The priestly blessing ends with “May the Lord lift up His countenance upon you and grant you peace.”
It is a lovely blessing. And I think there are layers of meaning that welcome investigation. I am just going to look at two specific words: “grant” and “peace.”
What do they actually mean in the Torah?
Grant:
The word for “grant” is not the common Hebrew word for “give,” natan. Instead, the root word has two letters, spelling shom. Shom in the Torah is used in these kinds of examples:
G-d planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and placed there the Human who had been fashioned. (G. 2:8) … And G-d placed a mark on Cain (G. 4:15)
There seems to be something deeper here than merely “giving.” Adam and the Garden of Eden were a set pair. And Cain’s mark was more than merely a symbol or a locket: the mark of Cain changed who he was. It seems, then, that there is a shift in identity that goes with this word.
Which might explain what is otherwise a pun: shom is the very same root as the word for “name.”
And G-d formed out of the earth all the wild beasts and all the birds of the sky, and brought them to the Human to see what he would call them; and whatever the Human called each living creature, that would be its name. (G. 2:19) … The Human named his wife Eve, because she was the mother of all the living. (G. 3:20)
Eve is named for her identity, for her purpose – and vice versa! A name is not merely an external appellation – instead, a name is the very identity of a person or animal:
Later in the Torah, G-d makes this even more explicit, when the word shom is used twice in a verse, emphasizing the quality of making an identity integral to a person or place. When describing Jerusalem as the only place the people are allowed to bring offerings, the Torah says:
The site that your G-d will choose amidst all your tribes as God’s habitation, to install the divine name there. (D. 12:5)
In sum: the priestly blessing, when telling us that G-d will shom us with peace, is not describing peace as something that is given, like an object. Instead, the blessing is that we will become entirely filled with peace, that peace will become as much a part of who we are as our own names are.
Peace:
The word for “peace,” shalom is first found when G-d reassures Avraham of how he will be able to look back on his life: You shall go to your ancestors in peace; You shall be buried at a ripe old age. The meaning is clear enough: Avraham will be able to look back on his life with a sense of satisfaction for a job well done. This understanding of peace is not the same as the sense of doves and tranquility; it seems to be closer to the inner peace that a person feels when they have worked hard, and know they have applied themselves well. Peace is thus the state of being untroubled, without residual bad feelings (as it is used elsewhere in the text).
“G-d will grant you peace,” thus means we should be imbued with a deep and untroubled sense of accomplishment.