If the chazan forgets Birkat Kohanim

Hi,

If the chazan forgets Birkat Kohanim and begins "Sim Shalom", he still returns to Birkat Kohanim when he realizes the mistake, unless he actually completes the berachah of "Sim Shalom". After that, it is too late to go back.

(Rivivot Ephraim 1:95)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Interrupting during Birkat Kohanim

Hi,

It appears that one who is in a minyan where Birkat Kohanim is taking place should not respond 'Amen' to a berachah overheard from an individual's private prayer, or from another minyan. This is most relevant at the Kotel, of course.

(Rivivot Ephraim 1:95)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Duchening in loafers

Hi,

We say that a kohen is not supposed to perform birchat kohanim (duchening) in shoes, because we are concerned that he might need to tie or fix a lace, and his hands are supposed to be clean for this ritual. That might lead one to suggest that a kohen could perform birchat kohanim in loafers, which lack laces, but the "no shoes" rule is implemented across the board, and so loafers are not permitted.

(Rivivot Ephraim 1:94:4)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

A kohen with a bandage

Hi,

A kohen may perform birkat kohanim (the blessing of the nation via the kohanim) with a bandage on his hand; this does not disqualify the handwashing preceding the ritual. [Rivivot Ephraim does not discuss whether the bandage would be considered a distraction for the congregation; apparently, he does not believe this is an issue.]

(Rivivot Ephraim 1:94:1)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Raising one's hands as the kohanim do

Hi,

A non-kohen may separate the fingers of his hands as kohanim do when they perform birkat kohanim, but he should not hold them up over his head as though giving the berachah.

(Rivivot Ephraim 1:93:2)

חג עצמאות שמח,
Mordechai

"Baruch Hu uVaruch Shmo" during Birchat Kohanim

Hi,

Many Ashkenazim do not respond "Baruch Hu uVaruch Shmo ברוך הוא וברוך שמו" when hearing the Name of Gd during Birchat Kohanim, lest that disrupt the concentration of others. Those who do recite this response should do so quietly.

(Rivivot Ephraim 1:93:1)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Birchat Kohanim without a minyan

Hi,

If a minyan is davening, and after the chazan began the repetition of the amidah one of them left the room, the chazan completes the repetition, but they should not perform birchat kohanim. Birchat kohanim is actually a separate ritual, which is embedded in the amidah.

(Rivivot Ephraim 1:92)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Covering one's face during Birkat Kohanim

Hi,

There is no obligation for people to cover their eyes or faces when hearing Birkat Kohanim; they cannot see the hands of the kohanim in any case, for the kohanim cover their hands. However, this is a good practice.

(Rav Moshe Feinstein, Igrot Moshe Orach Chaim 5:24:4)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

In the amidah during Birkat Kohanim

Hi,

One who is reciting the amidah (shemoneh esreih) when the kohanim begin their blessing (birkat kohanim) should pause until the blessing is over. If he is standing along the wall of the aron kodesh, so that he is behind the kohanim, he should move to be in front of them.

(Rav Moshe Feinstein, Igrot Moshe Orach Chaim 5:20:23)

חג אורים שמח,
Mordechai

The mitzvah of receiving a blessing via the kohanim

Hi,

One who lives in a community where the kohanim perform birkat kohanim (conveying a Divine blessing to the community) is obligated to go receive it, whether he or she is living in a place where this is done daily, or only where this is done on Yom Tov.

Those who cannot go due to work, illness, responsibility for those who are ill, or responsibility for small children, are in the category of oness and are exempt.

(Rav Moshe Feinstein, Igrot Moshe Orach Chaim 5:20:23)

חג אורים שמח,
Mordechai

Kohanim washing their own hands

Hi,

Kohanim may not wash their own hands before birchat kohanim, even if using Leviyyim makes the process more time-consuming.

(Rav Moshe Feinstein, Igrot Moshe Orach Chaim 4:127:2)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Duchening on Yom Kippur which is also Shabbat

Hi,

Kohanim should perform Birchat Kohanim on Yom Tov and Yom Kippur even if those occur on Shabbat.

The Magen Avraham (128:70) does offer two explanations to justify the practice of refraining from Birchat Kohanim on Yom Tov which is also Shabbat - 1) Concern that people might say the supplicative paragraphs inserted in Birchat Kohanim, which should not be recited on Shabbat, and 2) Concern that the kohanim may have been with their wives the night before, and will not have gone to mikvah in the interim. However, neither point is irrelevant for Yom Kippur, when one may recite those paragraphs and when procreation is prohibited.

(Rav Moshe Feinstein, Igrot Moshe Orach Chaim 3:18)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Birkat Kohanim

Hi,

It is clear that kohanim are obligated to offer a blessing in Birkat Kohanim (aka duchening); according to some, the non-kohanim present are obligated to remain present and accept that blessing.

Even according to the view that non-kohanim are obligated to accept the blessing, the opening berachah (אשר קדשנו בקדושתו של אהרן) is only upon the mitzvah of the kohanim, and not of the rest of the minyan. Therefore, the listeners could, theoretically, say "Baruch Hu uVaruch Shmo" in their response to the berachah, without that response constituting an interruption. However, we avoid this lest their be any disturbance at all in the course of Birkat Kohanim.

(Rav Moshe Feinstein, Igrot Moshe Orach Chaim 3:17)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Duchening with a prosthetic foot

Hi,

A Kohen who has a prosthetic foot may perform nesiat kappayim (duchening, blessing the community). Ideally he should remove his shoes, but if this is not possible, or if his lack of biological feet is obvious when he wears socks, then he should wear shoes which do not have laces.

(Rav Moshe Feinstein, Igrot Moshe Orach Chaim 2:32)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Having a Jew who violates Shabbat publicly perform nesiut kappayim

Hi,

A kohen who violates Shabbat in public because of desire for money rather than out of disbelief in the Torah may perform נשיאות כפים (the blessing of the kohanim), in a community where people who do that are normally permitted to perform the blessing. It is known that such violation is not out of rejection of the Torah.

However, a community is empowered to prohibit this practice, even if it means the blessing will not take place at all, in order to discourage desecration of Shabbat.

(Rav Moshe Feinstein, Igrot Moshe Orach Chaim 1:33)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Blessing our children with Birkat Kohanim

Hi,

In addition to asking Gd to bless our children to be like our ancestors, we also invoke Birkat Kohanim, from Bamidbar 6:24-27. This is likely because the introduction and postscript to those passages identifies them as the way we should always be blessed.

There is some debate about having non-kohanim use this blessing, based on Ketuvot 24b. However, authorities (Bach and Maharsha, for example) do permit its use so long as one does not imitate the hand-formations of the kohanim.

For more on this, see commentaries to Shabbat 118b, in which R' Yosi - a non-kohen - seems to say that he would perform birkat hakohanim upon request.

Have a great day,
Mordechai