05 Jun 2025 Naso 5785: The Boundless Blessing of Shalom

In Parshas Naso, the pasukim delineate the Birkas Kohanim: the ancient and timeless prayer, bestowed by the kohanim upon the nation, since the days of Aharon Ha’Kohen, to our time today.

יְבָרֶכְךָ֥ ה’ וְיִשְׁמְרֶֽךָ׃, May Hashem bless you and guard you;

יָאֵ֨ר ה’  פָּנָ֛יו אֵלֶ֖יךָ וִֽיחֻנֶּֽךָּ׃ , May Hashem shine the light of His countenance upon you and endow you with grace;

יִשָּׂ֨א ה’ פָּנָיו֙ אֵלֶ֔יךָ וְיָשֵׂ֥ם לְךָ֖ שָׁלֽוֹם, May Hashem lift His countenance to you and place peace upon you (Bamidbar 6:24-26).

The first is a blessing for material success, the second a blessing for spiritual success, and the culmination and summation of all other blessings: the blessing of shalom.

Why, after Hashem blesses us with material wealth, and abundance of spiritual wealth, do we need a further blessing? Surely, all of our needs are fulfilled with material and spiritual successes?

Rashi asks a similar question in the beginning of Parshas Bechukosai, when the Torah states that when we will go in the ways of Hashem and keep His Torah and mitzvos, we will be blessed with all the bounty of G-d. Yet, then the verse states: וְנָתַתִּ֤י שָׁלוֹם֙ בָּאָ֔רֶץ, and I will place peace in the Land (Vayikra 26:6).

Rashi asks: ונתתי שלום. שֶׁמָּא תֹאמְרוּ, הֲרֵי מַאֲכָל וַהֲרֵי מִשְׁתֶּה, אִם אֵין שָׁלוֹם אֵין כְּלוּם, תַּ“לֹ אַחַר כָּל זֹאת “וְנָתַתִּי שָׁלוֹם בָּאָרֶץ“; מִכָּאן שֶׁהַשָּׁלוֹם שָׁקוּל כְּנֶגֶד הַכֹּל

Perhaps you will say, behold there is food and there is drink, what more does one need? To that, the verse says: I will place peace in the land, for if there is no peace, there is nothing. From here we learn that peace is equal to all other blessings (Rashi, ibid).

No matter how much abundance one has of material goods, and no matter how much Torah one has learned and knows, if peace and harmony are absent from one’s life, and R”L, from our nation, all the other blessings cannot be fully realized.

Shalom is so important that our birkas ha’mazon ends with shalom, as the final phrase of ‘bentching’ states: ה’ עֹז לְעַמּוֹ יִתֵּן, ה’ יְבָרֵךְ אֶת עַמּוֹ בַשָּׁלוֹם – Hashem will grant strength to His nation, Hashem will bless His nation with shalom.

Shalom is so important that our daily Amidah ends with shalom: שִׂים שָׁלוֹם טוֹבָה וּבְרָכָה, Hashem place shalom, tovah (good) and bracha (blessing)… upon us and upon Your entire nation of Israel… Blessed are You Hashem, הַמְבָרֵךְ אֶת־עַמּוֹ יִשְׂרָאֵל, Who blesses His nation of Israel בַּשָּׁלוֹם, with shalom.

Shalom is so important that the entire Shas (Shishah Sidrei Mishnah) ends with shalom: אָמַר רַבִּי שִׁמְעוֹן בֶּן חֲלַפְתָּא, לֹא מָצָא הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא כְּלִי מַחֲזִיק בְּרָכָה לְיִשְׂרָאֵל אֶלָּא הַשָּׁלוֹם, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (תהלים כט), ה‘ עֹז לְעַמּוֹ יִתֵּן ה‘ יְבָרֵךְ אֶת עַמּוֹ בַשָּׁלוֹם – Hashem found no better vessel to hold blessing for Israel, other than shalom, as the pasuk says: Hashem will grant strength to His nation, Hashem will bless His nation with shalom.

Shalom is so important that the Birkas Kohanim ends with shalom. Shalom is so important, that the name of our beloved, holy city of Jerusalem ends with shalom: Yerushalayim – the city where peace shall be seen (see Medrash Bereishis Rabbah 56:10).

In a world torn asunder, and utterly lacking any vestige of shalom, may Hashem save us, we must internalize this crucial lesson the Torah is teaching us. No matter how much blessing and bounty our nation has, without the כְּלִי מַחֲזִיק בְּרָכָה of shalom, the other blessings will never suffice.

While we certainly daven each and every day for Hashem to grace us with peace and harmony, each one of us must do our utmost to sow the seeds of shalom within and amongst our nation.

Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks z’l quotes the 15th century Spanish Jewish commentator, Rabbi Yitzchak Arama who explains “that shalom does not mean merely the absence of strife. It means completeness, perfection, the harmonious working of a complex system, integrated diversity, a state in which everything is in its proper place and all is at one with the physical and ethical laws governing the universe” (Covenant and Conversation, Numbers, p.102).

Furthermore, Rabbi Sacks teaches that, “Shalom has rich meaning in Hebrew – harmony between conflicting elements, each of which has its distinctive part to play in the integrated diversity of the whole… From the word shlemut, ‘wholeness, perfection,’ shalom is calibrated harmony between various elements, each with its role, each in its place. It is no accident that the priestly blessings end – as do the vast majority of Jewish prayers – with a prayer for peace. Peace, said the rabbis, is one of the names of G-d Himself, and Maimonides writes that the whole Torah was given to make peace in the world… We have to work for peace, not just pray for it” (ibid, p.105-106).

When we work to cultivate and realize the blessing of Shalom within our families, our kehilos and communities, our nation and our Land, then we will be truly blessed. And then we will merit the ultimate blessing: וְשָׂמוּ אֶת–שְׁמִי, עַל–בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל; וַאֲנִי, אֲבָרְכֵם, and I will place My Name upon the Children of Israel, and I will bless them (Bamidbar 6:27).

בברכת בשורות טובות ושבת שלום,
Michal