But, in his enthusiasm, Malkitzedek committed one of the biggest faux pas in "blessing" history; first he blessed Avraham, "Blessed be Avram of G-d the Most High", and only then did he bless Hashem "…and Blessed be G-d the Most High." (Bereishis 14:19-20)
Hashem's response?
The Gemara in Nedarim (32b) says that although Hashem had originally planned for Malkitzedek's descendants to be the Kohanim (the priests in the Temple) his “ordering” mishap cost him this merit. After this affront to Hashem, Avraham spoke up to correct him: "Did you really just bless the servant before The King?!" (Someone had to say it!)
And just like that, the Kehuna (priesthood) got transferred to Avraham's line instead. (Parenthetically, the Ran, one of the commentaries on the Gemara, explains that even though Avraham also came from Malkitzedek, the meaning of the Gemara is that the priesthood was given to the descendants of Avraham in Avraham’s merit, no longer connected to Malkitzedek)
Fast forward to today: There is a beautiful minhag (tradition) to bless one’s children on Friday night before Kiddush.
Depending on the child’s gender, a parent either blesses them, “May Hashem make you like Efraim and Menashe” or “May Hashem make you like Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel, and Leah.”
But wait – are we not repeating Malkitzedek's mistake, to an even larger degree? While Malkitzedek blessed both Avraham and Hashem, albeit in the incorrect order, we bless our children without blessing Hashem at all!
Some people address this issue head on by first inserting a blessing to Hashem with the verse from Tehillim (Psalms), “Blessed is Hashem forever and ever.” (See Pele Yoetz Os Beis, based on Zohar 227)
But most people do not say this blessing so what do we do?
I’d like to suggest an answer. Another aspect of the blessing ritual is that the parent places a hand on their child’s head. The reason for this, Reishis Chochma explains, is because the hand has 14 parts to it, and including the hand as a whole, equals 15.
This corresponds to the 15 letters that are contained in Birches Kohanim (The Priestly Blessing, see Numbers 6:24-26).
It would emerge that by doing this hand-on head gesture, the parent is “tapping into” the way the Kohanim bless Klal Yisrael, which is a permissible way to bless.
In other words, although the parent is not verbally blessing Hashem first, since they are symbolically following a permissible way to bless someone, there is no issue.
So, when we place our hands on our children's heads, let’s remember that we're not just doing a meaningless ritual - we’re conferring the spiritual power of the Priestly Blessing onto them, doing a symbolic workaround to avoid “pulling a Malkitzedek”, and turning our kids’ heads into human joysticks and messing up their hair - all in one elegant gesture.
May Hashem be Blessed, and may you also have a blessed Shabbos!
(יח) וּמַלְכִּי־צֶ֙דֶק֙ מֶ֣לֶךְ שָׁלֵ֔ם הוֹצִ֖יא לֶ֣חֶם וָיָ֑יִן וְה֥וּא כֹהֵ֖ן לְאֵ֥ל עֶלְיֽוֹן׃ (יט) וַֽיְבָרְכֵ֖הוּ וַיֹּאמַ֑ר בָּר֤וּךְ אַבְרָם֙ לְאֵ֣ל עֶלְי֔וֹן קֹנֵ֖ה שָׁמַ֥יִם וָאָֽרֶץ׃ (כ) וּבָרוּךְ֙ אֵ֣ל עֶלְי֔וֹן אֲשֶׁר־מִגֵּ֥ן צָרֶ֖יךָ בְּיָדֶ֑ךָ וַיִּתֶּן־ל֥וֹ מַעֲשֵׂ֖ר מִכֹּֽל׃
“Blessed be Abram of God Most High,
Creator of heaven and earth.
(20) And blessed be God Most High,
Who has delivered your foes into your hand.” And [Abram] gave him a tenth of everything.
(א) יְשִׂימְךָ אֱלֹהִים כְּאֶפְרַיִם וְכִמְנַשֶּׁה.
יְשִׂימֵךְ אֱלֹהִים כְּשָׂרָה, רִבְקָה, רָחֵל וְלֵאָה.
(ב) יְבָרֶכְךָ אֲדֹנָי וְיִשְׁמְרֶךָ. יָאֵר אֲדֹנָי פָּנָיו אֵלֶיךָ וִיחֻנֶּךָּ. יִשָּׂא אֲדֹנָי פָּנָיו אֵלֶיךָ וְיָשֵׂם לְךָ שָׁלוֹם.
(1) May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh. May God make you like Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel, and Leah.
(2) May the Lord bless you and protect you. May the Lord shine His countenance upon you and give you grace. May the Lord lift His countenance upon you and give you peace.
ואמרו בזהר (חלק א דף רכז) דכשאדם רוצה לברך לחברו או לבנו וכיוצא, צריך לברך בתחלה להקדוש ברוך הוא, ואי לא מברך תחלה להקדוש ברוך הוא אנון ברכן לא אתקימו. וכן היה מנהג הרב מוהר"י חזק ז"ל דכשבא אליו אדם אחד לברכו, משים ידו על ראשו ואומר, יתברך שמו של הקדוש ברוך הוא, ואחר כך מברכו לאיש ההוא או לנער וכיוצא. כן כתב מוהרי"א ז"ל בספר "דבש לפי", עין שם.
(י) וילמד אדם לבנו כשהוא קטן לנשק על ידי אביו ואמו ורבו, ועל ידי הגדולים והחסידים, וכל מי שמנשק הקטן ידו צריך לשים את ידו עליו ולברכו, כי כשישים אדם ידו על ראש הקטן מתברך, שנאמר (בראשית מח, יד) וישלח ישראל את ימינו וגומר, וכתיב ויברכם ביום ההוא וגו', ובהנחת היד על ראש הקטן הוא מתברך, ורמז לדבר, ביד האדם ט"ו אברים כמנין ט"ו תיבות שבפסוקי יברכך ה' וישמרך וגו', כלומר יחולו על ראש הברכות שבג' פסוקים אלו שהם ט"ו כמנין אברי היד.
1) Saying thank you to a doctor, if can thank the doctor before Hashem (see Chasukei Chemed on Nedarim 32b, machlokes)
2) Making a beracha on the shnopps before saying “L'chaim!” by a simcha (see Pri Megadim 174, machlokes)
3) When someone sneezes and they say “lchaim tovim” if one can respond by immediately blessing to them or if one needs to first say a blessing to Hashem first. (Maharshal)