The Laws of Birkas Kohanim - Rabbi Avraham Mizrachi shlita

00:02 Speaker 1 You’re listening to the “Lema’an Yishme’u” podcast from Machon Halacha Chabad.

00:09 Speaker 2 In this class, with Hashem’s help, we’ll discuss a very precious and important mitzvah: Birchas Kohanim, the priestly blessing. First, a few brief introductions before we get into the details of the halachos. In his Shulchan Aruch, section 128, paragraph 57, the Alter Rebbe quotes earlier authorities as follows: “Well done to the people of Eretz Yisroel and the surrounding areas, who raise their hands every day as the Sages ordained, fulfilling three positive mitzvos every day.” Likkutei Sichos relates that the Alter Rebbe said, more or less, that he would have liked to restore the custom of reciting Birchas Kohanim every day, including weekdays, so that a positive mitzvah would be fulfilled every day, but in practice he was unable to do so. The Rebbe also made a remark during the last yechidus of the Rishon LeZion, Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu. Their conversation turned to Birchas Kohanim, and the Rebbe said: “Fortunate are the Sephardim, who merit to raise their hands every day, and not only on Yom Tov.” In other words, Birchas Kohanim is one positive mitzvah, but because Hakadosh Boruch Hu cherishes it so greatly, He repeats the instruction: “Thus shall you bless,” “Say to them,” and “They shall place My name.” It is counted as three positive mitzvos—that is how important it is. As for the Chabad custom in Eretz Yisroel regarding Birchas Kohanim, there has been extensive debate about it, published in various forums. In practice, Anash communities in Eretz Yisroel have differing customs. Some do it only on Yom Tov, as in the Diaspora; some do it every Shabbos; and some even do it every weekday. But entering that discussion is not the subject of our class. We will discuss the fulfillment of the mitzvah of Birchas Kohanim itself. In the first part of the class, we’ll quote the verses the Torah devotes to Birchas Kohanim and look at the teachings and halachos Chazal derived from the wording of the verses concerning the mitzvah of

03:08 Speaker 2 Birchas Kohanim. At the start of the class, we’ll quote in full the verses we’re going to focus on. The very familiar passage about Birchas Kohanim appears in Bamidbar, Parshas Naso: “Hashem spoke to Moshe, saying: Speak to Aharon and his sons, saying: Thus shall you bless the Children of Israel; say to them.” Then come the three verses: “May Hashem bless you and guard you. May Hashem shine His face upon you and be gracious to you. May Hashem turn His face toward you and grant you peace.” It concludes: “They shall place My name upon the Children of Israel, and I will bless them.” There is another verse in Vayikra, Parshas Shemini: “Aharon raised his hands toward the people and blessed them, and he descended from offering the sin offering, the burnt offering, and the peace offerings.” So the Torah describes how Birchas Kohanim was actually performed by Aharon the Kohen, and its timing was connected with the offerings. In this part of the class, we’ll see how Chazal examined every word closely and derived many halachos concerning Birchas Kohanim. But before we move on to that, I want to quote Sefer Chareidim, which is cited often by later authorities and is also brought in Likkutei Sichos. Fundamentally, the mitzvah of Birchas Kohanim is incumbent on the kohanim to bless the Jewish people. But Sefer Chareidim emphasizes a novel point: the Jewish people, who stand face-to-face with the kohanim in silence and direct their hearts to receive their blessing as the word of Hashem, are also included in the mitzvah. What he means is that although the command is for the kohanim to bless the Jewish people, the mitzvah can, by its nature, be fulfilled only with the participation of the Jewish people, who receive the blessing from the kohanim. It follows that when the Jewish people do their part by receiving the blessing, they participate in fulfilling the mitzvah of Birchas Kohanim. We’ll therefore see that the halachos of Birchas Kohanim include halachos for the kohanim and also halachos for the congregation, the Jewish people

05:49 Speaker 2 who are blessed by the kohanim. Having quoted the verses dealing with Birchas Kohanim, let’s detail several mitzvos that Chazal derived from them. First, the most basic mitzvah, the most straightforward reading, is that the kohanim are commanded by the Torah to bless every day. We mentioned in the introduction that the practice is somewhat different outside Eretz Yisroel, but according to the basic law, blessing the Jewish people every day is a positive mitzvah from the Torah. Birchas Kohanim is performed by raising the hands. This is learned from the verse, “Aharon raised his hands toward the people and blessed them.” Raising the hands is one of the requirements of the mitzvah. We’ll see later that when the kohanim raise their hands, the right hand is held slightly higher than the left. This is indicated in the verse, “Aharon raised his hands toward the people.” Although it is read as “his hands,” its written form is “his hand,” without the second yud. From this we learn that the kohanim must raise the right hand higher than the left. According to Torah law, the mitzvah is to bless once a day. A kohen is not commanded to do so more than once, but the Sages incorporated Birchas Kohanim into prayer. Since we pray several times a day, the rabbinic enactment is to repeat Birchas Kohanim at several services: Shacharis, Musaf, and Ne’ilah. In principle, it should also be recited at Minchah, but there is a concern about intoxication: the kohen might have drunk wine or other intoxicating beverages at lunch and be unfit to recite Birchas Kohanim at Minchah. Fundamentally, though, every prayer service is suitable for Birchas Kohanim. “And I will bless them,” the Torah says—that is, I will bless the kohanim. In practical halacha, we learn from this that Birchas Kohanim must be recited in the presence of a minyan, ten people, but all ten do not have to be non-kohanim. The kohanim themselves count toward the minyan. We learn this from “And I will bless them”: Hakadosh Boruch Hu blesses the kohanim as well. So the kohanim are also part of the congregation

