Hagaon
Rav Baruch
Epstein zt”l on Parshat Naso
(from
Torah
Temima Bemidbar 6:25)
The
Blessing of the Kohanim:The Glow of the Torah
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On the middle line of Birkat Kohanim, "G-d should
shine his face on you and show favor to you," the
Sifrei (Midrash on Bemidbar) comments, "This refers
to the shine of the Torah."
What is the shine of the Torah?
The Torah Temima notes that the expression appears
in at least two places in the Talmud:
- "One
who sees olive oil in a dream can look forward
to the shine of the Torah." (Berakhot
57a)
- "One
who is born on a Wednesday will be a wise and
shining (chakim venahir) person." (Shabbat
156a)
The
first (the olive oil dream) statement seems to
be in line with another Talmudic statement, "One
who regularly uses olive oil can recall something
he learned even seventy years earlier." (Horiot
13b). Putting the two statements together - the
shine of the Torah refers to remembering Torah,
having a powerful memory to hold on to what one
learns and the ability to recall that which has
been forgotten. Therefore one who dreams of olive
oil can look forward to the shine of the Torah.
The Arukh (Rav Natan of Rome, generation before
Rashi) similarly explains shining in the second
statement : a shining person is one who remembers
well.
The second line of Birkat Kohanim, then, according
to the Torah Temima, blesses Israel with Torah's
shine - the ability to remember, to hold on to
Torah.
We are blessed that the words of the Torah will
be constantly clear and shining before our eyes.
Retaining is a Divine gift, as the Gemara (Nedarim
38a) says, "At first Moshe would learn Torah and
forget it, until G-d gave it to him as a present.'"
The Torah Temima (Shemot 31:18) calls attention
to the Yerushalmi (Horiot 3:8) that quotes the
end of the same statement as - "so the unintelligent
will return to the Torah", so they should learn
from Moshe's example and continue to learn despite
their limitations, for the Torah is a Divine gift.
The Bavli Avoda Zara 19a likewise says, "One should
continue to learn Torah even if he forgets it.
. ."
[prepared
by Eliezer Kwass]
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