הכתב והקבלה — ויבא משה ואהרן אל אהל מועד ויצאו ויברכו את העם

Q — 'ויבא משה ואהרן אל אהל מועד ויצאו ויברכו את העם' — read straightforwardly, the brachah comes *after* the exit from the ohel mo'ed. But Rashi says the entry was to pray for the Shechinah to descend — so was the prayer/brachah before or after the exit?

A — HaKtav VeHaKabbalah identifies the vav of 'ויברכו' as a *pluperfect vav* — 'and they HAD blessed' (past-tense referring to time before the immediately preceding verb). He cites parallels: 'הן אתה קצפת ונחטא' (Yeshayahu 64:4 — 'we had already sinned'); 'וגבר ימות ויחלש' (Iyov 14:10 — and he had already weakened); 'וירם תולעים ויבאש' (Shemot 16:20 — Rashi: it stank first, then bred worms). The chronology is: Moshe and Aharon entered the ohel mo'ed → there they prayed for the Shechinah and *had* blessed the people → then they exited. The verse holds together. Hebrew's vav-consecutive isn't always strictly sequential.