Priestly Blessing and Inheritance

As originally appeared in The Jerusalem Post on June 6, 2025.

“Not being beautiful was the true blessing. Not being beautiful forced me to develop my inner resources. The pretty girl has a handicap to overcome.” -Golda Meir

In this week’s Torah portion, Naso, we read about the Priestly Blessing. I am reminded by that old joke. “A man approached the rabbi of his synagogue and said to him, “Rabbi, please make me a Cohen.” The rabbi, taken aback, tells him that it is impossible! He then offers the Rabbi $1,000, but the Rabbi won’t budge. He offers $5,000 and the Rabbi says, “Sorry, I can’t do it”. He offers $10,00 and the Rabbi asks, “Why do you want to be a Cohen so badly?” The man answers, “Rabbi, my father was a Cohen; my grandfather was a Cohen. I want to be a Cohen, too!”

What is interesting is that immediately following the 15-word blessing, we read about the sacrificial offerings that each of the twelve tribal princes brought on consecutive days during the inauguration period of the Mishkan. What is the connection between these gifts and the priestly blessing, and why do the princes bring similar gifts? Why can’t they bring whatever they want?

The last word of the priestly blessing is ‘Shalom,’ peace. Rabbi Jonathan Sachs writes, “The 15th-century Spanish Jewish commentator Rabbi Isaac Arama explains that shalom means completeness, perfection, and the harmonious working of a complex system…. Peace exists where each element in the system is valued as a vital part of the system and where there is no discord between them.” I would say that the identicalness of the princely gifts is all about harmony. No one-upmanship between tribes. Richer tribes couldn’t exhibit their wealth by bringing more expensive or a greater number of gifts. Everyone was equal, and as such,h a harmonious atmosphere was created.

A few days ago, I sat with clients who were coming into a rather large inheritance. They were clearly overwhelmed about what to do with all the money. The first bit of advice that I gave them was to do nothing. As the money comes in, put it into a short 2–3-month deposit. Nothing is going to happen if your money is ‘not working for you’ for a couple of months.

I then told them to go home, take out a pen and paper, and make a list of the top 5 things they want to do with the money. After completing the list, I recommend putting it into a drawer for 3 months, and then at the end of August, do the same exercise again. Then take out the first list and compare the two. Often, I see that being relaxed and having a bit more perspective will create different goals. I explained to them that ultimately, their goals and needs will be the main driver of how the money should be invested, which is another reason to hold off investing for a few months.

Then they really opened up to me and mentioned that because they were in Israel, for various reasons, they were being shortchanged. She was offended by that, and while it was a very large sum, in relation to their take of the inheritance, it barely made a dent in it. Based on my experience, I told them that it pays to be the ‘frier’ (loosely translated as a sucker) and get a bit less in order to keep the family on speaking terms. The best way to honor parents posthumously is for the children to be on speaking terms with each other. Far too often, I see siblings stand on principle, and disaster ensues. The best of families are broken apart by inheritance issues. Often, it’s not even because of the money, but rather all the dirty old laundry comes out as one child feels that the parents loved the other child more.

I’ve mentioned here multiple times how I know a family that gets charity food packages every week because they have no money. They are actually worth $6-7 million. Their parents died, and they owned a lot of property in a large US city. One of the family members believes that he should get an extra million from each sibling because he took care of the parents for many years. The rest of the siblings disagree, and for nearly 20 years, they have received virtually nothing. I told my acquaintance that they should just give him the million. After all, they have no food! For them, there is no difference between $5 and $6 million.

It’s unfortunate that I only came across this a few hours before sitting down to write this column, as I could have used this earlier in the week during the meeting with my client, which confirms my philosophy of demanding less in order to keep families whole, and the importance of keeping family unity. Rabbi Yissocher Frand writes, “The Medrash says that shalom is so critical that even the deceased need shalom, as it is written “And you will come to your fathers in shalom.” This does not mean that the deceased fight, but rather, if those who are still living fight with one another then the deceased have no peace either. Unfortunately, such stories occur on a daily basis. Someone dies, there is a contested will, the children are not happy with the division and families get into the most bitter of arguments. The Medrash is saying that if these problems of the living are not solved, even the dead will have no peace.”

The information contained in this article reflects the opinion of the author and not necessarily the opinion of Portfolio Resources Group, Inc. or its affiliates.

Aaron Katsman is the author of Retirement GPS: How to Navigate Your Way to A Secure Financial Future with Global Investing (McGraw-Hill), and is a licensed financial professional both in the United States and Israel, and helps people who open investment accounts in the United States. Securities are offered through Portfolio Resources Group, Inc. (www.prginc.net). Member FINRA, SIPC, MSRB, SIFMA, FSI. For more information, call (02) 624-0995 visit www.aaronkatsman.com or email aaron@lighthousecapital.co.il.