The good eye that turns din into berachah

בענין ברכת כהנים כה תברכו כו'.

Regarding Birkas Kohanim: "So shall you bless [the Bnei Yisrael]," etc.

The Sefas Emes opens on the parsha of the kohanim's blessing, asking what is the inner mechanism by which a human being can be the channel for Hashem's berachah.

ובמד' שנמסרו הברכות ביד בני ישראל כמ"ש והי' ברכה כו' דכתיב ה' עוז לעמו יתן הוא בחי' משה רבינו תורה שבכתב.

And in the Midrash: the berachos were handed over into the hands of Bnei Yisrael, as it says "and you shall be a berachah," etc. As it is written, "Hashem will give strength to His people" (Tehillim 29:11) — this is the aspect of Moshe Rabbeinu, the Torah Shebichsav (Written Torah).

Hashem entrusted the power of blessing to Klal Yisrael themselves. The "strength" Hashem gives corresponds to Moshe and the Written Torah — the fixed, given root of holiness.

ה' יברך את עמו בשלום הוא בחי' אהרן אוהב ורודף שלום והוא בחי' תורה שבע"פ מלה דקיימא בעובדא.

"Hashem will bless His people with peace" (Tehillim 29:11) — this is the aspect of Aharon, who loved and pursued peace, and it is the aspect of Torah Shebe'al Peh (Oral Torah), the "word that stands through deed."

The continuation of the pasuk, "with shalom," corresponds to Aharon and the Oral Torah — the dimension of Torah that is realized through human action and avodah, not merely received.

וכן כתיב שפתי כהן כו' ותורה יבקשו מפיהו רמז לתורה שבע"פ.

And so it is written, "the lips of the kohen [shall guard knowledge], and Torah shall they seek from his mouth" (Malachi 2:7) — a hint to the Oral Torah.

The kohen's mouth is the source of Oral Torah, the living, spoken transmission, which is why the blessing flows specifically through him.

ומצינו במשנה תלמידיו של אברהם ותלמידיו של אהרן.

And we find in the Mishnah [a reference to] "the talmidim of Avraham" and "the talmidim of Aharon" (Avos 5:19, 1:12).

The Sefas Emes links the trait of Aharon back to Avraham Avinu, setting up the idea that both shared one inner middah.

הגם כי משה רבינו רבן של כל ישראל הוא בבחי' תורה שבכתב ואאע"ה ניתן לו בחי' תורה שבע"פ שכל מה שאמר נעשה ממנו תורה כמ"ש למען כו' יצוה את בניו כו' ושמרו דרך ה' הגם שלא ניתנה עדיין התורה ולכן נמסר הברכה בידו והי' ברכה וכן אהרן נמשך אחר מדת אאע"ה.

Although Moshe Rabbeinu, the rebbe of all Yisrael, is in the aspect of the Written Torah, Avraham Avinu was given the aspect of the Oral Torah — for everything he said became Torah, as it is written, "so that he will command his children… and they will keep the way of Hashem" (Bereishis 18:19), even though the Torah had not yet been given. Therefore the berachah was placed in his hand — "and you shall be a berachah" — and so too Aharon followed the middah of Avraham Avinu.

Avraham embodied Oral Torah before Matan Torah: his very life and speech generated Torah from within. That is why he, and Aharon after him, became living vessels of berachah — holiness produced through one's own avodah.

והנה איתא איזהו חסיד המתחסד עם קונו פי' שמביא בעולם התגלות חסדיו של הקב"ה כמ"ש ז"ל על אברהם אע"ה שהחסד מתגלגל בעולם בשבילו.

Now it is taught: "Who is a chasid? One who does chesed with his Maker" — meaning that he brings into the world the revelation of the Holy One's acts of chesed, as Chazal said about Avraham Avinu, that chesed circulates through the world on his account.

A true chasid is not just kind; he is the one through whom Hashem's own kindness becomes visible in the world. Avraham was that conduit for chesed in creation.

והוא מכח השלשה מדות שמנו חכמים במשנה עין טובה כו'.

And this comes from the power of the three middos that the Chachamim enumerated in the Mishnah: "a good eye," etc. (Avos 5:19).

The Mishnah lists the traits of Avraham's talmidim, the first being a "good eye" (ayin tovah) — and the Sefas Emes now explains what that really means.

פי' עין טובה שכל מה שהוא רואה מכיר בו חסד וטובת הבורא ית"ש והכל טוב בעיניו ובכח זה נעשה טובו וכדאיתא גבי נחום איש גם זו.

The meaning of a "good eye": that in everything he sees, he recognizes the chesed and goodness of the Borei Yisbarach, and all is good in his eyes — and through this power it actually becomes good, as is found regarding Nachum Ish Gam Zu.

An ayin tovah is the ability to perceive Hashem's goodness in everything. This perception is not passive: by seeing the good, one draws the good into reality, as Nachum Ish Gam Zu would say "this too is for the good" and it became so.

ואיתא בזוה"ק פ' זו על מאי דכתיב באברהם כה יהי' זרעך והאמין בה' ויחשבה לו צדקה ב' פירושים שהקב"ה חשבה לאברהם לצדקה ותו פירש שאברהם חשב מדת כה אעפ"י שהיא דין חשבה לצדקה ע"ש.

And it is brought in the Zohar Hakadosh on this parsha, on that which is written about Avraham, "So (koh) shall be your seed… and he believed in Hashem, and He counted it to him as tzedakah" (Bereishis 15:5-6) — two explanations: that the Holy One counted it to Avraham as tzedakah, and further, that Avraham regarded the middah of "koh," even though it is din (strict judgment), and reckoned it as tzedakah — see there.

The Zohar reads the word "koh" as a Divine middah that carries strict judgment. Avraham's greatness was that he looked at even that face of din and, through his ayin tovah, perceived it as tzedakah and chesed.

והוא כמ"ש שע"י שאברהם חשבה לצדקה נעשה מדה זו חסד וצדקה.

And this is as we said: because Avraham reckoned it as tzedakah, this very middah became chesed and tzedakah.

Avraham's faithful perception literally transformed the middah of din into one of chesed — the seeing made it so.

וזהו המתחסד עם קונו כמ"ש.

And this is the meaning of "one who does chesed with his Maker," as we said.

Doing "chesed with his Maker" means drawing out Hashem's hidden chesed even from places that appear as din — turning judgment itself into kindness.

וזה כה תברכו את בני ישראל שע"י ברכת הכהן העובד במקדש מתמלא מדה זו חסד וצדקה וברכה:

And this is "So (koh) shall you bless the Bnei Yisrael" — for through the blessing of the kohen who serves in the Mikdash, this very middah of "koh" is filled with chesed and tzedakah and berachah.

The kohen, heir to Avraham's and Aharon's ayin tovah, blesses with the word "koh." By channeling that middah through his avodah in the Bais Hamikdash, he fills what was a face of din with chesed and berachah for Klal Yisrael.

Summary: The power to bless was given to Klal Yisrael through the line of Avraham and Aharon, masters of the "good eye" who perceive Hashem's chesed even within din. The kohen's blessing of "koh" channels that very middah, transforming strict judgment into revealed chesed, tzedakah, and berachah for Bnei Yisrael.