Rabbi's Blog

This past week we enjoyed the Yom Tov of Shavuos. Among the many highlights of any festival is the theatrical episode that takes place during the Mussaf service commonly known as 'Duchaning' - the priestly blessings. The reason this is a big deal is due to the custom that Ashkenazic Jews only experience this "happening" on festivals. In Israel duchaning takes place every day; Sephardim Duchan every day even outside the land of Israel. In the Aruch Hashulchan siman128 #64, Rav Yechiel Michel Epstein writes: there is absolutely no good reason why we have done away with Duchaning outside of Israel. We should be doing it all year round; it is bad custom not to. But what can we do? It's as if a heavenly voice came down and told us not to do it. In fact, he writes that there are two independent, corroborated stories of two great Rabbis who tried to re-introduce the birkas Kohanim in the diaspora on a daily basis. In both cases, when the day this was supposed to take place arrived, a great confusion occurred in the city. The Rabbis took it as a great sign from Hashem that this was the decree; Duchaning should remain as is, not to be recited daily outside of Eretz Yisrael. I remember as a child there was always a big to-do and excitement regarding shielding children with their fathers' Talaisim and being warned not to look at the Kohanim while they were blessing the people. It should be noted that one is not supposed to turn away from the Kohanim in order to avoid seeing them. Rather, they should cover their eyes, look down, or peer into the siddur, but should always face the Kohanim in order to show our desire to receive the blessings. The procedure of 'Duchaning' has the Kohanim reciting a Bracha and then being fed the fifteen-word incantation taken directly from three Pesukim in the Torah. In my youth I recalled the great cantors singing, elongating these words that the Kohanim would then repeat. The reason the Chazzan says the word first is because the Kohain lifts up his hands and doesn't have the ability to look at or read the words, so he may come to forget which word he is up to. My son-in-law, who is a Kohain, explained to me that it is very difficult to keep one's hands raised in the air for an extended period of time; he was therefore grateful to me after I had been leading Mussaf and said the words quickly, unlike the cantors of yesteryear. During the Birkas Kohanim the congregation hears the words in stereo.Which voice do we pay more attention to? The obvious answer is we listen to the Kohanim, as the shliach tzibbur in this case is almost a non-factor. If there aren't any Kohanim present, then the Shliach tzibbur himself actually says those same words as a reminder of the Kohain's blessings. The chazzan, in the repetition, asks Hashem to bless us just the way the Kohanim would if they were present. But when Kohanim are present, the Shliach Tzibbur calls out "KOHANIM". The Sifrei tells us that the cantor must call out and tell the Kohanim to bless us. Why? Rav Yitzhak Konstadt (1866-1881), author of sermons collected as Luach Erez, published in Krakow in 1886, explains that the Kohanim are called out to bless the people because Bnei Yisrael would want them to be blessed and flourish so they would receive more in return. If the Kohanim came to bless the people on their own, it could be misconstrued as if there might be an ulterior motive in giving the Bracha, so they should get more. Therefore, they don't come to bless until they are called upon and show they aren't doing it for themselves. Furthermore, during the actual performance of blessing, the Kohanim lift up their hands, open palms facing outward to show their hands are empty but are ready to receive any gifts from now on. Although their hands are shown to the people, they face upward as a sign to themselves that all sustenance comes from above and should not come to rely on the people's gifts. The bracha concludes with the word Shalom/Peace as if to say they are not doing this in order to get anything, but rather to bestow peace and tranquility on Klal Yisrael. Rabbi Moshe Leib Erblich of Sassov (1745-1807), (a disciple of Rabbi Dov Ber of Mezeritch, the disciple of the Baal Shem Tov, the founder of Hasidism) states that the entire incantation of Birkas Kohanim is said in the singular. This, he explains, is because the main sticking point for the Jewish people to receive blessings is when there is Achdus/Unity amongst the Jewish people. Just as we stood at Har Sinai "K'Ish Echad B'Lev Echad" - "as one man with one heart" , so, too,we read on Shavuos, Vayichan Yisrael, and the Jewish people encamped as one person, also stressing the singular. When are people, families, communities truly successful? When are they not successful? Look around. If they are the recipients of true Bracha, they are successful. A true blessing is only effective, it can only come when there is peace and shalom directed to the recipient of that bracha. When there is dissension within the ranks, there is no receptacle for the bracha to take hold. If there is Shalom, if there is genuine peace and tranquility, then the blessing will find a place for itself. We've just concluded the Yom Tov of Shavuos where we re-enact the receiving of the Torah, just as our ancestors received it. An important lesson of Shavuos, of receiving the Torah is that we are reminded to be like one big, happy, peaceful family. On an individual level, those who are loving and shy away from confrontational situations and reach out to bring harmony to one another will surely be blessed. Perhaps Yom Tov is the perfect time to have Birkas Kohanim. It is a time when families get together and all Jews converge on the synagogue, joining together as one to receive the ultimate blessing from Hashem through His workers, the Kohanim. Ah Gut Shabbos Rabbi Avram Bogopulsky