08:35 Speaker 2 being blessed, and they count toward the ten needed to recite Birchas Kohanim. Of course, if there is no minyan, Birchas Kohanim is not recited. “Speak to Aharon and his sons, saying: Thus shall you bless the Children of Israel.” The mitzvah of Birchas Kohanim, with raised hands and so on, applies only to kohanim. A non-kohen who also recites Birchas Kohanim with raised hands, even together with the kohanim, violates a positive commandment, because the command is addressed specifically to the kohanim, not to someone who is not a kohen. “Say to them.” We learn several things from “say to them”—at least five halachos from those words alone. One halacha is that the obligation to recite Birchas Kohanim begins when the kohanim are called and told to bless. We’ll see in later classes that this has a very practical consequence: only if a kohen is present in the synagogue when “Kohanim” is called does the command to bless the Jewish people apply to him. If he is not present in the synagogue when “Kohanim” is called and he does not recite the blessing, he is not considered to have neglected a positive mitzvah. “Say to them”—the blessing, “May Hashem bless you and guard you.” Another point: “Say to them” is plural, implying at least two. If there are two kohanim, the caller says “Kohanim,” and so on. But if there are not two kohanim—if there is one kohen, or even an adult kohen joined by a minor—there is no instruction to call out “Kohanim.” Instead, after the blessing, the kohen begins Birchas Kohanim directly, without waiting for the person prompting him to call “Kohanim.” “Say to them”: there is a mitzvah to prompt the kohanim through the verses of the blessing. That is, before the kohen says each word, the prompter tells him what to say: “May He bless you,” and the kohen repeats, “May He bless you,” and so on. This, too, is learned from “say to them.” “Say to them” also means face-to-face. Ideally, the congregation receiving the blessing from the kohanim should stand facing them, so they are face-to-face. Standing does not necessarily

11:11 Speaker 2 They may also sit, but the congregation must face the kohanim. “Say to them” means speaking to them face to face, as one person speaks to another. “Say to them” also tells us that someone else speaks to the kohanim; from this we learn that the person prompting them is not himself a kohen. A kohen cannot prompt the other kohanim, because “say to them” means that the one speaking to them is not a kohen. That is what we learn from the words “say to them,” and we will see several more teachings from the verses we quoted earlier. Aharon the Kohen blessed the people while he was engaged in the offerings. Likewise, the kohanim raise their hands in blessing during prayer, which corresponds to the offerings—and specifically during the prayer leader’s repetition, at the blessing that speaks about the offerings and the service in the Beis Hamikdash: “May You, Hashem our G-d, favor Your people Israel and their prayers, and restore the service to the inner chamber of Your House.” During this blessing, the kohanim make their way toward the platform to bless the Jewish people. This halachah is indispensable: if a kohen has not begun moving toward the platform at any point during that blessing, from “May You favor” until “Who restores His presence to Zion,” he can no longer recite the blessing. We learn from the words “Aharon raised his hands toward the people and blessed them” that the kohanim extend and spread their hands when they are facing the people. They should not spread their hands while still facing the sanctuary. First they turn around, and only then spread their hands, as it says of Aharon: “Aharon raised his hands toward the people and blessed them.” “Thus shall you bless the children of Israel”—“thus” means in the Holy Tongue. This is very interesting: although prayer may be recited in other languages, Birchas Kohanim must specifically be in the Holy Tongue. Put simply, since Hakadosh Boruch Hu is the One blessing the Jewish people through the kohanim, and Hakadosh Boruch Hu blesses and speaks to the Jewish people in the Holy Tongue—the language He uses in the Torah and in the messages He gives the Jewish people through prophecy—Birchas Kohanim, which is the blessing

13:57 Speaker 2 of Hakadosh Boruch Hu, is recited only in the Holy Tongue. The verses draw a comparison between Birchas Kohanim and the service of the kohanim: “to serve Him and to bless in His name.” Just as their service, the service of the offerings, is performed standing—“to stand and serve”—so too Birchas Kohanim must specifically be recited standing. And it must be said aloud. The kohanim need to bless in a raised voice—not shouting, but loud enough for everyone praying in the shul to hear. And, almost finally, “And I will bless them.” The blessing is Hakadosh Boruch Hu’s blessing. The kohen himself is not the source of the blessing. This has a practical implication, because halachah addresses a situation in which a kohen’s character leaves much to be desired: he does wicked things, and so on. Should he refrain from reciting Birchas Kohanim? The answer is no. Even if people speak critically of a kohen because of various transgressions he commits—and what they say may even be true—that still does not exempt him from reciting Birchas Kohanim. And if you ask, “What good is the blessing of such an ordinary person?” the answer is, “And I will bless them.” The blessing belongs to Hakadosh Boruch Hu, and the kohen is commanded to convey His blessing. His other transgressions do not mean he should refrain from performing this important mitzvah; he still needs to recite Birchas Kohanim. Of course, later in the class we will discuss certain circumstances in which kohanim do not recite the blessing because they are unfit to do so. But in general, wickedness in itself does not prevent them from reciting Birchas Kohanim. So far, we have briefly surveyed the verses and the halachos learned from them. Now we will go into greater detail about the order of Birchas Kohanim and its halachos. As we said in the introduction, these matters are relevant both to the kohanim themselves and to the congregation present when the kohanim recite the blessing. Halachah says that a minyan is required when the kohanim raise their hands. Having had a minyan during the prayer leader’s repetition does not automatically mean there can be Birchas Kohanim as well. There must

