Shabbat

 

 

In this portion Moses blesses וus all with a blessing to Israel to "become 1000 times"

 

And moses follows it saying "and the Almighty will give you his blessings too"

 

Most of the commentaries keep it numerical:

 

That israel should become 1000 times its desert population

 

And that Hashems blessing is unlimited in number

 

But if we look beyond the straight translation

 

And look back and forward in history for the hidden meaning

 

It might be a blessing that

 

1000 times we might be struck down like on Tisba Bav 

but 1000 we bounce back

 

And 1000 blessings our people have bestowed on the world

like the idea of liberty from slavery: AND

 

through  our geniuses like medical

and science (and NOBEL) prize winnners

 

And 1000 places in e world where our people 

may have been scattered to and have STILL

enlightened those around them

 

and 1000 blessings like the great Rabbi Akiva and the Lubavitcher Rebbe

( 2000 years apart    )

  And  1000 great moral leaders

who remain the 

The moral standard bearers

 

in a world often bought off or lured off course by short

term glitz and spins and PR marketing

 

Mose's 1000  times blessing is maybe on our impact on the world around us 

 

And his reminder of 

the Almighty' s blessing maybe is to show us the whole path of the Blessings of Israel

 

Shabbat Shalom

 

Rabbi Andy Eichenholz