What are the connotations of "Yevarech'cha Hashem Veyishm'recha"?
Rashi #1. R. Bachye #1 and Seforno: 'Hashem will bless you with wealth 1 and guard it against robbers'. 2
Rashi #2 (in his initial manuscript) and R. Bachye #2: 'Hashem will bless you with sons and guard your daughters' - since daughters require protection'.
Ramban (according to Kabalah): Hashem will bless you from above 3 and guard you - like Zachor and Shamor, respectively.
R. Bachye #2 (citing the Tanchuma): 'Hashem will bless you with wealth and that you will perform the Mitzvos'. 4
Ba'al ha'Turim #2: The first letters of "Yevarech'cha Hashem Veyishm'recha" - 'Yud' 'Yud' 'Vav' - add up to twenty-six, corresponding to Hashem's Name 'Havayah', whereas the last letters 'Chaf' 'Hey' 'Chaf' add up to forty-five, corresponding to Hashem's Name of forty-five letters. 7
Ba'al ha'Turim #3: The three words in the Pasuk recall the merits of Avraham, Yitzchak and Ya'akov. The fifteen letters of "Yevarech'cha Hashem Veyishm'recha" correspond to the fifteen years that the Avos lived together, and correspond to the three Avos plus the twelve tribes, on hoe merits Yisrael are blessed.
Ba'al ha'Turim #4: The Gematriyah of "Yevarech'cha Hashem" = 'bi'Nechasim u've'Guf'.
Targum Yonasan: 'Hashem will bless all your business dealings and guard you against all kinds of demons'. 8
Sifri: 'He will bless you with the B'rachos written explicitly in the Torah 9 - as the Pasuk writes in Devarim, 28:3 "Baruch Atah ba'Ir u'Varuch Atah ba'Sadeh ...", Baruch Tan'acha u'Mish'arecha"; "Baruch Atah be'Vo'echa" and He will uphold the covenant that He made with your fathers - as the Torah will write in Devarim 7:12 "Veshamar Hashem Elokecha l'cha es ha'Beris ve'es ha'Chesed asher Nishba la'Avosecha". 10
Seforno: Because 'If there is no flour there is no Torah' (Avos, 3:17). Ba'al ha'Turim.
Rashi and R. Bachye: To safeguard the first B'rachah - something that a human benefactor is unable to guarantee. See R. Bachye.
See R. Chavel's footnotes.
R. Bachye (citing another explanation iof "Veyishm'recha" in the Tanchuma): 'And He will protect youfro all evil.
Ba'al ha'Turim: About whom the Torah wrote "va'Hashem Beirach es Avraham ba'Kol" (Bereishis 24:1). And the three words correspond to the three B'rachos that Hashem blessed him in Bereishis 12:2 & 3.
"Ba'al ha'Turi: Yevarech'cha" corresponds to Avraham, "Ya'er" to Yitzchak and "Yisa" to Ya'akov. See Ba'al ha'Turim here and on Pasuk 25 & 26.
Ba'al ha'Turim: Hence the Pasuk writes in Tehilim - 121:8 - "Hashem Yishmor Tzeischa u'Vo'echa me'Atah ve'Ad Olam".
See Torah Temimah, note 144 and Oznayim la'Torah in Pasuk 26 DH 'Veyasem l'cha Shalom'.
See Torah Temimah, who discusses a number of other D'rashos that the Chachamim made on the current Pasuk.
Seeing as the Kohanim are blessing the community, why are the B'rachos said in the singular?
Ha'amek Davar: Because although the B'rachah is communal, each person receives the B'rachah according to his desert.
"Yevarech'cha Hashem Veyishm'recha". What is the significance of the three, five and seven words respectively, in the three Pesukim of Birchas Kohanim?
R. Bachye (citing a Midrash): They hint at the Sheloshah Avos - to evoke the B'ris Avos; the Chamishah Chumshei Torah - which were given to Yisrael on the merit of the Avos, 1 and the seven heavens (which say to Yisrael 'The One who dwells in the seven heavens will bless you!' - R. Chavel's footnotes). 2 3
"Yevarech'cha Hashem Veyishm'recha". What is the significance of the fifteen, twenty and twenty-five letters, respectively, in the three Pesukim of Birchas Kohanim?
R. Bachye: 15 = 'Kah", 20 = 'Hayah' and 25 = 'Y'hi' - representing present, past and future, indicate that Hashem - who is mentioned in each of the three Pesukim rules over past, present and future. 1 2
This is the source for the 'Pasuk' that we recite in "Y'hi Ch'vod' "Hashem Melech, Hashem Malach Hashem Yimloch Le'olam Va'ed". See R. Bachye on page 35 who elaborates.
R. Bachye (citing the Tanchuma): And the sixty letters of Birchas Kohanim are synonymous with the 'sixty Giborim' mentioned in Shirr Hashirim 3:7. See R. Bachye on Pasuk 24 p.33.