16:40 Speaker 2 be a minyan at the start of Birchas Kohanim. If they began with a minyan and some of its members leave partway through, as long as a majority of the minyan remains—and the kohanim count toward that majority—the kohanim can and should continue the blessing. We mentioned that when the Beis Hamikdash stood, Birchas Kohanim was recited toward the end of the offering of the korbanos. Therefore, during prayer, which corresponds to the korbanos, it is time for Birchas Kohanim. Specifically, the blessing beginning “May You, Hashem our G-d, favor…” is the time to begin preparing for it, so the kohen must start moving from his place when that blessing begins. But if the prayer leader has finished the blessing and the kohen has still not moved from his place, he does not recite Birchas Kohanim. Kohanim who do not recite Birchas Kohanim for various reasons customarily leave the shul when the prayer leader says the word “Kohanim,” and remain outside until the kohanim have finished their blessings. The Sages instituted that kohanim should not ascend the platform wearing shoes or sandals. A strap might break, and the kohen might not want to walk with a broken strap. He would be delayed, and meanwhile people might cast aspersions on him, saying that he did not go up because he must be disqualified from serving as a kohen. They therefore instituted that the kohanim go up without shoes or sandals at all. Socks, however, are permitted, and a kohen should wear at least socks. If he is completely barefoot, he should not go up to the platform, unless he has no way to put on socks at all; that is a separate case. The shoes the kohanim remove should be tucked under the benches, rather than left in plain sight, out of respect for the congregation. Before the kohanim approach the platform, they wash their hands: “Raise your hands in holiness and bless Hashem.” Before Birchas Kohanim, close to the time they recite it, they wash their hands up to the wrists with water fit for washing hands, poured by a person. They do not, however, recite a blessing over this washing. Even if a kohen has soiled his hands between washing them in the morning and washing them before raising his hands for the blessing, he still does not recite a blessing over washing his

19:30 Speaker 2 hands. Of course he must wash them, but he does not recite a blessing. Ideally, he should take care not to touch unclean places so that he does not become obligated to recite a blessing, since in practice the custom is not to recite a special blessing over this washing before Birchas Kohanim. It is customary for a Levi to wash a kohen’s hands. Just as, when the Beis Hamikdash stood, the Levi’im accompanied the kohanim in their service and assisted them, so too the Levi’im take part in Birchas Kohanim. In what way? They help prepare for it by pouring water over the kohanim’s hands. The Levi should wash his own hands beforehand, either immediately beforehand or through the washing he did in the morning; one may rely on that as well. If no Levi is present, the custom is for a firstborn to wash the kohanim’s hands, since the sanctity of the Levi’im is connected with the sanctity of the firstborn. If there is neither a Levi nor a firstborn, the kohen washes his own hands. There is a discussion in halachah that we will not go into at length: even if the Levi is considered a great Torah scholar and the kohen is an unlearned person, it is still an honor for the Levi to wash the kohen’s hands. We said that, ideally, the kohen should begin moving toward the platform when the chazzan begins the blessing of “May You favor.” At the very least, before the chazzan finishes that blessing concerning the service, the kohen must start moving from his place and begin walking toward the platform. If he was unable to do so and did not move from his place, he should not go up. If he went up nonetheless, he should not come down. When the kohanim are on the platform, they customarily recite a special prayer that their blessing be complete. They should finish it as the chazzan finishes the blessing of thanksgiving—“Your name is good, and it is fitting to thank You”—so that the response of amen will apply to this prayer as well. The kohanim customarily extend their hands and spread their fingers, and the proper time to do this is after they turn toward

22:07 Speaker 2 the people. Our custom is to say “Our G-d and G-d of our fathers” quietly. The chazzan says it, and when he reaches the word “kohanim,” he says it aloud and continues, “Your holy ones, as it is written.” The kohanim then recite the blessing: “Who has sanctified us with the holiness of Aaron and commanded us to bless His people Israel with love.” From that word, “with love,” we also learn an interesting halachah: the kohanim must be loved by the congregation. If, however, a kohen hates someone in the congregation, or the other way around, this blessing poses a danger to the kohen, and he should leave the shul rather than recite the blessing. By contrast, kohanim who may harbor hatred toward one another still recite Birchas Kohanim together. One cannot say to the other, “I’ll bless at Shacharis, and you bless at Musaf.” No—the mitzvah is for both of them to bless at both Shacharis and Musaf, and their feelings toward each other do not prevent it, unlike hatred between a kohen and the congregation, or between the congregation and a kohen. They raise their hands to shoulder height, with the right hand higher than the left and their palms facing downward. As we said, Birchas Kohanim is recited only with raised hands. The verse in Shir Hashirim says, “He watches through the windows, peering through the cracks”—the cracks, the cracks. The kohanim customarily leave spaces between their fingers to form five openings, through which Hakadosh Boruch Hu “watches through the windows, peering through the cracks.” There are different customs for exactly how to form these openings, but generally, they separate the middle finger from the ring finger and the index finger from the thumb, do the same on the other hand, and leave another space between the thumbs. That gives us five windows, five openings. Ideally, the chazzan prompts the kohanim, because Birchas Kohanim is actually part of the davening. The congregation may sit during Birchas Kohanim; they are not required to stand. The kohanim must stand, but the congregation need not. What is important, though, is that the congregation face

25:00 Speaker 2 the kohanim. Only when the chazzan begins Sim Shalom do the kohanim turn toward the Aron Kodesh and say an additional prayer, “Master of the Universe,” and so on. They finish it at the end of Sim Shalom and remain on the duchan until Sim Shalom is over. More than that, they may come down from the duchan only after the congregation finishes answering amen to Sim Shalom. Also, when they finish Birchas Kohanim and put their shoes back on, they should be careful not to touch them, because if they touch their shoes, they will have to wash their hands before continuing to daven. Halachah strongly emphasizes that there should be a pause between each stage of the davening—the prompting of the kohanim, the blessing before Birchas Kohanim, and so on. Let’s set out where those pauses belong, so the congregation can listen fully to Birchas Kohanim without other voices overlapping. The chazzan finishes, “Your name is good, and it is fitting to thank You.” The congregation answers amen, and after they finish, the chazzan calls out, “Kohanim.” The kohanim wait until he has finished calling them; they do not begin the blessing while he is still speaking. Then they begin the blessing before Birchas Kohanim: “Blessed are You, Hashem, our G-d, King of the universe, Who has sanctified us with the holiness of Aaron and commanded us to bless His people Israel with love.” The congregation answers amen to that blessing, and the kohanim wait for them to finish. Then the prompter says “May He bless you,” and so on, word by word, as we said: “Say to them.” Another important point is that the kohanim begin each word only after the prompter has finished saying it. They should not start while he is still prompting, because that interferes with the congregation’s ability to concentrate fully on Birchas Kohanim. At the end of each verse, the congregation answers amen—after “and guard you,” “and be gracious to you,” and “and peace.” Only when most of the congregation have finished answering amen after “peace” does the chazzan continue with Sim Shalom. Halachah addresses whether the chazzan answers amen after Birchas

