Siman 128, Se'if 9 · The framework of the se'if: the kohanim's tefillah as they go up to the duchan

Shulchan Aruch, Siman 128, se'if 9

"When the kohanim uproot their feet to go up to the duchan, they say: May it be Your will, Hashem our God, that this blessing which You commanded us to bless Your people Israel with should be a complete blessing, and that there should be in it no stumbling block and no sin, from now and forever. And they prolong this tefillah until the amen of the berachah of hoda'ah has finished coming out of the mouths of the congregation."

(Shulchan Aruch)

The framework of the se'if: the kohanim's tefillah as they go up to the duchan

• A tefillah the congregation does not hear: From the moment the kohanim uproot their feet and go up to the duchan (the platform), until they begin Birkas Kohanim, they say a request quietly, and the congregation does not hear its wording. The Shulchan Aruch brings us the text here.
• A berachah or a request: Although the word "berachah" appears, this is not a berachah at all. It is a request before the Holy One, Blessed be He, that their blessing should be a complete one.
• When it is said: They begin saying it when the shaliach tzibbur says "u'chol ha'chaim yoducha selah vi'yhalelu," not after "u'lecha na'eh l'hodos."
• Is there enough time: Compare the number of words. The text of the request is short, while what the shaliach tzibbur says from "v'al kulam yisbarach v'yishtabach" onward is several times longer. So there is ample time to finish the request together with the end of the berachah of Modim.

Understanding "until the amen of hoda'ah has finished"

"Until the amen has finished: this is not meant precisely. Rather, until the shaliach tzibbur finishes 'ha'tov shimcha u'lecha na'eh l'hodos,' so that the congregation should answer amen on both of them. And according to this it is obvious that the kohanim too answer amen to the berachah of the shaliach tzibbur, and so I found in Shulchan Shlomo."

(Mishnah Berurah, s.k. 31)

• The point of prolonging it: The kohanim aim to finish their request exactly as the shaliach tzibbur finishes the berachah of Modim, and the amen that the congregation answers on "ha'tov shimcha u'lecha na'eh l'hodos" covers the kohanim's request as well.
• Amen on a berachah they did not hear: The congregation does not hear the kohanim's request, and normally one may not answer amen to a berachah he did not hear, since he has no idea what was said. Here, though, the congregation is answering amen on what it did hear, and Scripture credits them as though they answered on the kohanim's request too.

The kohanim themselves answering amen

• The kohanim answer amen: According to the Mishnah Berurah, the kohanim also answer amen to the shaliach tzibbur's berachah, and so he found in Shulchan Shlomo. To manage this, they finish their request slightly before the shaliach tzibbur finishes Modim.
• Amen on someone else's berachah, not one's own: This is not answering amen to one's own berachah, which is forbidden (except at the end of Bonei Yerushalayim). The kohen is answering to the berachah of the shaliach tzibbur, which he heard. A parallel case: someone who makes "borei pri ha'eitz" and hears his friend finishing "borei pri ha'adamah" at that very same moment may answer amen, because his amen is not on his own berachah but on his friend's.
• This is not an amen yesomah: An amen yesomah, an "orphaned amen," is one answered late, when the berachah was already concluded some time earlier. Here the kohen is standing and hearing the shaliach tzibbur conclude, and he answers immediately on the berachah itself.
• This is not a hefsek: Answering this amen is not considered an interruption.

The request itself: what is a "complete blessing" and what is "stumbling block and sin"

The text of the request reads: "May it be Your will, Hashem our God, that this blessing which You commanded us to bless Your people Israel with should be a complete blessing, and that there should be in it no stumbling block and no sin, from now and forever." Nowhere else do we find a person prefacing the performance of a mitzvah with a request that it contain no stumbling block and no sin from now and forever. We need to understand what kind of request this is, and what the concept of a "complete blessing" means.

The story in the Yerushalmi of the two Amoraim who did not go up to the duchan

The Yerushalmi tells of two Amoraim who were kohanim and who came to daven but did not go up to the duchan. One felt weak and left the shul, and the other stood between the pillars of the beis midrash and did not hear the call.

