Birkas Kohanim rooted in the Avos

המשך פרשת ויהי ביום כלות משה לברכת כהנים.

The continuation of the parsha, "And it was on the day Moshe finished…" (Bamidbar 7:1), to Birkas Kohanim (the Priestly Blessing).

The Sefas Emes connects the dedication of the Mishkan with the Priestly Blessing that immediately precedes it in the Torah.

כי הג' ברכות שבברכת כהנים הם בכח האבות שנתברכו מפיו של הקב"ה בכל מכל כל.

For the three blessings of Birkas Kohanim are through the power of the Avos, who were blessed from the mouth of Hashem with "ba-kol, mi-kol, kol" (in all, from all, everything).

The threefold Priestly Blessing draws on the three Avos — Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov — each of whom received a blessing of "all" directly from Hashem.

שע"ז אמרו חז"ל שטעמן מעין עוה"ב.

Concerning this Chazal said that their "taste" is a foretaste of Olam Haba (the World to Come).

The blessing of "all" given to the Avos carried within it a taste of the perfect goodness of the World to Come.

והוא שורש הברכות.

And this is the root of all blessings.

The Avos' blessing of "all" is the source from which every later blessing flows.

וכן ג' סעודות דשבת דכל ברכאין בי' תליין והוא ג"כ מעין עוה"ב.

So too the three Shabbos meals, for "all blessings depend upon it" (the Zohar on Shabbos), and it is likewise a foretaste of Olam Haba.

The three seudos of Shabbos parallel the three Avos and the threefold blessing; all blessing hangs upon Shabbos, which itself is a taste of the World to Come.

וסמוך לזה הי"ב נשיאים כי הי"ב שבטים מקבלין הברכה מאבות כמו שמסר יעקב אע"ה אל השבטים כמ"ש ויקרא כו' אל בניו.

Adjacent to this are the twelve Nesiim (tribal princes), for the twelve Shevatim receive the blessing from the Avos, just as Yaakov Avinu transmitted it to the Shevatim, as it is written, "And he called… to his sons" (Bereishis 49:1).

The offerings of the twelve princes follow the Priestly Blessing because the twelve tribes are the recipients who draw down the Avos' blessing — exactly as Yaakov gathered his sons to bless each one.

איש אשר כברכתו בירך אותם.

"Each man according to his blessing he blessed them" (Bereishis 49:28).

Yaakov gave each tribe its own particular portion in the general blessing of the Avos.

והם פרטי הברכות שהם י"ב ברכות אמצעיות שבשמו"ע שהם כל הבקשות גם בעוה"ז.

And these are the detailed blessings — the twelve middle berachos of the Shemoneh Esrei, which are all the requests, even for this world.

The twelve tribes correspond to the twelve middle blessings of the Amidah, which break the root blessing down into specific requests for our needs in this world.

והשבטים הם כלים לקבל שורש הברכות ולהמשיך הברכות בעוה"ז.

And the Shevatim are vessels to receive the root of the blessings and to draw the blessings down into this world.

The tribes serve as the channels that take the lofty "root" blessing of the Avos and bring it into practical, this-worldly form.

והם בחי' ימי המעשה כמ"ש במד' שוקיו עמודי שש עולם שנברא לששה ימים.

And they are the aspect of the weekdays, as the Midrash says on "His legs are pillars of marble (sheish)" (Shir HaShirim 5:15) — the world that was created in six (sheish) days.

The tribes correspond to the six workdays, the realm of action where blessing must be drawn down — hinted at by "pillars of sheish," the six days of creation.

וכ' עמודי שש ב"פ ששה והם ימים ולילות דבכל יום כתיב ויהי ערב ויהי בוקר ואלו הימים מיוסדים על אדני פז הג' דברים שחשב המד' שם שהם שורש כל העולם והם מתגלים בש"ק והם בחי' ג' ברכות ראשונות ואחרונות שבשמ"ע.

And it is written, "pillars of sheish (six)" — twice six, which are the days and the nights, for of each day it is written, "and it was evening and it was morning"; and these days are founded "upon sockets of fine gold" (Shir HaShirim 5:15) — the three things the Midrash enumerates there, which are the root of the entire world, and they are revealed on the holy Shabbos, and they are the aspect of the first three and last three berachos of the Shemoneh Esrei.

The twelve units of day-and-night (the weekdays) rest upon three foundational "golden sockets" — the deepest roots of creation, revealed on Shabbos, corresponding to the three opening and three closing blessings of the Amidah, which (like the Avos) are pure praise rather than request.

[וזה עצמו פי' כה תברכו את בנ"י להמשיך אלה הג' השרשים אל השבטים שנק' בני ישראל שע"ז רמזנו בשוקיו עמודי שש והמשכיל יבין.

[And this itself is the meaning of "Thus shall you bless Bnei Yisrael" (Bamidbar 6:23) — to draw these three roots down to the Shevatim, who are called "Bnei Yisrael," as we hinted regarding "His legs are pillars of marble," and the discerning one will understand.

The Kohanim's threefold blessing channels the three "roots" of the Avos down into the twelve tribes, the "legs/pillars" that stand in the world of action.

וי"ל עוד עפ"י זה פי' המדרש ביום השביעי נשיא לבני אפרים שדורש על יוסף מי הקדמני ואשלם שאעפ"י שאין קרבן יחיד דוחה שבת נצטוה להקריב בשבת ע"ש.

And one can further explain, based on this, the Midrash on "On the seventh day, the prince of the sons of Ephraim" — which expounds regarding Yosef, "Who has preceded Me, that I should repay him?" (Iyov 41:3) — that even though an individual offering does not override Shabbos, he was commanded to bring his offering on Shabbos; see there.

The princes' offerings ran over twelve days, and the seventh fell on Shabbos — that of Ephraim, Yosef's son; uniquely, this individual offering was allowed to override Shabbos.

והענין כי בחי' השבטים הם ימי המעשה כנ"ל.

And the matter is that the aspect of the Shevatim is the weekdays, as above.

As established, the twelve tribes generally correspond to the six workdays — the realm of weekday avodah.

ויצא יוסף מן הכלל וקרבנו כקרבן ציבור שהוא כולל כל השבטים.

But Yosef left this general category, and his offering was like a communal offering, which includes all the tribes.

Yosef rose above the level of an individual tribe; his offering had the status of a public korban that encompasses all of Klal Yisrael, and therefore overrode Shabbos.

והוא בחי' ברכה אמצעיות של תפלת שבת והוא מקשר השבטים אל האבות.

And he is the aspect of the middle blessing of the Shabbos prayer, and he connects the Shevatim to the Avos.

Yosef is the unifying link — like the single middle blessing of the Shabbos Amidah — who binds the twelve tribes back to their root in the three Avos.

ועליו נאמר תחת כל השמים לי הוא כמ"ש במ"א מזה]:

And of him it is said, "Whatever is under all the heavens is Mine" (Iyov 41:3), as written elsewhere about this.]

Yosef embodies the all-encompassing quality that belongs to Hashem alone, fitting him to elevate and unify all the tribes — even on Shabbos.

Summary: The threefold Birkas Kohanim draws on the blessing of "all" given to the three Avos — a taste of Olam Haba, mirrored in the three Shabbos meals and the opening and closing berachos of Shemoneh Esrei. The twelve tribes (like the twelve weekday-units and the twelve middle berachos) are the vessels that channel this root-blessing into this world, and Yosef — whose offering on Shabbos had communal status — is the unifying link binding all the tribes back to the Avos.