27:56 Speaker 2 Kohanim. If he is confident that he can stay focused on the davening and answering amen will not confuse him, then he may answer amen—especially when he is davening from a siddur and can rely on that. The prompter, too, may answer amen after the kohanim’s blessings, since the siddur is in front of him and there is less concern that he will get confused. When the chazzan is a kohen, particularly if there are no other kohanim, there is certainly an obligation for Birchas Kohanim to take place. Even when other kohanim are present, the common custom is that he raises his hands to bless. Here is how it works. When he says “Retzeh Hashem Elokeinu,” we said that this is when the kohanim begin moving toward the duchan. So even though he is the chazzan, he moves his feet slightly during Retzeh. He then continues the repetition in his place as chazzan until he reaches Birchas Kohanim, when he can actually step forward and go up to the duchan. He no longer prompts the kohanim, because he himself is a kohen; someone else prompts them with “May He bless you” and “and guard you.” At the end of Birchas Kohanim, he returns to his place and finishes the repetition. We already discussed that the prompter should not be a kohen, because we said, “Say to them”—the prompter must not be one of them, but a Yisroel or a Levi. The kohanim may not add verses to the three verses of Birchas Kohanim. If they were to add verses, G-d forbid, it would be considered bal tosif, adding to a mitzvah. Once they have turned back toward the Aron Kodesh and lowered their hands, so that Birchas Kohanim has ended, they may add other verses, such as “Look down from Your holy abode,” and so on. That is not part of Birchas Kohanim. Again, bal tosif applies if they add further blessings to Birchas Kohanim. There is no problem with repeating Birchas Kohanim several times. As we mentioned earlier, the kohanim bless several times, at Shacharis and Musaf, by rabbinic enactment. Beyond that,

30:19 Speaker 2 a kohen may have finished Shacharis and Musaf with his minyan and then arrive at another shul, where another minyan is still at Shacharis. He may recite Birchas Kohanim again. This is not considered bal tosif, because he is not adding to the mitzvah; he is repeating the same mitzvah, and that is entirely fine. There are also particular customs during Birchas Kohanim. Halachah instructs the kohanim that when they say words addressed directly to the people—“May He bless you,” “and guard you,” “and be gracious to you”—they should turn right and left, toward the south and north, to direct each specific blessing to everyone present in the congregation. The word “peace,” too, has special significance: they draw it out and direct their attention in every direction so that it applies to each and every person. One important practice is that the kohanim do not look at the people, and the people do not look at the kohanim, because Birchas Kohanim must be said with concentration and intent. After all, the kohanim are praying to Hakadosh Boruch Hu to bless the people. They keep their eyes lowered. The congregation must concentrate on receiving the blessing and not become distracted by looking at the kohanim, and certainly not by looking elsewhere. That is why it is customary for the tallis to hang down, to prevent distraction. Some have the custom of leaving the kohanim’s hands uncovered, so there is no barrier between their hands and the people. The custom is to be careful not even to glance at the kohanim. An interesting halachah says that the people should face the kohanim, but people standing behind the kohanim are not included in the blessing. This applies not only to those directly behind them, but also to those off to the sides who are still behind them. In other words, if we draw a straight line across from the kohanim, anyone behind that line is considered to be behind the kohanim and is not included in the blessing. Those in front of the kohanim, even if

32:56 Speaker 2 If there are partitions separating the kohanim from the people, that does not interfere. No iron partition separates the kohanim from the Jewish people. People who cannot come to Birchas Kohanim because they are at work, in the fields or on their farms are considered unable to attend. Interestingly, they are included in the blessing even though they are not facing the kohanim. Why? Because they have no way to get there and stand before the kohanim. This is different from someone who could attend Birchas Kohanim and stand face-to-face with the kohanim, but disregards it and does not bother to come around in front of them. If he remains behind the kohanim, he is not included in the blessing. There is an interesting halachic discussion about a shul in which everyone is a kohen. If there are ten of them, they all go up to duchan, and their blessing applies to the entire Jewish people. If there are two minyanim, ten go up and ten remain as the congregation receiving the blessing. There could also be one Yisroel and many kohanim. All the kohanim go up to duchan, and that one Yisroel receives the blessing from all of them. During Birchas Kohanim, the congregation remains silent, listens and concentrates on receiving the blessing, like a servant receiving something from his master. When the kohanim prolong the melody on words of Birchas Kohanim, one may recite verses, but of course it is preferable to remain entirely silent and not recite additional verses. What if a kohen faces a choice between Birchas Kohanim and the time for davening? A kohen might arrive at shul just as Birchas Kohanim is announced, before he has davened. That does not prevent him from giving the blessing. He may recite Birchas Kohanim before davening; there is no problem with that, and he can daven afterward. But what if the time for davening is running out, and going up for Birchas Kohanim now would cause him to miss it? In that situation, we recommend that he not enter the shul at all, so that he does not become obligated in Birchas Kohanim when they call out, “Kohanim.”

