Rabbi Akiva Rutenberg

How does a human being have the power to give a blessing? >> [music] >> My colleagues and I at Emmet have celebrated in numerous weddings over the past few weeks. And there's a custom that right after the chuppah, the bride and groom bless their friends [music] and others. And it got me thinking, where is this power that suddenly right after the chuppah, they can give a blessing? Where does that come from? I was thinking that we can find an answer by looking at other places in Judaism where people give blessings. [music] We find that on Shabbat, right when Shabbat comes in, this universal custom that people bless their children [music] and bless others. A great sage, rabbi, rebbetzin can give a blessing at any time. [music] The kohen blesses the Jewish people. The sandak, or father of the baby, will [music] bless people after the bris. And finally, we find that when somebody is embarrassed in public [music] and they don't respond, they have a certain power right at that moment to bless. [music] What is the common denominator of all of these things? And I think the answer is that in all of these places, [music] the person feels connected to the ultimate source, which is Hashem. And when we feel connected to the source, we can bless others. [music] Avraham Avinu is told, "Mevarechecha baruch." Those who are blessed >> [music] >> can give blessings. Those who realize that they are blessed can bless others. [music] When we realize that we are connected to the source, we can bless others. The bride and groom at the moment of the chuppah are expanding themselves to allow another person into their life. At that moment, they have gone above themselves. They [music] can bless at that moment. When Shabbat comes in and we disengage from the week and we connect to Hashem, we connect to our essence, we feel that connection to the source. The kohen, when he blesses the Jewish people, is literally an antenna bringing [music] down the blessings from Hashem to us. sage at any moment can bless because they always feel connected to the source. The sandak at the bris recognizes that there's something so much greater and therefore they can bless. My blessing to everyone is that you will always realize that you are [music] a blessing, and therefore you will always be able to bless. >> [music]