Chevre, this week’s parsha is Naso (נשא). In the parsha this week we have the priestly blessing. In Israel this happens in shul at least once a day, outside of Israel, this happens only during the holidays. I once heard a great explanation about why the priests turn their back to Jerusalem and to the ark holding the Torah scrolls and face the congregation. The priests are sending forth a blessing from their own reserves of blessing and sending it out onto the people in the congregation. Essentially, this will get replenished, but the priests are giving of themselves.

When we build things for ourselves or for others, we give of ourselves and invest in what we are doing. It’s hard not to connect to what we are doing. In my day job, I help customers with their cost optimization, with issues they run into and with the building of their infrastructures. It happens regularly that they have an obstacle and I/we present a few options with the pros and cons of those options and help the customer decide what direction to go in. Sometimes they accept my recommendation and sometimes they have reasons to go in another direction. Either way, we are invested in the success of the customer and are constantly looking for ways to help them be more efficient, more economical and more resilient.

I encourage everyone to give of their true selves to their fellows. I personally find this to be the most rewarding and it eventually comes back 10-fold. Shabbat Shalom.