35:37 Speaker 2 He should stay outside the shul and daven there, without reciting Birchas Kohanim. What if he has entered the shul and they have called “Kohanim,” but he has not yet davened, and the time for davening will end if he recites Birchas Kohanim? In that case, the priority is to recite Birchas Kohanim. They have already called him, and he cannot set aside a positive Torah commandment by failing to give the blessing, even if it costs him the time for davening, which is a rabbinic obligation. Shema is different. Reciting Shema is a Torah obligation, so it takes precedence over Birchas Kohanim. If he can manage all three paragraphs, he should say them; if not, one paragraph, or at minimum the first verse of Shema, and then go up to duchan. A kohen who is in the middle of Shemoneh Esrei, when there are no other kohanim, should interrupt and go up to duchan. That is how important Birchas Kohanim is: it is a positive Torah commandment, and it takes precedence even over the prohibition against interrupting Shemoneh Esrei. Even if there are other kohanim and he is in the middle of Shemoneh Esrei, if they called on him specifically and told him to give the blessing, he must interrupt Shemoneh Esrei, go up to duchan and give the blessing. In the final part of the class, we will address another interesting halachah connected with the laws of Birchas Kohanim, concerning the honor due to kohanim. At the end of siman 128, the halachah discusses the prohibition against asking a kohen to perform a service for you. Kohanim possess sanctity: “You shall sanctify him, for he offers the bread of your G-d.” Even now, when we have no offerings, a kohen retains his sanctity, and therefore we do not make use of his services. That means we do not ask a kohen to perform a personal service for someone, since this is considered misuse of something consecrated. What if the kohen waives the honor due to him? There are two opinions. One holds that the honor is his, and since it is his, he may waive it and allow a Yisroel to ask him for a service. But others are stringent and say that this is permitted only if the kohen derives some benefit from the service—if he is paid, for example, or if he enjoys serving an important person whom he wishes to serve. Only then is it permitted. If he derives no benefit at all, he cannot waive the honor, because the obligation to honor him applies regardless of his wishes. In parentheses, the Alter Rebbe rules that the primary view is the first one: a kohen can waive the honor due to him even if he derives no particular benefit from performing that service. In practice, then, the honor due to the kehuna was given for the kohanim’s benefit, and they have the right to waive it. A person’s wishes are his honor.

38:06 Speaker 2 We mentioned in earlier classes that the kohanim convey Hakadosh Boruch Hu’s blessing to the people. The people are meant to concentrate on the kohanim’s blessing—on its meaning and content—and not be distracted by other things. For this reason, the Sages ruled that certain kohanim should not go up to duchan: if they did, they might distract the congregation from concentrating on the blessing itself, interfering with Birchas Kohanim. That is what we will discuss in this class. For example, kohanim with physical blemishes. A kohen with a visible blemish on his face—some unusual shape or other defect—or on his hands, or even on his feet if they are visible to the congregation, may distract people and prevent them from concentrating on the blessing. That is why the Sages ruled that such kohanim should not recite Birchas Kohanim. If the kohen’s blemishes are concealed by his clothing, for example, there is no problem. It does not prevent him from giving the blessing, because the concern is distraction, and here the congregation is not distracted. Since distraction is the sole concern, there are circumstances in which these blemishes do not disqualify a kohen.

40:42 Speaker 2 For example, if the congregation is already accustomed to that kohen—to the difference in the appearance of his face, hands or feet—he will not distract them, and he may go up to duchan. What counts as being accustomed to him? There are two ways to define it. If he lives in the community and thirty days have passed since he acquired the blemish, we say that people have become accustomed to him. Thirty days is enough time. He is a regular member of the community, so even if people found his appearance unusual at first, over thirty days they have grown used to him. He no longer distracts them, and he may go up to duchan and give the blessing. A second possibility is that he does not live there permanently but has come to the community and has regular contact with its residents because he provides them with a service. He might have come to work as a teacher, for instance. People interact with him frequently, so he becomes familiar to the congregation. Even though he is not a permanent resident, this too counts as people having become accustomed to him, and there is no restriction on his going up to duchan. But if he is simply a visitor who has come to the area and has no dealings with the people, he may recite Birchas Kohanim only after twelve months have passed since his arrival. During those twelve months, he should not recite it. Does covering himself with a tallis allow him to recite Birchas Kohanim? It depends. If all the kohanim who go up to duchan customarily drape their talleisim over their faces, then a kohen with a blemish may also recite Birchas Kohanim, because the tallis automatically covers the blemishes on his face, and there is no problem.

43:01 Speaker 2 of distraction. The same applies if he has blemishes on his hands and his hands are covered by his tallis: that is not a problem. But in other circumstances—for example, if the other kohanim do not cover themselves with their talleisim and he wants to cover himself with his tallis, or in similar cases—that still does not allow this kohen to go up to the duchan. It is permitted only in the situation we mentioned, where all the kohanim cover themselves with talleisim. A kohen who works in trades such as dyeing or writing Torah scrolls, tefillin, and mezuzos, leaving color on his hands, also distracts the congregation and should not recite Birkas Kohanim—unless he is familiar to the people of his city, meaning they have grown accustomed to him, as in the examples we gave earlier. Another situation in which such a kohen may recite Birkas Kohanim is when most of the city’s residents work as dyers, scribes, or in similar trades. The sight has become common, so it does not cause a distraction. That concludes this section on kohanim who are disqualified because of blemishes or because the color on their hands causes a distraction. In this section, we will discuss another type of kohen whose recitation of Birkas Kohanim presents a problem: kohanim who do not pronounce letters carefully and accurately. Halachah addresses kohanim who do not clearly distinguish between alef and ayin, between ches and hei, and the like. The Sages, in principle, disqualified such kohanim from reciting Birkas Kohanim. The Rishonim give two reasons for this. First, the people hearing the kohen’s incorrect pronunciation might misunderstand his words. Instead of “ya’er Hashem,” they might hear “ya’ar Hashem panav,” which has a negative meaning. Another view is that his pronunciation distracts the congregation from the content of the blessing.

