Rabbi Tzvi Hirsch Weinreb moved with his family to Maryland to pursue a career in psychology. At one point, he was going through a difficult time and decided to call the Rebbe for guidance. The Rebbe’s secretary answered the phone and asked the caller to identify himself. Not wanting to disclose his name due to the sensitive nature of his inquiry, Rabbi Weinreb simply replied, “a Jew from Maryland.”
And he went on to outline the questions for which he wanted the Rebbe’s guidance: uncertainties regarding his life, career, and faith. Suddenly, Rabbi Weinreb heard the Rebbe’s voice in the background. “Tell him, there’s a Jew in Maryland with whom he can speak. His name is Weinreb.” The secretary repeated the Rebbe’s words.
“Do you understand what the Rebbe said?” asked the secretary. “Yes,” Rabbi Weinreb exclaimed to the secretary. “But my name is Weinreb.” Rabbi Weinreb then heard the Rebbe’s voice on the other line. “If that’s the case, he should know that sometimes one needs to speak to oneself.”
This powerful story reminds me of a beautiful teaching by the Menachem Tzion.The priestly blessings which are found in this week’s parshah are written in the singular tense. This is because of brachah. is more powerful when it’s addressed to our specific tailored needs, reflecting Hashem blessing us individually. However, when it comes to the last phrase in the final posuk, veyasem lecha shalom, the singular tense seems misplaced.
The concluding blessing of birchas kohanim is a brachah for peace. Peace is a state of being between various entities. Whether it’s two distinct individuals, nations at war, or different factions of society, peace is when these separate perspectives are able to coexist. Why is the blessing said in the singular?
Would it not have been more appropriate to recite it in the plural? The Menachem Tzion provides a profound insight. While the challenge of peace usually presents two external opposing forces, the start of peace is an internal state of being. When a person is at war within themselves, when they are conflicted and fragmented, it expresses itself in the way they approach the world around them.
The disappointment, the tension, and inner unrest are projected onto others. Peace. Only when a person is at peace with themselves can they achieve peace with their surroundings. A wholesome person can unite with another. A divided person only sees themselves versus the other. The first step towards peace is internal, not external.
A person has to have an introspective conversation with themselves in order to face the world around them in a positive and unifying way. That is what the Rebbe was telling Rabbi Weinreb. If you seek to find your calling, if you wish to influence and interface with the world around you, you need to know yourself first.
Now we can appreciate the brachah of peace being recited in the singular form. The brachah reminds us that to increase outer peace, we have to release our inner conflict. As Wayne Dyer once said, “Change the way you look at things, and the things you look at will change.”
Wishing you a wonderful Shabbos.
