Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God (January 1, 2018)
Gospel (Luk 2:16-20; 21)
21 And when eight days were completed for the circumcision of the child, his name was then called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.
Reading 1 (Num 6:22-27)
The Priestly Blessing
22 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
23 “Speak to Aaron and to his sons, saying, ‘This is the way you shall bless the children of Israel. Say [with full intent and with a whole heart] to them [so that they all hear]:
Rashi’s Commentary
Say—The word אָמוֹר is written in its full form i.e., with a “vav,” indicating that they should not bless them hurriedly and hastily, but devoutly and with a whole heart (Midrash Tanchuma, Nasso 10).
Say to them—So that all of them should hear the blessing (it would not suffice to pronounce the blessings upon the Israelites in their absence; cf. Sifrei Bamidbar 39).
24 “ ‘ “The Lord bless you [that your possessions increase]
and keep you [that you not be despoiled of your possessions];
Rashi’s Commentary
The Lord bless you—That your property may increase (Sifrei Bamidbar 40).
And keep you—That no robbers come upon you to take away your property. For a human being who gives a present to his servant cannot guard him against everybody, and if a band of robbers attack him and take it away, what pleasure can he, then, derive from this present?! The Holy One, blessed be he, however, both gives and guards—against everybody (Midrash Tanchuma, Nasso 10). Many Midrashic interpretations are given of this verse in the Sifrei (Sifrei Bamidbar 40).
25 the Lord make his face shine on you
and be gracious to you;
Rashi’s Commentary
8 [And the priests say:] “Atone for your people Israel, whom you have redeemed, O Lord, and do not place the guilt of innocent blood in the midst of your people Israel.” And so the bloodshed will be atoned for them [i.e., if they do as prescribed, the sin will be atoned],
Rashi’s Commentary
Atone for your people Israel, . . . And so the bloodshed will be atoned for them—Scripture announces to them that when they have done this (the ceremony prescribed) their sin will be forgiven (Sotah 46a).
3 so that your ways [to bestow good upon your people] may be known on earth,
your salvation among all nations.
5 The nations will be glad and sing for joy
when you rule the peoples with equity [i.e., for merit]
and [when] you guide the nations on the earth [on a just path].
Gen 18:25
Far be it from you to do such a thing—to kill the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous and the wicked are treated alike. Far be it from you! Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?
Rashi’s Commentary
Far be it from you—It is a profanation (חוּלִין) of yourself. People will say, “That is what he usually busies himself with. He destroys every one, righteous and wicked alike”—and thus did you indeed do to the generation of the flood and to that of the dispersal of nations (Midrash Tanchuma, Vayera 8).
The Saviour of the World by the LumoProject
A band of robbers by the LumoProject
our prayer “the God of Abraham.” And I will bless you—that we say, “the God of Isaac.” And I will make your name great—that we say, “the God of Jacob.” One might think that we should conclude the benediction in which these invocations are recited by mentioning again the names of all the patriarchs—the text therefore states “and you will be a blessing”: with you they will conclude the benediction and not with them (their names) (Pesachim 117b).
"Gen 12:2; Gen 18:25; Num 6:22-27; Deu 21:8" are derivatives of "The Rashi Chumash" by Rabbi Shraga Silverstein used under CC BY 3.0
Gen 12:2
2 And I will make you into a great nation,
and I will bless you [with wealth],
and I will make your name great,
and you will be a [source of] blessing.
Rashi’s Commentary
And I will make you into a great nation—Since travelling is the cause of three things—it decreases (breaks up) family life, it reduces one’s wealth and lessens one’s renown, he therefore needed these three blessings: that God should promise him children, wealth and a great name (Genesis Rabbah 39:11).
And I will bless you—With wealth (Genesis Rabbah 39:11).
And you will be a blessing—Blessings are entrusted to you; hitherto they were in my power—I blessed Adam and Noah—but from now on you shall bless whomsoever you wish (Genesis Rabbah 39:11). Another explanation is: And I will make you into a great nation, this alludes to the fact that we say in
Abraham moves to Canaan by Sweet Publishing/Free Bible Images is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0
The Lord make his face shine on you—i.e. may he show you a friendly (more lit., smiling) countenance—a beaming countenance.
And be gracious to you—May he grant you good favour (Sifrei Bamidbar 41).
26 the Lord lift his countenance [i.e., quell his anger] on you,
and give you peace.” ’
Rashi’s Commentary
The Lord lift his countenance on you—By suppressing his anger (Numbers Rabbah 11:7).
27 “So they will put my name [the Tetragrammaton] on the children of Israel, and I then will bless them” [i.e., I will “concur” in their blessing].
Rashi’s Commentary
They will put my name—i.e. they will bless them by the proper name of God (i. e. when uttering the blessings they will use the Tetragrammaton and no substitute for it) (Sifrei Bamidbar 43).
And I then will bless them—i.e. I will bless the Israelites: I will give My approval to the priests’ blessings (lit., I will agree with the priests).—Another explanation of “I then will bless them” is: “I then will bless the priests” (Chullin 49a).
Responsorial Psalm (Psa 67:2-3, 5-6, 8)
2 God be gracious to us and bless us,
and make his face to shine upon us [to give us dew and rain]—
Deu 21:8
Such a thing—Neither this nor anything like it (Genesis Rabbah 49:10).
Far be it from you—In the world to come.
Will . . . the Judge of all the earth—The “hey” of הֲשֹׁפֵט is punctuated with chataf pattach because the words express a question: “Will he who judges not practice true justice?”
6 May the peoples praise you, O God;
may all the peoples praise you.
8 God will bless us
and all the ends of the earth will fear him [saying: See how God has blessed and aggrandized those who feared him].