45:32 Speaker 2 The congregation focuses on the kohen’s unusual pronunciation, and that distracts them from the content of the blessing. For these two reasons, the Sages saw fit to disqualify him. Of course, there is a practical difference between the two reasons. What if he is in a place where everyone speaks as he does, with the same pronunciation? Then there is no concern that they will misunderstand the meaning of the blessing: everyone understands what he actually intends to say, rather than the mistaken meaning it might suggest. On the other hand, if the concern is distraction, it is enough for most people to speak as he does, since most people will not be distracted. So the first reason is stricter than the second, and in practice the Alter Rebbe rules stringently in accordance with the first opinion: this kohen may recite the blessing only where everyone speaks as he does. Today, in practice, this issue is not treated with such concern, because communities are mixed and people in every community are familiar with other pronunciations as well. Accordingly, later halachic authorities are more inclined to be lenient, since there is not much concern that people will be distracted or misunderstand what the kohen means. So today, in practical halachah, the ruling is more lenient: even a kohen whose pronunciation differs from what the congregation is used to may recite Birkas Kohanim. In this section, we will discuss the age at which a kohen is fit to recite Birkas Kohanim. We will make a sort of chart, ranking kohanim of different ages in different circumstances: when they may go up with other kohanim or alone, occasionally or regularly. We will go through it by age. A young kohen—from, let’s say, age three, when he begins to speak, until bar mitzvah at thirteen—who understands the meaning of the blessing, of course, does

48:00 Speaker 2 not go up to recite the blessing alone. If there are no other kohanim, for example, he cannot go up to the duchan by himself. But he may go up with adult kohanim and recite Birkas Kohanim together with an adult kohen. Just as we educate children to recite blessings, we also train this young kohen to recite Birkas Kohanim, so that when he grows up he will do so as a mitzvah. But it is not appropriate for him to recite it alone; he may do so only together with an adult. This may even be done regularly. There is no problem with his doing it every day in places where Birkas Kohanim is recited daily. The second stage is when this kohen has matured past bar mitzvah and has two hairs, the halachic sign of maturity. He is now at a higher level of obligation and may recite Birkas Kohanim even alone, without an adult. Still, out of respect for the congregation, we would not want such a young kohen to bless a congregation older than he is on a regular basis. So he may do it occasionally, but not every day. “Occasionally” includes Yom Tov—particularly in the Diaspora, where Birkas Kohanim is recited on Yom Tov. There is no problem with his reciting it then, since that is considered occasional, but not day after day. Once the kohen has, thank G-d, matured further and reached what halachah calls “his beard has filled out,” or age twenty, which is treated as equivalent, there are no longer any restrictions. He may recite the blessing alone and on a regular basis, and that is certainly proper. I just want to make an interesting point about what we said earlier concerning kohanim who have passed bar mitzvah but whose beards have not yet

50:03 Speaker 2 filled out. As we mentioned, according to halachah they recite the blessing only occasionally, not regularly. But there are places in Eretz Yisroel where Birkas Kohanim is recited every day—for example, in a yeshivah for younger students, where the kohanim are still young and have not reached the stage when their beards have filled out. Some halachic authorities are lenient and permit them to recite it: first, because there may be no other kohanim there; and second, because the congregation is also young, around the same age as the kohanim. Even if a few people are older, that is not considered a concern, and the kohanim do recite the blessing when the congregation is their age. From here we move to another kind of kohen who has a problem reciting Birkas Kohanim, referred to in halachah as a kohen who has killed a person. The verse in Yeshayahu says, “When you spread out your hands, even when you offer many prayers, I will not listen; your hands are full of blood.” In other words, the verse describes a situation in which a kohen whose “hands are full of blood” does not recite Birkas Kohanim. Thus, a kohen who has killed a person, even unintentionally, should not recite Birkas Kohanim. The verse primarily concerns the killing of a Jew, but the halachic authorities also address a case in which he killed a non-Jew for no reason at all—not because the person threatened or attacked him. If the kohen simply got up and killed him for no reason, he too falls into the category of a killer, a kohen who has killed a person and may not recite Birkas Kohanim. If the kohen has done teshuvah, the halachic authorities disagree. In practice, however, the custom is to be lenient and leave a path open for those who do teshuvah. If he has done teshuvah for his actions, the practice is to permit this kohen to recite Birkas Kohanim from then on. Even if there are rumors among the congregation that a kohen has killed someone and has not done teshuvah, he may still recite Birkas Kohanim as long as the matter has not been clearly and conclusively established. If these are only rumors circulating about him, he still recites Birkas Kohanim. There is

52:30 Speaker 2 There are cases in which a kohen has killed someone, but not in the classic situation we discussed earlier. Halachah addresses a number of rarer cases. For example, if a kohen performed a bris on a baby and, G-d forbid, the baby died as a result, the kohen is permitted to continue duchening. There are several reasons for this. First, it is possible that the baby was born before completing the full term of pregnancy. In that case, the baby has the presumed status of a nonviable infant, so the kohen is not considered to have killed a person. And even if it is known with certainty that the baby was full-term, the kohen’s intention was to perform a mitzvah, a bris, so he is not disqualified. And, of course, if he accidentally caused the death of an unborn child—for example, if he pushed a pregnant woman, G-d forbid, causing a miscarriage—the kohen may still duchenen, because the unborn child is not yet considered a person for this purpose. Only a kohen who has killed a person, whether accidentally or deliberately, may not duchenen. Halachah discusses other cases in which a kohen may not duchenen. For example, a kohen who converted to another religion. Conversion is considered a grave matter. Even if he converted to Islam, for example, whose adherents are not considered actual idol worshippers, unlike Christianity, the Sages penalized such a kohen: his sanctity was compromised, he is not treated as a kohen and may not duchenen. He is not even called up first to the Torah, because by converting he committed a grave act and lost the honor of his priesthood. If he does teshuvah, teshuvah always helps—even if he converted to a religion considered to involve idol worship, such as Christianity. If he returns in teshuvah, it is effective, and he may duchenen. So we have seen that teshuvah is effective. It is effective in the earlier case of a kohen who killed a person, and it is effective after conversion to another religion, even if that conversion was to a religion involving idol worship. Teshuvah