• One who leaves before the call: A kohen who leaves the shul before they call out "kohanim" does not become obligated and transgresses nothing.
• Do not tell a kohen to go up: One should not say to a kohen "go up to the duchan," because once he has been told, he becomes obligated. Some kohanim have their own reasons for not wanting to go up, and one should not get into that with them.
• The question of the author of "Alei Tamar": Rav Yitzchak Tamar, one of the rabbanim of Tel Aviv and the author of the commentary "Alei Tamar" on the Yerushalmi, was puzzled. Those Amoraim walked to shul on their own two feet, and in the times of Chazal the shuls were outside the city, no short walk. How does it happen that specifically in the middle of davening they suddenly became weak and did not go up to the duchan?

The explanation of the Alei Tamar: spiritual weakness, not physical weakness

• The core of the explanation: The intent is not physical weakness but spiritual weakness. He did not feel himself to be in a fit state to bless Israel.
• First condition, simchah: This mitzvah must be performed out of joy. A kohen who does not feel joy in his heart in doing the mitzvah is better off not blessing. The basis for this is "and it was when the musician played, the spirit of God rested upon him," since the Shechinah does not rest amid sadness. The same emerges from the Rambam in the Moreh Nevuchim, and this is the entire path of Rebbe Nachman: whoever wants to draw close to the Holy One, Blessed be He, should do it through "serve Hashem with joy."
• Second condition, love: The blessing must be said with love, with every single Jew equal in the kohen's eyes, none lesser and none greater.
• And this is the "stumbling block and sin": The kohen is just one more member of the minyan, and it is the way of the world that a person is not on good terms with the entire congregation. The moment he harbors a grievance against a fellow who insulted him or criticized him, his blessing is no longer complete. So the kohanim ask that there be no stumbling block and no sin in it, and that it should be a "complete blessing," flowing from love of others.
• This is not an exemption from going up: He is not saying that the kohen should not go up to the duchan. Rather, at the very least he should ask that at the moment of the blessing these things fall away from him and he be able to bless properly.

The kohen as a conduit for the blessing (the Rambam's view)

• A kohen about whom there are rumors: According to the Rambam, as long as it is not known with certainty that he committed certain aveiros (such as murder, or marrying a divorcee, and included in the discussion also chillul Shabbos, which is weighed against the entire Torah), even if there are rumors circulating that he transgressed, he goes up and blesses.
• The reason: As the verse says, "and I will bless them." The blessing comes from the Holy One, Blessed be He, and the kohen is nothing more than a conduit for transmitting it.
• The Alei Tamar's addition: True, the kohen is a conduit, but a conduit has to be clean and free of rust. Blockages in a pipe prevent it from functioning, and the blockages here are a lack of joy and a lack of love.

The Yerushalmi's derashah on "amor lahem"

• The difference in spelling: In the parashah of "Emor el ha'kohanim bnei Aharon" the word "emor" is written defectively, without a vav, while in Birkas Kohanim "amor lahem" is written full, with a vav.
• The derashah: The saying that the kohanim repeat after the one who reads out the words must be complete, and that is why it is written full. And that is exactly their request: that the blessing be a complete blessing, with no deficiency in joy and no deficiency in love of the congregation.

Nesias kapayim outside Eretz Yisrael on Yom Tov only

• The difficulty: The mitzvah of nesias kapayim applies every single day, yet outside Eretz Yisrael the kohanim adopted the practice of duchening only on Yom Tov.
• The Beis Yosef's astonishment: The Beis Yosef brings the various opinions and says that he was astounded at this custom and does not understand it, and he offers several attempted explanations. There is no clear source for it beyond "this is what our fathers did."
• The answer of the Baalei HaTosafos: In exile there is no joy, not only because we are not living in Eretz Yisrael, but because of the yoke of galus: the pressure of the gentiles, the taxes, the persecutions, and not knowing what the day will bring. On Yom Tov a person is freed from his worries and is happy, and then he can bless Israel out of joy. It is on this reason that Rav Tamar bases his explanation.
• Why not on Shabbos: The Torah says "and you shall rejoice on your festival," while regarding Shabbos no simchah is stated. On Shabbos there is a special mitzvah of oneg, and according to many poskim there is no element of simchah in it, only oneg Shabbos, though others disagree.
• Another reason that was raised: Some said that outside Eretz Yisrael they did not go up because the kohanim were not of verified lineage. To that the question was asked: if so, why do they go up on Yom Tov? The suggested answer was, so that the mitzvah not be forgotten. The Rav noted that the real reason is not known, and all these reasons are attempts at explanation.

