This week’s parasha includes the Priestly Blessing, three lines of remarkable beauty and power. The line immediately after – a line that gets precious little attention in the classic Torah commentaries, like Hertz and Stone – appears to give us an important clue to how the blessing works. “So shall they put My Name upon the children of Israel, and I will bless them.” (Numbers 6:27) Inspired by that verse, this meditation includes one stanza for each of the Kabbalistic sefirot. To make this meditation accessible to all, the ninth stanza provides the option shown in [brackets] to use either “Torah” or “Your word.”
Place Your Name upon Us
Place your name upon us
G-d of grace,
So that we may bring peace and love
Into the world.
Place your name upon us
G-d of justice,
So that we may bring awe and discipline
Into the world.
Place your name upon us
G-d of beauty,
So that we may bring harmony and compassion
Into the world.
Place your name upon us
G-d of eternity,
So that we may bring strength and endurance
Into the world.
Place your name upon us
G-d of splendor,
So that we may bring humility and wonder
Into the world.
Place your name upon us
G-d the foundation,
So that we may bring healing and bonding
Into the world.
Place your name upon us
G-d of sovereignty,
So that we may bring nobility and majesty
Into the world.
Place your name upon us
G-d of understanding,
So that we may bring mystery and creation
Into the world.
Place your name upon us
G-d of wisdom,
So that we may bring righteousness and [Torah / Your word]
Into the world.
Place your name upon us
G-d the One,
So that we may return to You
Our Source, the Crown, our destination.
© 2015 Alden Solovy and tobendlight.com. All rights reserved.
Postscript: Even Rashi’s commentary on the line is remarkably terse. See also “Your Name, Quick Prayer at Dusk,” which I posted for Emor 5775 and Va’eira 5773.
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