54:53 Speaker 2 is effective, and he regains his standing and may duchenen. As for other transgressions a kohen commits, even deliberately and even if he has not done teshuvah for them—including serious transgressions such as forbidden relationships—he may still duchenen. The reasoning is that because he has committed a transgression, or continues to commit transgressions, even serious ones, we should not tell him to neglect another mitzvah by refraining from duchening. The exceptions are certain cases we discussed earlier, in which the Sages penalized him by suspending his priestly standing, or in which they saw other grave reasons to prevent him from duchening. Apart from those cases, even if he commits serious transgressions, he may still duchenen. Regarding Shabbos desecration, in principle halachah treats someone who desecrates Shabbos like a non-Jew in all respects, and a non-Jew does not duchenen. But later halachic authorities find grounds to permit kohanim today to do so, since their Shabbos desecration is not entirely deliberate. Another consideration is that if we prevent them from reciting Birchas Kohanim, they may lose awareness of their status as kohanim and come to marry women whom kohanim are forbidden to marry, and so on. So later authorities tend to permit even a kohen who desecrates Shabbos—including one who does so publicly nowadays—to recite Birchas Kohanim. From here we move to another area concerning kohanim: kohanim who have been drinking. The Torah draws a parallel between Birchas Kohanim and the service in the Beis Hamikdash, and also between the Beis Hamikdash service, Birchas Kohanim, and the laws of a nazir. The practical conclusion drawn from these comparisons is that, ideally, a kohen should be careful not to drink anything intoxicating before Birchas Kohanim—not wine and not other drinks. Some authorities even wrote about milk. In short, he should avoid anything that could be considered intoxicating in halachah before Birchas Kohanim. If he did drink one of these other beverages and feels intoxicated, he may not duchenen. A kohen who has been drinking may not duchenen,

57:34 Speaker 2 and this is one reason for our custom, the Chabad custom, concerning duchening on Yom Tov. Usually we duchenen during Musaf, but on Simchas Torah we move duchening up to Shacharis, because our custom is to make Kiddush and say l’chaim after Shacharis. That raises a concern that a kohen might have been drinking, so we have Birchas Kohanim at Shacharis rather than Musaf. Now we turn to another detail of the laws concerning kohanim. We said earlier that, generally, a kohen’s transgressions do not prevent him from duchening. The reasoning is: just because he commits one transgression, should he go on to neglect another mitzvah and fail to recite Birchas Kohanim? But we see that when the transgressions directly concern the priesthood, the Sages prevented him from duchening. Therefore, if a kohen marries a divorced woman, which is forbidden to him, or if he becomes ritually impure through contact with the dead other than his seven close relatives, and he has not undertaken to stop doing so, the Sages penalized him by suspending his priestly standing. He may not duchenen or be called up first to the Torah; he does not receive the honor due to a kohen. What happens if the circumstances change? Say the divorced woman dies, so he is no longer married to her, or he divorces her. That alone is still not enough. He must make a vow, with the consent of many, that cannot be annulled, pledging not to return to his misconduct and marry women who are forbidden to him. Only then may he duchenen again. In other words, unlike the case of impurity through contact with the dead, where it is enough for him to undertake not to become impure again, with a forbidden marriage we are more concerned that he may stumble again. So, in addition to regretting what he did, he must make a vow with the consent of many not to marry such women again. Only then may he duchenen. A kohen who is a chalal—that is, a kohen born from a union forbidden to kohanim—is different. Suppose his father, a kohen, married a divorced woman and had a son. That son has the status of a chalal, and the laws of the priesthood do not apply to him at all. His priestly status has been invalidated. He

1:00:10 Speaker 2 may not duchenen. Not only does he have no mitzvah to do so; he is forbidden to duchenen. As we discussed in an earlier lesson, duchening is for kohanim alone: “Speak to Aharon and his sons,” “Say to them.” Only Aharon and his sons recite Birchas Kohanim and duchenen. A chalal, who is not considered a kohen, may not duchenen and is forbidden to do so, just like any non-kohen. Even someone who is a chalal by rabbinic law—for example, the son of a kohen who married a chalutzah, a marriage prohibited by rabbinic law—may not duchenen. This is despite the fact that, seemingly, by Torah law he is considered a kohen and has a positive Torah commandment to recite Birchas Kohanim. The Sages, however, defined him as a chalal. It would seem, then, that the Sages’ ruling overrides a Torah commandment. Halachah says—and the Alter Rebbe gives the reason—that the Sages have the authority to suspend a Torah law when doing so calls for refraining from an action. In other words, although the Torah commands kohanim to recite the blessing, and by Torah law he is considered a kohen, the Sages have the authority to define him as not being a kohen and prevent him from fulfilling the positive mitzvah of Birchas Kohanim by instructing him to refrain. They tell him: Do not recite Birchas Kohanim, because from our standpoint you are not considered a kohen. In this part, we will discuss the status of a kohen who does not duchenen, for the various reasons we will soon see, with regard to his presence in shul. Does he remain in shul as usual even though he is not duchening? Does he leave? How long must he stay out of shul? Is it enough that he not be present when the chazzan calls the kohanim, even if he is present during the blessing itself? With Hashem’s help, in this part of the lesson we will explain the reason behind the halachah, and from that we will understand the different rules for kohanim in different situations. So let’s

