Parashat Naso: A Life of Blessing
Numbers 4:21–7:89
© Joanne Fink, 2025
This week’s Torah portion, Parashat Naso, contains one of the most beloved passages in all of Jewish tradition: the Priestly Blessing (Birkat Kohanim), found in Numbers 6:24–26. These timeless words have been passed from generation to generation, spoken over children on Friday nights, offered at life cycle events, and recited in sacred settings around the world.
May God bless and keep you.
May God shine God’s face upon you and be gracious to you.
May the light of God’s presence shine upon you and grant you peace.
I’ve explored this blessing visually in many ways. This is my latest version of the Priestly Blessing:
Here are some of the versions I’ve done over the past few years:
The bottom three feature the hands of the Kohanim.
My Personal Blessing Practices:
Every Friday night when my family gathers to light Shabbat candles, I bless them with the traditional Hebrew of the Birkat Kohanim, and an interpretive English version that always ends “May you be blessed with God’s most precious gift of peace– in our hearts, in our homes, and in our world”.
A Contemporary Birkat Kohanim
A Prayer for Parashat 35, Naso
© Joanne Fink
May God’s Infinite Spaciousness
bless and keep you
and grant you the opportunity
to be a blessing to others.
May God’s Luminous Presence
shine upon you and those you love
and illuminate your path.
May God’s Limitless Goodness
bless you with the ability
to help forge a path to peace
in our hearts
in our homes
and in our world.
Last week I was blessed to spend Shabbat and Shavuot with my daughter and her family in Colorado. As I was flying back to Philadelphia, I was blessed to see– and photograph– the aurora (northern lights), and decided to create a visual version of my interpretive prayer for Parashat Naso that features a photo of the aurora as the background.
Another blessing practice that is an important and grounding part of my life is to create and send my daughter a hand-lettered doodle every night before going to sleep. These nightly messages fall into different categories: advice, blessings, encouragement, gratitude, inspiration, questions, and of course a weekly ‘Shabbat Shalom‘ and ‘Shavua Tov’ greeting. I looked through some of the ‘doodles’ I’ve sent in the past few years, and pulled a few of the blessings to share:
May every step of your life’s journey bring you closer to fulfilling your dreams.
May you always know that you are greatly loved.
May you celebrate the opportunity to make a difference in the world.
May you be blessed with health and happiness throughout your life.
May you have confidence that you are capable of handling whatever challenges may arise.
May you strive for connection rather than perfection.
May you always be proud of who you are– and may you always know how very, very proud I am of you.
May you be blessed with hope, strength, courage and faith when you most need them.
What Is a Blessing?
In Hebrew, the word for blessing is b’rachah. A blessing is both an acknowledgment of the sacred and an invitation for the Divine to dwell among us. It can be whispered, sung, drawn, written, or simply lived out through kindness and presence.
A blessing is not just something we receive—it’s something we give, and something we become. I encourage you to create your own blessing practice– whether it’s a daily, weekly, monthly or annual blessing — being able to bless others with our love, our prayers, our presence and our thoughtfulness matters.
Receiving a Musical Blessing
While I’m thinking about blessings (and about the Women Cantors Network conference which is this week!), I want to share a story about my friend Rabbi-Cantor Robbi Sherwin, who stopped by my booth at the 2023 WCN conference, and was drawn to this piece of art:
I personalized it for her, and was deeply moved when Robbi unexpectedly sent me a song she wrote that was inspired by my art! Robbi’s beautiful composition, “Are You Ready”, made me feel blessed!
Here’s a photo of Robbi holding the original artwork that inspired the song:
It is my Kavannah (intention) to create art and liturgy that inspires, uplifts, and encourages– and Robbi’s creating a song inspired by one of my pieces is validation that I’m on the right track. If you’d like to hear more of Robbi’s incredible music, check out her website: https://kolhalev.org/rabbi-robbi/
Journaling Questions
This week I invite you to reflect on the role of blessing in your life. Use the questions below to guide your journaling, contemplation, or creative response:
- What does being a blessing mean to you?
- When have you felt blessed?
- How are you using your innate gifts to bless others?
- Who in your life could use a blessing right now?
- What blessing would you most like to receive?
Closing Blessing
May God bless you
with strength and courage
when you need it most.
May you have the opportunity
to be a blessing to others,
and may God watch over you on your journey.
May you be surrounded by those you love,
and may you bring laughter and joy into their lives.
May the love you share
come back to you tenfold,
and may all your dreams be fulfilled.