When I was young I attended a prep school that was predominantly Jewish in enrollment or so it seemed. I had lots of Jewish friends that I spent time with not only in school but outside of school. Some played in our rock band, others invited me over for feasts and gatherings and get-togethers.

I understood the Jewish culture somewhat. After leaving Connecticut I had no real contact with the Jewish community until a business I had brought me once again into relationships with them. Not long after that I found my relationship with Christ. Immediately, through our first church I had a number of Jewish believers I fellowshipped with. Again, I was pulled into their culture and what the Jewish follower believed. It was through this I began to understand the scriptures of Old Testament. I studied feasts, customs and more.Recently I came to the conclusion if you will that Christ did not come to remove a religion but to restore it. (And please keep in mind it is neither Jew nor Gentile in Christ. Galatians 3:28)

All that said as a simple introduction to what I write here. A few weeks ago I found myself returning to the study of various things. One of these things was the practice of blessing.

In Genesis God said to Abram, “I will bless thee who bless thee.” Genesis 12:3 Wow! That is pretty powerful. Want to be blessed? Be blessed by others. And Jesus said in Mark 11:24-26 to forgive people that they might be forgiven.

Statistic-Of the 660 Nobel prizes from 1901-1990, 160 have been won by Jewish people. They have won more Nobel prizes than any other ethnicity. They have won 40 times more than should be expected of them based upon population statistics.

That is a little ground work for this. Many Jewish parents have taken on the custom of blessing their children on Friday nights and special occasions. I watched my friends have “hands laid on them” as their parents blessed them. There was a part of me that “made fun” of it as a child but longed for that to happen to me. The closest thing to a blessing I heard as a child was “you are better than that” usually following “G__D___ you!”

Someone asked me yesterday if my job was “visiting family.” In part it is. Because of the preceding.

The words they used were derived from the scriptures in Numbers 6:24-26. For boys they would say, “May you be like Ephraim and Menashe. יְשִׂימְךָ אֱלהיִם כְּאֶפְרַיְם וְכִמְנַשֶּׁה” The girls would hear “May you be like Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel, and Leah. יְשִׂימֵךְ אֱלהיִם כְּשָׂרָה רִבְקָה רָחֵל וְלֵאָה” The rest of the blessing was this;

May God bless you and guard you.
יְבָרֶכְךָ יְהוָה וְיִשְׁמְרֶךָ
May God show you favor and be gracious to you.
יָאֵר יְהוָה פָּנָיו  אֵלֶיךָ וִיחֻנֶּךָּ

May God show you kindness and grant you peace.
יִשָּׂא יְהוָה פָּנָיו אֵלֶיךָ וְיָשֵׂם לְךָ שָׁלום

They of lay hands upon the head of the child. After the blessing, some parents take a moment to whisper something to their child–praising him or her for something he or she did during the week, or conveying some extra encouragement and love. Almost every family concludes the blessing with a kiss or a hug.

Even after they had moved away, many of my friends received a weekly call from mom and dad to bless them.

One of the questions I had was why Ephraim and Menashe. A little research revealed that they were the first pair of brothers who did not compete with one another. The thought being that part of the blessing by this, would be unity and harmony. (Psalm 133). Another thought was that despite being in an Egyptian culture they maintained their Judaism.

Either would be widely accepted by a Christian parent! Children who would hold fast to their values and not argue!

I do believe in blessing my children as well as every person I come in contact with. When I say “God bless you” it is not the same as “good bye” to me but rooted in my deep belief that blessing is conveyed and your life changes as the result of the encounter. I often touch people on the shoulder to release blessing to people. I will always shake one’ s hand for the same purpose.

I encourage you not to take the blessing above and make it some rote prayer, but truly seek to bless your children and others every opportunity you get.

For truly that is the “noble prize.”