1:02:15 Speaker 2 Let’s remind ourselves that in earlier classes we discussed how, according to Torah law, a kohen’s obligation to go up and bless begins only when he is told to do so. We learned this from the verse “Say to them”: when the kohanim are told to bless, they must bless, but if they are not told, there is no command to bless. So it makes a real difference whether the kohen is in the shul when “Kohanim” is called, whether he is told to bless or not. It determines whether he has a Torah obligation to bless. We also learned that although the obligation takes effect when the kohanim are told to bless, the Sages made it conditional on one more thing: the kohen must begin walking from his place toward the duchan while the chazzan recites the blessing of Avodah: “R’tzei, Hashem Elokeinu, b’amcha Yisroel,” and so on, through “Restore the service to the inner sanctuary of Your House.” During that blessing, the kohen must take steps toward the duchan. If he did not, he may no longer go up to recite Birkas Kohanim, even if the chazzan calls “Kohanim.” So, in a sense, Torah law obligates him because he was called to bless, but since he did not do what the Sages required—begin walking toward the duchan—the Sages prevent him from fulfilling this Torah mitzvah by requiring him to refrain from acting, and they have the authority to do that. This helps us understand the proper conduct of kohanim who, for one reason or another, do not recite Birkas Kohanim. We can divide them into several groups. First is the kohen we discussed earlier, who is no longer considered a kohen. If he is the son of a divorcee, Torah law does not consider him a kohen at all. If he is the son of a chalutzah, rabbinic law does not consider him a kohen. These are considered

1:04:29 Speaker 2 disqualified. Such kohanim have no connection to Birkas Kohanim, either because the Torah disqualified them or because the Sages did. So for the son of a divorcee, who is disqualified by Torah law, it makes no difference whether he is inside or outside the shul, whether he heard “Kohanim” or not, or whether he began walking toward the duchan or not. He is not considered a kohen at all. He may remain in the shul, and he may not go up to the duchan at any point. Now, what about kohanim who are considered kohanim by Torah law but whom the Sages disqualified? There are two levels: either the Sages disqualified him by treating him as a chalal, as we said about the son of a chalutzah; or, in a less severe case, they did not disqualify him or say that he is a chalal, but prevented him from reciting Birkas Kohanim. As we mentioned at the beginning of the class, there are a number of kohanim whom the Sages prevented from reciting Birkas Kohanim—for example, kohanim with physical blemishes, a kohen who killed someone, or a kohen who abandoned Judaism, and the like. The Torah did obligate these kohanim, but the Sages prevented them from blessing. In principle, then, there is no problem if they are in the shul when the chazzan calls “Kohanim” and do not go up to the duchan. They are doing the right thing, because the Sages prevented them from reciting Birkas Kohanim. On the other hand, we can avoid this situation—in which the Sages exercise their authority to set aside a Torah command—quite simply. If these kohanim do not hear the call addressed to them, “Say to them,” the Torah obligation never takes effect. So why put ourselves in a position where the Torah says yes and the Sages say no, exercising their authority to require inaction? It is better to avoid that from the outset by having those

1:06:41 Speaker 2 kohanim leave the shul before “Kohanim” is called. Beyond that, kohanim whom the Sages prevented from reciting Birkas Kohanim are advised to leave even before the blessing of Avodah, so as not to draw attention to the difference between them and the other kohanim: their fellow kohanim prepare to go up to the duchan at the beginning of R’tzei, while they do not. People might then speak disparagingly about them and ask why they do not recite Birkas Kohanim. They might not attribute it only to an outwardly apparent reason, such as a blemish, but might spread rumors that they are sons of a divorcee or a chalutzah and are disqualified. So the best advice is to leave the shul before R’tzei begins. There is another category. Some kohanim were not told by the Sages to refrain from blessing, but customarily do not bless. Their situation is more serious: they do not have the Sages’ authority behind their decision not to bless. Why is it their practice not to bless? There are several examples. A blessing must be given with joy, and for various reasons kohanim may not be in a joyful state. For example, G-d forbid, a mourner during shivah or the twelve-month mourning period, or, G-d forbid, an onen, and similar cases, where the practice is not to recite Birkas Kohanim. But if they remain in the shul when the chazzan calls “Kohanim,” they must get up and bless. The only reason they do not wish to bless is custom; there is no authority of the Sages here to set aside the Torah’s command. So they must leave before “Kohanim” is called—or better yet, leave the shul entirely before R’tzei begins. But if they are in the shul and “Kohanim” is called, or they are told to come wash their hands and bless, they must bless, so as not to neglect a Torah mitzvah that has already taken effect. Once “Kohanim” has been called,

1:09:04 Speaker 2 they are obligated to go up to the duchan. In this final section, we’ll return to the custom we mentioned at the very beginning of the class: the difference between the custom in Ashkenazic lands and the custom in Eretz Yisroel and the surrounding regions. We mentioned that Birkas Kohanim must be recited with joy—“One with a generous eye shall be blessed”—and this is the reason given by the halachic authorities. The Alter Rebbe writes in section 57: “The custom in all these lands,” meaning the Ashkenazic lands, “is that the kohanim recite Birkas Kohanim only on Yom Tov,” only on the festivals, because then people are filled with the joy of Yom Tov, and one who is glad of heart will bless. On other days, by contrast—even on Shabbos—there is not enough joy. People are preoccupied with earning a living and with the interruption to their work; they are not filled with joy, so Birkas Kohanim is not recited. On Yom Tov itself, the custom is to recite it at Musaf rather than Shacharis. Yom Kippur does not have the joy of eating and drinking, but it does have the joy of pardon and forgiveness, and people honor it by wearing fine clothes. So the kohanim do recite Birkas Kohanim, and in some places they do so even at Shacharis on Yom Kippur. On Yom Tov, too, there is a difference between Shacharis and Musaf: at Musaf there is more joy, because people are about to go and enjoy their Yom Tov meal. At Shacharis there is less joy. But on Yom Kippur there is no difference between Shacharis and Musaf, and some have the custom to recite Birkas Kohanim at both. Some even do so at Neilah on Yom Kippur. In practice, however, our custom outside Eretz Yisroel is to recite Birkas Kohanim on Rosh Hashanah and on Yom Kippur. On Yom Kippur it is recited only at Musaf, not at Neilah, according to our Chabad custom. And, of course, it is recited at Musaf on the other festivals, apart from Musaf on Shemini Atzeres. As we said, there is concern that people may be intoxicated, so Birkas Kohanim is recited at Shacharis instead of Musaf.