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Parshat Naso
By: Rabbi Moshe Goodman, Kollel Ohr Shlomo, Hebron

בס"ד

לשכנו תדרשו 

Seeking the Holy Presence in Our Holy Land 

"יברכך ה' וישמרך"

"...My eyes are fixed on You until You favor me, and hear my prayer, and provide me with sons and daughters who will also be fruitful and multiply, they and their descendents unto all generations, in order that they and we might all engage in the study of Your holy Torah... Therefore answer me, O Eternal, answer me in the merit of our holy Forefathers Avraham, Yitzchak, and Ya'akov. For the sake of the fathers save the children, so the branches will be like the roots..." (Shelah's prayer)

This famous prayer said by parents on their children, is said by many especially on Erev Rosh Hodesh Sivan, the month the Torah was given, which occurs this week. Interestingly, this very same day is also "Hebron Day", the day when Hebron, "City of the Fathers and Children", was liberated in the Six-Day-W ar. In addition, Hebron is also the "City of Torah", as the Zohar points out "Hebron - this is Torah, for one who occupies oneself with it is a 'haber' (member of the class of Torah scholars)".

Another prayer said by parents on their children is the Priestly Blessing read in this week's parsha. In a similar way, "Our Father in Heaven" blesses His "children Israel" through the Cohanim who serve as a conduit for this blessing on a daily basis in many communities of Israel. However, yet still there are many communities, especially the Ashkenazic communities of the Diaspora, who conduct Birkas Cohanim (by the cohanim) on festivals only. The reason given by the poskim for this custom is that Birkas Cohanim must be said with joy, and since most days, except for festivals, the Cohanim are not in joy because of the labors of the week (this emotional burden continuing on Shabbat) therefore they are not to bless the People. Nevertheless, we find that the widespread custom in the Land of Israel that the Cohanim bless the People every day of the week, even among Ashkenazic communities, and even by heavy laborers.

According to the fore-mentioned reason for not conducting Birkas Cohanim in the Diaspora it would follow that even in the Land of Israel Birkas Cohanim should not be conducted.

Therefore, the poskim have noted that apparently there "is some secret in the spiritual channels of the blessing that descend with the blessing of the cohanim in the Diaspora, and we do not know how so" (quote from 'Piskei Tshuvos'). This differentiation between the Holy Land and the Diaspora fits very well with the unique attributes we have discussed in the past describing the Land as "the Land of Joy" and "Land of the Holy Presence".

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 Real Stories from the Holy Land #72: 

"It was erev Pesah, and we needed to take a bus to our relatives outside of Kiryat Arba. When we got to the bus-stop we realized that we had missed the bus. Instead of getting upset, we had faith in HaShem. Shortly after, a car passed by and gave me a gift of a few hundred shekels for Pesah. If we had taken the bus, we would have totally missed him." 

Sources: Orah Haim 128, 44 and Rama. Piskei Tshuvos, ibid.