite blessings, by Marcia Falk:
Be who you are
And may you be blessed
In all that you are. 

Thank you for being our Rabbi, thank you for being our friend. We wish you the very best on your next chapter, and know that this is not goodbye, but instead, L’hitraot. 

Today, and every day, I pray that we bless each other in the ways that we need it most. For as we bless each other, God will surely bless us. Shabbat Shalom. 

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Watch the entirety of Friday’s service here. 

Temple Talk is a recap of sermons given from the Bimah for those who missed a Sermon or who wanted to revisit the words spoken at a previous sermon.