34 June 13 • 2019
jn

T

he old cliché says that Eskimos 
have 50 different words for 
snow because that’s their 
world. 
We Jews have 50 different 
words for guilt. And one for 
“God help us:” Oy.
It’s like the story once 
shared with me of the four 
ladies playing bridge. As they 
start picking up their cards 
and looking at them, the first 
woman said, “Oy.” 
The second, she sees her 
cards and says, “Oy vey.” The 
third, “Oy vey iz mir.” The 
fourth puts down her cards 
and says, “If we’re going to 
talk about our kids, I’m not 
playing anymore.”
If we started counting, I 
imagine we could find an 
equal number of words for com-
plaining. After all, we’re known for 
it; we Jews love to kvetch. We focus 
on the losses and failures in our lives 
and in our world. We think about 
everything that went wrong. 
This week’s portion, which also 
contains censuses, instructions 
for making restitution, the test for 
determining guilt for adultery and a 
description of who is responsible for 
the Tabernacle (the traveling sanctu-
ary), also teaches us that instead of 
complaining, we should strive to find 
the beauty in our world.
We are taught this through the 
blessing found in this week’s por-
tion that has come to be known as 
the three-fold priestly benediction, 
words that are traditionally said at 
our Shabbat dinner tables and words 
that are recited by the Kohanim 
during our prayers: “May God bless 
you and protect you. May God shine 
upon you and be gracious to you. 

May God bestow divine favor upon 
you and may God grant you peace” 
(Numbers 6:24-27).
 These ancient words have been 
interpreted in hundreds of 
different ways. Rashi, a com-
mentator from about 1,000 
years ago, broke each phrase 
down. Each word had a dif-
ferent meaning. “May God 
bless you” meant “May your 
property increase.” It had to 
do with material success.
 Other commentators 
believed that God'
s “blessing” 
had to do with spiritual 
enlightenment.
I would like to offer another 
interpretation. When we say, 
“May God bless you,” we’re 
asking that God give us the 
ability to recognize the good 
that is in our lives. We’re asking that 
we (or others for whom we recite 
these words) be able to see beyond 
any hardships and see the positive 
that comes from a situation. 
The Talmud teaches that we have 
10 different words to express differ-
ent levels of wow. There’s simchah, 
joy in its broadest sense. Then there 
are different types of joy: like gila, 
rina and ditza: joy that comes in 
waves and moves us to singing, to 
dancing or joy that comes from a 
true sense of awe. 
As we recite the words of the 
priestly benediction this week, may 
this be the blessing that we ask for: 
May God give us the strength to 
leave behind and not share our com-
plaints so that we can find the joy, 
the wow and the awesomeness in our 
lives. ■

Rabbi Daniel A. Schwartz is a rabbi at Temple 

Shir Shalom in West Bloomfield.

spirit

torah portion
We Are Truly 
We Are Truly 

Blessed
Blessed

Rabbi Daniel 
Schwartz

Parshat 

Naso: 

Numbers 

21:1-7:89; 

Judges

13:2-25.

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