Tamid, Chapter 7, Mishnah 2. Our chapter has been following the closing stages of the morning service in the Beit Hamikdash, and this mishnah brings us to the moment when everything has been completed and the kohanim turn to bless the nation with Birkat Kohanim.
A short review of how we reached this point is in order. Perek 5 began with the kohanim davening Shacharit inside the Lishkat haGazit. They then went out to the azarah to complete whatever remained of the tamid's avodah. Five of them had assignments within the heichal: clearing the golden mizbeach of its ashes, tending the menorah, and offering the ketoret. The other kohanim of the mishmar were occupied outside, carrying the pieces of the daily offering toward the great mizbeach that stood in the azarah, the courtyard of the Mikdash. Lifting those pieces onto that mizbeach is what the following mishnah will describe. Recall as well that the limbs had been set down partway up the kevesh, the ramp, and had not yet been brought to its top.
Once all of these tasks were behind them, the kohanim assembled on the steps that faced the ulam, the entrance hall leading toward the heichal, and there they recited Birkat Kohanim together.
Coming to the Steps
The mishnah opens: "Ba'u ve'amdu al ma'alot ha'ulam," they arrived and took their stand upon the ma'alot of the ulam. Their labors behind them, the kohanim positioned themselves along the twelve stairs that rose toward the ulam.
"Amdu harishonim lidrom acheihem hakohanim": the first group took their place to the south of their fellow kohanim. As the lines were formed on the stairs, pride of place went to the five who had performed the avodah within the heichal, attending to the ketoret, the golden mizbeach and the menorah. Service inside the heichal is a distinction of the highest order, and that distinction earned them the southern position alongside the others. South, in this arrangement, means the right-hand side in relation to the rest, and right invariably takes precedence over left, carrying with it the greater honor.
The Five Vessels
"Vachamisha kelim beyadam," and five vessels were in their hands. The mishnah lists them one by one:
- "Hateni beyad echad": one kohen carried the teni, the container in which the ashes of the golden mizbeach had been gathered.
- "Vehakuz beyad echad": a second carried the kuz, the pitcher used for clearing away the menorah's ash and oil.
- "Vehamachta beyad echad": a third carried the machta, the pan in which the coals had been brought inside the heichal.
- "Vehabazak beyad echad": a fourth carried the bazak, the vessel that had held the ketoret.
- "Vechaf vechisuyah beyad echad": a fifth carried the kaf together with its lid, used for bringing the ketoret into the heichal.
The five would place their vessels on the ground before they began to bless the nation.
The remaining kohanim, in the meantime, were finishing the work of raising the tamid's pieces onto the mizbeach, a stage the coming mishnah spells out. Once that was done, they came and stood together with the first five on the ulam's stairway and recited Birkat Kohanim alongside them.
One Blessing or Three
"Uveirachu et ha'am beracha achat": they blessed the nation with one beracha, that is, the single blessing of Birkat Kohanim. "Ela shebamedinah," except that throughout the medinah, "omrim ota shalosh berachot," it is delivered as three distinct berachot: the kohanim stop after each pasuk so that the congregation may respond amen. "Uvamikdash beracha achat": within the Mikdash it counted as one. The pesukim were said in a single flow, with no pause for amen, and the whole was treated as one continuous beracha.
The mishnah now sets out several further differences between Birkat Kohanim in the Beit Hamikdash and Birkat Kohanim elsewhere.
The Name of Hashem
"Bamikdash hayu omrim et Hashem," in the Mikdash they would pronounce the Name, "kichtavo," exactly as it appears in the Torah: yud, key, vav, key. We will not so much as spell that Name out, such is its kedushah; nevertheless, that is precisely how it was uttered there. According to one opinion, this is the shem hameforash, the concealed pronunciation known to the kohanim alone.
"Uvamedinah bechinuyo": elsewhere, by its substitute. Beyond the Mikdash the kohanim said the Name of Adnut, aleph, daled, nun, and not yud, key, vav, key. The Torah granted permission to voice that unique Name only to kohanim blessing the nation within the Mikdash itself; anywhere else that Birkat Kohanim is recited, the Name of Adnut takes its place.
How High the Hands Were Raised
"Bamedinah hakohanim nos'im et kapeihem," in the medinah the kohanim spread their palms, "yedeihem keneged kitfoteihem," their hands reaching only as far as shoulder height and no further. The pesukim are the source of this restriction.
"Uvamikdash al gabei rasheihen": within the Mikdash, however, their hands were held over their heads. There, where the unique Name of Hashem was pronounced, the Shechinah rested upon the fingers of the kohanim, and since the Shechinah must be honored, they stretched their arms as high as they possibly could, above their heads, out of kavod for the Divine Presence.
The Kohen Gadol and the Tzitz
"Chutz mikohen gadol she'ein magbiah et yadav lemalah min hatzitz": the kohen gadol is the exception, for he does not lift his hands past the tzitz. Even in the Mikdash, when the kohen gadol recited Birkat Kohanim his hands stayed below the level of the tzitz, the golden plate worn across his forehead. Since the Name of Hashem was engraved upon it in the words Kodesh LaHashem, it would have been unbecoming for his hands to be held higher than that Name.
Rabbi Yehudah takes the opposite view. "Rabbi Yehudah omer," his ruling is: "af kohen gadol magbiah et yadav lemalah min hatzitz," the kohen gadol as well lifts his hands past the tzitz, above his head. He brings a proof from a pasuk in Vayikra: "shene'emar," as it is written, "Vayisa Aharon et yadav," Aharon lifted his hands, "el ha'am vayevarechem," toward the nation, and blessed them. From the words "el ha'am," toward the people, we learn that Aharon, himself a kohen gadol, held his hands over his head as he blessed them. Accordingly, rules Rabbi Yehudah, any kohen gadol may lift his hands over his head while blessing the nation, the tzitz notwithstanding.