Se'if 10: how the kohanim stand on the duchan

"They stand on the duchan with their faces toward the heichal and their backs toward the people, and their fingers bent into their palms, until the shaliach tzibbur finishes Modim. And then, if there are two of them, he (the shaliach tzibbur) calls out to them: Kohanim."

(Shulchan Aruch, se'if 10)

• The order of standing: At first the kohanim stand with their faces toward the heichal and their backs toward the people, with their fingers bent into their palms, until the shaliach tzibbur finishes the berachah of Modim.
• The word "heichal": The Rambam and the Sephardim say "heichal," while Ashkenazim say "aron kodesh." The Shulchan Aruch stays faithful to his source and copies the Rambam's language exactly as it is, without adjusting it to the term he himself is used to.
• The words "shaliach tzibbur" in parentheses: The parentheses are there because not everyone agrees that it is the shaliach tzibbur who calls out "kohanim." There are some three or four different approaches as to who says "kohanim" and how it is said, and they will be explained further on.

The word "duchan" and its origin

• In the early sources, said of the Levi'im: The word "duchan" already appears in the Mishnah, but in the early sources it is used specifically of the Levi'im who stood on the duchan, not of the kohanim. So too in the order of the korbanos said every morning: "the Levi'im on their duchan," and likewise in the Kinos of Tisha B'Av.
• The language used for kohanim: When speaking of the kohanim, the expression is "they lift their hands," not "they go up to the duchan." The use of the phrase "going up to the duchan" for kohanim developed later, and some say only after the churban.
• The origin of the word: The word is not Hebrew, and it is not even certain that it is Aramaic. There are various opinions about its origin, and some held that it came from a foreign language.
• In the Beis HaMikdash: There was no aron kodesh there. There were steps, fifteen of them, and the Levi'im stood on them.

In passing · Rav Yitzchak Tamar and others mentioned

• Rav Yitzchak Tamar: A rav on the rabbinical council of Tel Aviv, a great talmid chacham, who authored a commentary on the Yerushalmi called "Alei Tamar," in about seven volumes, covering the entire Yerushalmi.
• His library: He had a large and significant library, and after his passing it was donated, I believe, to Yeshivas Har Etzion.
• Birkas Kohanim at Rav Kook's shul: Rav Waldenberg used to say that people should go get blessed with Birkas Kohanim in Rav Kook's shul in Yerushalayim, because he was known for his ahavas Yisrael, and the blessing has to be said with love.

In passing · The customs of Haifa and Tzfas regarding nesias kapayim

• In Haifa: They follow the custom of chutz la'aretz, duchening only on Yom Tov.
• In Tzfas: No such custom is known.
• A possible reason: These customs have no clear source. It may be that whoever founded the place came from outside Eretz Yisrael and continued with the practice of chutz la'aretz, and likewise the Galil was originally settled by people who came from abroad.
• Another reason from the Gemara: The Gemara says that the people of Haifa and the people of Beis She'an did not pronounce the letters properly, and in Birkas Kohanim one must be precise in pronunciation, for instance in "vichuneka." Some attributed to this the fact that they did not duchen all year but only on Yom Tov.

In passing · Side questions that came up

• Why is a conduit needed at all: If the blessing comes from the Holy One, Blessed be He, why does it have to pass through the kohanim, rather than His blessing directly? This question was not resolved here.
• Bringing a korban through the owner's own hands: Along the same lines, one could ask why the person bringing a korban does not offer it himself but gives it to a kohen, and likewise why the rest of the avodah in the Beis HaMikdash was handed over to the kohanim.