You shall be to Me a kingdom of priests. (Ex. 19:6)
What is a priest, a cohen, in the Torah? The word appears precisely 10 times before this verse. Could its first use in the text help us understand what it means to be a “kingdom of priests”?
The very first priest, cohen, mentioned in the Torah is MalchiTzedek. What does he do?
[He] brought out bread and wine … Blessed Avram … and blessed G-d…
Is this the model for us to follow? That we should bring out bread and wine, bless those who serve G-d, and then bless G-d Himself?
Is this not a pretty good summary of how Jews, both individually and as a nation, are supposed to behave in the world? Do we not seek to spread the recognition of G-d in the world? And when we make blessings, do we not also increase the importance of G-d in the minds of all who listen?
By using cohen in both places, is the Torah leading us to this conclusion: we should emulate Malchi-Tzedek, by seeing G-d’s hands at work in the world around us, by giving credit to Hashem?
Bonus: Does MalchiTzedek, by using bread and wine when blessing, set a trend for Jews today?