Giving and Receiving - A Meditation on the Priestly Blessing - from twoperspectives - May 28, 2015

[With the 45th anniversary of my Confirmation and the 34th anniversary of my rabbinic ordination approaching, I wanted to write about what it feels like to offer the Priestly Blessing to a community member at a special occasion and also how it feels to receive that blessing.  May you, the reader, feel the sense of overflow embodied in these words and in the interpretation below: 

May the Eternal One bless you and keep you.

May the Eternal One look kindly upon you and be gracious to you.

May the Eternal One show favor towards you and grant you peace]

From the one/The One who gives blessing

Looking in your eyes

Seeing how you have grown

You are a partner 

A student

A companion

A friend

I place my hands on your shoulder

So the blessing will flow through me 

to you

Although I am only human

There are hands that have blessed me before 

that in turn now stand behind me

and lie at my foundation 

as I recite the words for you

Granting you life

goodness

protection

freedom

wisdom

kindness

an outpouring of love

Moral insight

the fire of vision 

prayers answered

warmth

brightness

grace

intelligence

knowledge

Acceptance  

 reconciliation that readily comes when you seek it

Health

security

welfare

Harmonious cooperation of human forces
    to the ethical and spiritual ends of God's dominion

well being

Friendship

wholeness

Peace.

From the one who receives blessing 

And as I stand before you

your hands on my shoulders

the Divine standing behind you 

and holding you from the depths of the Oneness 

that unites us all 

I see God's eyes in your eyes

I feel God's warmth and support in your touch

I sense the hope you have for me

the promise of my future

and my responsibility to see it through

I look back at moments

when I knew that Care, Goodness, Love, Knowledge and Insight

Illumined my path

and made me better than I was

and led me forward to new heights

of self-confidence, of self-love

and to forgiveness of my own misjudgments 

and the ability to move beyond the misunderstandings that led to estrangement from others

so that I could feel in this blessing being placed upon me

Your Acceptance, Your Grace, Your Light, Your Wisdom,
Your Instruction and Your Peace. 

May these gifts ever be mine

And, whenever I have the opportunity, may I pass them on to my family

to my fellow community members

to all of humanity

and to the entire world.