The "priestly blessing"

       Naida, our part-time caregiver, told of a five or six-year old who was suspended from public school for a certain number of days for saying "Bless you" to a fellow student.  Both Naida and I wondered how benighted could those responsible for the suspension have been.  Was that youngster perpetrating "religious" expression on another student in a public school?!

       I told Naida that this very day we happened to be studying the "priestly blessing" from the Torah in a class at our temple.  It's beautiful in Hebrew and in most translations, I imagine.

          The Lord bless you and keep you.
          The Lord make His countenance shine upon you and be gracious unto you.
          The Lord lift up His countenance to you and give you peace.

I asked our rabbi whether only "priests" should say the blessing, or could we as well to one another?  She asked me what I thought; I said I thought we could.  And she nodded.

I once consciously exchanged blessings with another man after each of us had expressed our hopes and aspirations for the coming year.   The blessing and support we gave each other felt very good indeed, and maybe even more in the giving than the receiving.