The Priestly Blessing
Similar to every other part of the Torah, the Priestly Blessing, Birchat Kohanim, which is included in the Torah portion of Naso, is replete with meanings from the practical to the mystical. In order to understand one of the deepest secrets of Birchat Kohanim, we will first introduce a number of important concepts of Kabbalah and only then relate them directly to this very special blessing.
One of the deepest concepts revealed by the Arizal is that the five times the word “light” is mentioned on the first day of creation alludes to both the five books of Moses and the five levels of soul. According to the Midrash, the soul has five names: Nefesh, Ruach, Neshamah, Chayah, and Yechidah (Bereishit Rabbah 14:9). Kabbalah and Chassidut explain that the five names depict five ascending soul levels. Nefesh, the lowest soul level, refers to the instinctual, behavioristic drives most associated with the body. Ruach (Spirit) is related to the emotions; Neshamah, the inner soul, is deemed the seat of the intellect; Chayah (The Living One) refers to the interaction between consciousness and its super-conscious origin; and Yechidah (The Single, Unique One) relates to the Divine aspect of soul. The Arizal explains that the first two levels of soul—Nefesh and Ruach—are given to each person but the three higher levels of soul—Neshamah, Chayah, and Yechidah—have to be “earned” through each person’s own spiritual work. He finds an allusion to this in the fact that the Torah uses the word light twice when describing light’s creation and another three times on the first day of creation.
This notion that each person must work to attain three additional levels of soul is related to the tradition that on Shabbat Jews receive a neshamah yeteirah (an additional level of soul) on Shabbat. This soul level represents the elevated feelings a Jew can experience when tapping into the increased sense of spirituality available on Shabbat. Furthermore, the Shabbat’s three festive meals, which correspond to Shabbat’s three time periods—evening, morning, and afternoon, afford a weekly opportunity to reach beyond the mundane and taste the three higher levels of soul.
Another teaching that parallels the soul’s need to elevate itself three levels appears in the Arizal’s profound mystical cosmology. He explains that in the World of Chaos, which immediately preceded our own, the lights of creation were too strong for the, as yet, immature vessels. These vessels consequently shattered in an archetypal event referred to as Shevirat Hakelim (Breaking of the Vessels). Our world, the Arizal explains, is called the World of Rectification since it was constructed from these shattered vessels. Every individual human being is charged with repairing the vessels and redeeming the sparks of light trapped in them. This, in fact, defines the Jewish people’s overriding mission.
According to the Arizal there are five “worlds.” Arranged from the highest to the lowest, they are Adam Kadmon (Primordial Man), Atzilut (Emanation), Beriah (Creation), Yetzirah (Formation), and Assiyah (Action)—the physical, material world we live in. Incidentally, these five worlds are also hinted at by the five appearances of the word light on the first day of creation. The Breaking of the Vessels occurred in the World of Emanation. This cosmic calamity caused the three lower worlds of Beriah, Yetzirah, and Assiyah to come into being, and reality is considered to have therefore “fallen” three levels. Thus, in order for any particular state of reality in any one of the worlds to reach its true source it must ascend three levels.
We will now add another teaching of the Arizal regarding reincarnation which connects to the above ideas. The opening sections of the Gate of Reincarnation, The Arizal’s revelations regarding reincarnation deals primarily with an explanation of the five levels of soul, as discussed above. Each name refers to an ascending hierarchy of soul powers and serves as a powerful tool in analyzing and understanding the human psyche.
The Arizal explains that a soul in order to complete itself must perfect all five levels of soul. One does not receive the next level of soul in the fullest sense until he perfects the preceding level. As can be imagined this process can take many lifetimes. As each level of soul reaches a rectified state it is able to receive the next level of soul. This continues till all levels of soul are complete. In more simple terms the Arizal was teaching that for a soul to reach completion it must clarify and rectify its instinctual, emotional and intellectual levels of consciousness, along with its higher levels of innate spiritual and Divine consciousness.
Along with completing the five levels of soul, the Arizal taught that these levels of soul must also rise through four worlds as taught in Kabbalah: Assiah, the World of Action, Yetzirah, the World of Formation, Briah, the World of Creation, and Atzilut, the World of Emanation. Azilut, the World of Emanation, is closest to its infinite Divine source and each succeeding world represents a more condensed material manifestation of God’s pure light. Depending on which world a soul is rooted in defines its basic orientation and response to our highly physical and mundane world, the World of Action. There is according to the Arizal a fifth even higher world, called Adam Kadmon, Primordial Man. These five worlds correspond directly to the five levels of soul in the following manner:
|
Kabbalistic World |
Level of Soul |
| Adam Kadmon – Primordial Man | Yechidah – unique Divine soul |
| Azilut – Emanation | Chayah – “living one” |
| Briah – Creation | Neshama – intellectual |
| Yetzirah – Formation | Ruach – emotional |
| Assiah – Action | Nefesh – instinctual |
Each level of soul actually contains all five levels, as explained in the Kabbalistic principle of inter-inclusion. Therefore, in each world there are twenty-five levels. In order to reach its complete fulfillment each soul must rectify all twenty-five levels of soul in each of the five worlds. The total levels of rectification needed thus is one-hundred and twenty-five levels.
Since the Arizal taught that each person is given the first two levels of soul – nefesh and ruach – but must earn the higher three levels of neshamah, chayah and yechidah, this implies seventy-five levels of soul that need to be attained. This is not to say that the first two levels of soul do not need refinement and rectification – most certainly do – but these fixings are somewhat easier to accomplish.
We will now connect these profound ideas to Birchat Kohanim. The numerical value of the word kohen equals seventy-five. It is through the kohanim that the blessing is channeled from God to the people of Israel. Seventy-five are the number of rectifications needed to acquire the three higher levels of soul. It should also be noted that Birchat Kohanim consists of seventy-five letters and words: fifteen words and sixty letters.
Birchat Kohanim consists of three verses: “May God bless you and watch over you. May God cause His countenance to shine to you and favor you. May God raise His countenance toward you and grant you peace” (Numbers 6:24-26).
יברכך י־הוה וישמרך
יאר י־הוה פניו אליך ויחנך
ישא י־הוה פניו אליך וישם לך שלום
Therefore, each of the blessings represents one of the three ascending levels of soul the person is attempting to acquire as well as one of the three higher worlds. The correspondence with therefore be the following:
“May God bless you and watch over you” – the neshamah and the World of Creation.
“May God cause His countenance to shine to you and favor you” – the chayah and the World of Emanation.
“May God raise His countenance toward you and grant you peace” – the yechidah and the World of Primordial Man.
The idea of elevating oneself to an additional three levels of soul and elevating the world which fell three levels at the breaking of the vessels is intrinsically connected to the mission of the Jewish people who were told by God that we are to be “a nation of Kohanim and a holy people.” Similar to how the kohen has a special status in Israel, so too, the Jewish people are meant to serve, teach, inspire and bring light to the entire world. As the kohanim channel God’s light and blessing to the Jewish people in Birchat Kohanim, so too are the Jewish people as a whole meant to spread God’s light and blessing to all peoples.
It goes without saying that the more one understands about the various levels of soul and the various spiritual worlds, the more profound effect meditating on these connections in relation to Birchat Kohanim. Even without understanding all of the nuances of these connections, simply meditating on the literal meaning of the words of Birchat Kohanim and allowing oneself to becoming vessel to receive from Above these powerful blessings has the potential power to open up the soul to receive an influx of Divine blessing and bounty that uplifts and infuses the soul with spiritual light.
