Parshat Naso: The quiet power of the Jewish family - opinion

Many philosophers – Edmund Burke, Alexis de Tocqueville, and G.K. Chesterton, to name just three – have recognized the family as the crucible of civilization. Melanie Phillips noted in her latest book, The Builder’s Stone, that one of the greatest contributions of Judaism to Western moral architecture has been the centrality it gives to the institution of marriage and the sanctity of the family.

The Jewish home, anchored in the covenantal commitment between husband and wife and nurtured by the rhythm of Torah life, is the original school of the spirit, the first forum of moral instruction, and the primary place where values are handed on across generations.

Recent empirical research has confirmed what the Torah has always taught: Stable families, in which both parents remain committed to one another, tend to produce children who flourish.

One study (British Educational Research Journal, 2015) showed that such families are associated with significantly greater levels of educational attainment. Another (Journal of Marriage and Family, 2019) demonstrated that they are more likely to pass on wealth and financial security across generations. A third (International Journal of Social Economics, 2022) found a strong correlation between family stability and the moral development of children.

This week’s Torah portion, Naso, contains a passage so familiar that its poetry sometimes hides its depth: the Priestly Blessing. Recited daily in the synagogue, at weddings, and said by parents to their children on Friday nights, it is one of the oldest continuously used texts in all of human civilization. Three lines, fifteen words – yet they convey a vision of what it means to live under the shelter of the Divine Presence.

“May Hashem cause His face to shine upon you and be gracious to you.”

“May Hashem lift up His face toward you and grant you peace.”

According to Rabbi Shlomo Ephraim Luntschitz, better known as the Kli Yakar, these three lines mirror the three partners in the creation of a child: the father, the mother, and God. It is a blessing not just for individuals but for the family unit itself, the foundational structure of continuity.

Rashi, ever the master of plain meaning, explains the first blessing as a prayer for material prosperity – “May God grant you wealth” – and for its safekeeping. In other words, not only that you be blessed but that your blessing endures. That is the very definition of intergenerational wealth, not a passing windfall but a guarded legacy.

Rabbi Ovadia Sforno, with his characteristic fusion of Torah and humanism, reads the second verse as a blessing for enlightenment – that we should be illuminated by the light of Torah.

In a surprising turn, Rabbi Joseph ben Isaac Bechor Shor reinterprets the phrase “gracious to you” not as “grace” but as dwelling – that the light of knowledge should not merely pass through us but remain with us, abide with us, and be transmitted. Here, too, we see the theme of continuity: education that endures.

And what of the third and final verse?

This is the quiet power of the Jewish family. Through it, we do not merely raise children; we raise a future. Through it, the covenant is not just remembered; it is renewed. In a world that prizes novelty but often forgets legacy, the Priestly Blessing reminds us that continuity is itself a spiritual achievement.

The Torah described what the modern world is now relearning: Civilizations are built by families, sustained by education, enriched by shared values, and blessed, ultimately, by the presence of God. May we, through strong homes and steadfast commitments, be worthy of this ancient and enduring blessing.

The writer, a rabbi, is an educator living in Efrat. His book Transforming the World: The Jewish Impact on Modernity was republished in English and Hebrew in memory of his wife, Lucy, and daughters, Maia and Rina, who were murdered by terrorists in April 2023.