The Priests’ Blessing: Parshat Naso, Jewish Art

The priests are shown blessing the people. The priestly blessing is still in practice today, and in Israel is part of the regular Shabbat service. In my picture, the people are shown with their heads bowed, while three priests (cohanim) bless them. This is what they say:

May the LORD bless you and protect you
May the LORD deal kindly and graciously with you
May the LORD bestow His favor upon you and grant you peace

יְבָרֶכְךָ ה’ וְיִשְׁמְרֶךָ.
יָאֵר ה’ פָּנָיו אֵלֶיךָ וִיחֻנֶּךָּ.
יִשָּׂא ה’ פָּנָיו אֵלֶיךָ וְיָשֵׂם לְךָ שָׁלוֹם.

Acrylic on canvas, 40cm x 30cm

A work-in-progress photo of this painting can be seen on the following page: Parshat Naso blog post.

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Priests' blessing, Jewish art, illustrated Torah portions, Bible art, Old Testament art, Parshat Naso

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Jewish art - Parshat Naso (detail) - the Priests' Blessing

The Priests’ Blessing, shown here in an original work of Jewish art from Israel (detail above). Fun fact: In the TV series Star Trek, the late Leonard Nimoy used the priestly “v-sign” as Mr Spock’s Vulcan greeting. Here is a description of the blessing as practiced today: https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/the-priestly-blessing/

For an interesting photo of my painting during the early stages, click on:

Parshat Naso blog post

And here is a video of the priests’ blessing as performed today at the huge gathering at Pessach (Passover) at the Kotel in Jerusalem (the Western Wall of the Temple):