Sermon: Naso – A Blessing for Peace

Written by Rabbi Hannah Kingston — 27 May 2021

According to Rabbi Jonathan Sacks z”l ‘The parsha of Naso seems, on the face of it, to be a heterogeneous collection of utterly unrelated items.’

 

His analysis seems fair when you look at the parasha as a whole. It encompasses a passages around ritual purity, the trial for the suspected unfaithful wife, the Nazarite vow of abstinence and sacrifices for the dedication of the tabernacle. Nestled amongst these passages we find the words of the priestly benediction, commonly spoken both in our synagogue services and in many home rituals.

 

Perhaps a common thread that ties together these disparate sections is the notion of peace. The ritual of Sotah was to restore Shalom Bayit, peace in the home. The Nazarite vow is about a person fully immersing themselves in their religious lives. By doing so in a time of personal turmoil, they could find inner peace.

 

Finally, our the Priestly benediction concludes:

יִשָּׂא יהוה פָּנָיו אֵלֶֽיךָ

וְיָשֵׂם לְךָ שָׁלוֹם:

 

 

May God’s face turn towards you and give you peace.

 

Parashat Naso is searching for that sense of peace, expressed by the ending of one of our oldest blessings. According to Jonathan Sacks; Naso is a series of practical lessons in how to ensure, as far as possible, that everyone feels recognised and respected, and that suspicion is defused and dissolved.

 

This idea of the pursuit of peace is core to our tradition.

In Pirkei Avot it states:

Hillel says, Be a disciple of Aaron, loving peace and pursuing peace, loving God’s creatures and drawing them close to Torah.

 

The sages grapple with this. What does it mean to both love peace and pursue peace?

 

Rashi comments that to seek peace means in our place, and to pursue it means in other places. Rabbeinu Yonah, a thirteenth century Spanish rabbi known for his ethical works, says that to be like Aaron a person must love peace in their heart and pursue it with the actions of their hands.

 

We cannot just pray for peace, we must work for it. And peace cannot just be for us, it needs to be for everyone.

 

After 11 days of conflict and at least 250 deaths, a ceasefire came into effect between Israel and Palestine on Thursday night.

But this time round, this conflict does not feel as if it is going away. Whilst Humanitarian aid is now able to enter the Palestinian territory and the army in Israel has lifted almost all emergency restrictions on movement, many are still wounded, both physically and emotionally from the vitriol that has arisen over the course of the past 11 days.

 

In this country too, it has been a hard week to be a Jew. The community Security Trust has recorded 116 antisemitic incidents, showing a 500% increase compared to before the 8th May. Jews have been blamed for the actions of the Israeli government, and no distinction has been made between the general Israeli population, including many of our friends and family, and those with extremist mentalities.

 

How do we respond. Of course, on response is vigilance and increased security. But, as Rabbi Josh said to the Home Secretary and Community Secretary over coffee this week, our response to Anti Semitism cannot just be about enforcement. It also needs to be about interfaith relationships and dialogue.

 

This week I sat in a UN webinar and was brought to tears by the solidarity and support I received from my Abrahamic brothers and sisters. In that moment, all politics was put to the side, as we surrounded one another with love and safety. People of faith, of any faith, are all working towards one thing, a goal of peace.

 

Our earliest Sages too were working towards this common goal, as demonstrated by a set of laws found in Mishnah Gittin. These laws, known as mipnei darchei shalom – for the sake of the ways of peace, urge us to go out of our way to make peace with non Jews.

 

In the Mishnah we are told that we should greet gentiles and shake their hands and we read stories of our greatest sages taking the initiative to extend these greetings in the marketplace, in order to model this behaviour for us. Pinchas Kehati in his commentary adds that on their festivals, even though they engage in what we perceive as idol worship, we should wish them the appropriate greetings, for the sake of the ways of peace.

 

Drawing on the verse from Proverbs, “Her ways are ways of pleasantness and all her paths are peace”, the Talmud tells us “Kol hatorah kulah… mipnei darchei Shalom hi” – all of Torah is for the sake of the ways of peace”.  We live the word of Torah, when we too act to create a path of peace. Showing just how aligned we are with those of other faiths, the Holy Quran too states that its ways are ‘the paths of peace’.

 

When we live by the word of our holiest texts, we work to foster an environment of understanding, where we embrace our similarities and celebrate and respect our differences.

 

Maimonides uses another biblical verse to take this a step further. When discussing these rules he draws on  a verse from Psalm 145: tov Adonai la’kol, v’rachamav al kol ma’asav – God is good to all, God’s mercy on all God’s works (Psalm 145:9).

 

By Maimonides ruling, we must express our concern towards non-Jews because this is the way that God acts. By acting  ‘mipnei darchei shalom’ we are reflecting God’s attitude to all human beings, we are doing God’s work on earth.

 

When Rabbi Galit Cohen Kedem spoke to us last week from her bomb shelter, the sound of bombs dropping in the background, she encouraged us to hear the many voices, not just the voices that shout loudest. She referred to those on the ground who were desperately attempting to keep the fragile co-existence together.

 

We too must do this holy work. We must continue to not just pray for peace, but act for peace.

 

Peace is not just the absence of conflict. True Shalom is rooted in the word Shalem, wholeness and completeness. According to the 15th century Spanish Jewish commentator Rabbi Isaac Arama: shalom means the harmonious working of a complex system, integrated diversity, a state in which everything is in its proper place and all is at one with the physical and ethical laws governing the universe.

Therefore, for peace to truly reign, Israel and Palestine must be able to coexist, both feeling able to find a sense of completeness. Israelis and Arabs must find wholeness in their hearts, by creating space in for those who pray to a God of a different name.

So now we must act for peace. We must educate ourselves, so we are able to extend the proper greetings to our non-Jewish brothers and sisters. We must show willingness to keep the conversations open, not closed off due to fear of the other, or senseless hate. And we must openly show that we stand together for peace, so as to do God’s work here on earth.

 

יְבָרְכֵֽנוּ יהוה וְיִשְׁמְרֵֽנוּ.

 

May God bless us and keep us.

 

יָאֵר יהוה פָּנָיו אֵלֵֽינוּ וִיחֻנֵּֽנוּ.

 

May God’s face shine upon us and be gracious to us.

 

יִשָּׂא יהוה פָּנָיו אֵלֵֽינוּ

וְיָשֵׂם לָֽנוּ שָׁלוֹם:

 

And in acting in reflecting God’s behaviour, may we turn our faces towards one another, in order that we are able to create peace.