Pearls of Wisdom from the Parshah
Aharon raised his hands to the people and blessed them. (Vayikra 9:22)
Arms have three positions: up, straight out, and down. Holding one’s arms down is not for Jews. R. Yehudah Hanasi never put his hands below his sash.
For Jews there are only two positions: either stretched straight out, in order to do work, or held up. And when holding the arms up, the fingers could face either upward or downward.
When the kohanim bless us in Birkas Kohanim, their arms are held up and their fingers are pointed down, as it says: וישא אהרן את ידיו – Aharon raised his arms.
This position facilitates bringing down the flow of Divine plenty from above through Birkas Kohanim. Hands can take on a receptive form. This is when we raise our arms and hands to Heaven to receive all the berachos through the ten fingers of our hands.
And what do we request from Hashem? Torah. As we say in the Ahavah Rabbah blessing: להבין ולהשכיל, לשמוע ללמוד וללמד, לשמור ולעשות ולקיים את כל דברי תלמוד תורתך באהבה.
We also ask for parnassah and for health, and that we should have children, and lots of other things. We also ask Hashem that our children should have good shidduchim. We don’t leave anything out. This is expressed by raising up one’s ten fingers, by means of which one asks for all good things.
And when Hashem sends us His blessing, He sends it through תומיך ואוריך לאיש חסידך – He sends it through the kohanim [whose fingers] constitute ten channels that convey blessing from above to below.
The greatest eis ratzon we have, the most auspicious moment in Tefilah, is the time when the kohanim bless us. This is when Hashem graciously sends the berachos through the kohanim.
םֵכְרָבֲי אִנֲאַו – “And I will bless them.”
