| The Rambam on the Birkat Kohanim |
At the last membership meeting, as part of our ongoing discussion on the role of Birkat
Kohanim in our minyan, it was suggested that presentation of sources dealing with this subject
would be welcomed. Accordingly, I have translated the Rambam, Moses Maimonides, on this
subject. The translation is of Chapters 14-15 of Hilkot Tefillah (the Laws of Prayer) in the Sefer Ahava (Book of Love) of the Mishnah Torah. Please note that 1-the inspirational material is
toward the end rather than the start, 2-as the Rambam clearly assumes that his "Kohanim" are of
the masculine persuasion, I have retained masculine pronouns, and 3-I have provided
occasional references to other sources where the Rambam's customs differ from those of
Ashkenaz. After each rule, I have given what the commentators say the Rambam's sources are.
In translating the Divine Name, I have used" :"YHWH" in Biblical verses but "Adonai" in non-
Biblical references to reflect the post-Biblical custom of not pronouncing the name. If there are
obscurities in the translation or if people have questions, I would be glad to discuss them in e-
form or in person
Steve Oren
There are included 2 positive commands. One is to serve the Lord every day in prayer. The second, that the Priests bless Israel every day [for the Ashkenaz custom of reserving Birkat Kohanim for festivals, see the Rama, Rabbi Moshe Isserles in his commentary to the Shulchan Aruch Orech Hayim 128 and the sources he cites] . . . .
1-In Shaharit, in Musaf, and in Neila, the Kohanim raise their hands [to bless the people--note that Rambam uses "raising the hands" as a technical term for the priestly blessing)] but in Mincha, the Kohanim do not raise their hands because at mincha, all the people have already eaten and it is feared that the Kohanim have drunk wine. And one who is drunk is forbidden to raise his hands. And even on a fast day, they do not raise their hands at mincha. This is a rabbinical decree as to mincha on a fast day because of mincha on a regular day [see B. Taanit 27].
2-As to what case are we talking? As to a fast day on which we pray both mincha and neila such as the fast of Yom Kippur and a public fast day [which we no longer have]. But on a fast day on which there is no neila, such as Av 9 and Tamuz 17 since their mincha is close to sunset, they appear to be like neila and not like the mincha of everyday. And therefore there is on it the raising of the hands. And if a Kohen errs and goes up to duchan at mincha on Yom Kippur since the matter is known that there is no drunkenness on it, behold, he raises his hands and we do not order them down because of fear lest they say "he was an invalid Kohen and that is why they ordered him down,' (B, Taanit 27 and note the custom that the shaliach tzibbur says birkat kohanim on mincha of fast days]
3-How is this raising of the hands? Outside the Temple, when the Shaliach Tzibbur gets to the "Avodah" blessing [the 17th of the 19 blessings of the daily amidah and the 5th of the 7 blessings of the Shabbat and festival amidah), when he says "retzeh", all the Kohanim that are present in the Synagogue leave their places and go up to duchan[ the Rambam uses this as a technical term] and they stand there with their faces toward the Ark and their backs toward the people and their fingers tucked inside their hands until the shaliach tzibbur finishes "hodaah" (the 18th of the 19 blessings of the daily amidah and the 6th of the 7 Shabbat and festival amidah ones). And they turn their faces toward the people and they extend their fingers and they raise their hands to the height of their shoulders and they begin to bless. . And the Shaliach Tzibbur reads to them word by word and they answer as it says (Numbers 6:23) "Speak to them"--until he [the Shaliach tzibbur] speaks to them [the kohanim and tells them to bless, they may not do so]. When they finish the first verse, all the people say :Amen" [note the Ashkenaz custom is to say "Such be His will" instead of "Amen"]. And the Shaliach Tzibbur restarts and says the second verse word by word and they answer until they finish the second verse and all the people answer "Amen" And so for the third verse [B. Sotah 38].
4-When the Kohanim finish the 3 verses, the Shaliach tzibbur starts the final blessing of the Prayer which is "Sim Shalom" and the Kohanim turn their faces to face the Ark and close their fingers and remain there where they duchaned until the blessing is finished and they return to their places.
5-The reader [shaliach tzibbur] is not allowed to call to the Kohanim until the "Amen" {to the hodaah blessing] is finished from the mouths of the congregation. And the Kohanim are not allowed with the blessing until the word is finished from the mouth of the reader. And the Congregation does not say "Amen" until the blessing is finished from the Kohanim. And the Kohanim do not start the next blessing until the "Amen" of the Congregation is finished And the Shaliach tzibbur is not permitted to say "Amen" like the rest of the congregation lest he become confused and not know what blessing he is to call to them--if it is the second or third verse,.
6-And the Kohanim are not permitted to turn their faces from the Congregation until the Shaliach tzibbur starts "Sim Shalom". And the Kohanim are not permitted to change their places until the Shaliach tzibbur finishes "Sim Shalom" And they [the Kohanim] are not permitted to knot up their fingers until they turn their faces from the Congregation.. And by a decree of Ezra, the Kohanim are not permitted to go up to duchan in their shoes but must be barefoot (B. Sotah 39)
7-When the Kohanim bless the people, the Congregation must not stare and must not turn away their minds but their eyes should be on the floor as one standing in prayer. And no one is permitted to look at the faces of the Kohanim as they bless the people lest their minds be diverted. But all the people intend to hear the blessing of the Kohanim and all the people turn their faces from the faces of the Kohanim and they do not look upon their faces.
8-If there is only one Kohen blessing, he starts to bless at his own initiative. And the Shaliach Tzibbur calls to him word for word as we have said. If there are two or more, they do not begin until the Shaliach Tzibbur calls to them and says "Kohanim" and they say "Yivorechacha". And he calls to them word for word in the order that we said [(B, Sotah 38].
[9-10 are omitted as dealing only with the Temple. For the same cause, I have omitted some other material below--for instance in 14].
11-Birkat Kohanim is not said in any place in any language besides Hebrew. As it says(Numbers 6:22) "Thus shall you bless the Israelites." From this we learn from a tradition from Moshe our Teacher, of Blessed Memory, "Thus shall you bless" by lifting the hands. "Thus shall you bless" in Hebrew. "Thus shall you bless" face to face. "Thus shall you bless" in a loud voice . . . .[B. Sotah 38]
12-The Kohanim are not permitted in any place to add blessing to the three verses such as (Deut 1:11) "YHWH, God of your fathers, add to you as much as you are a thousand times" and similar things, not in a loud voice and not in a whisper as it is said (Deut 4.2) "You shall not add to the word." At the time that each Kohen goes up to duchan when he picks up his feet to go up, he says "May it be Your will, Adonai our God that this blessing which you commanded us to bless your people Israel be a complete blessing and there should not be any mistake or any fault from now until eternity." And before he turns his face to bless the people, he blesses "Blessed are You, Adonai our God, Ruler of the Universe who sanctified us with the sanctity of Aaron and commanded us to bless His people in love." And after that, he turns his face to the congregation and begins to bless. And when he turns his face from the congregation after he finishes [But Rashi says to say this before he turns and such was the custom in Ashkenaz] "We have done what You commanded us to do, Do to this as You promised. Look down on us from Your Holy Habitation from the Heavens and bless Your People Israel."[ see B. Rosh HaShanah 28 and B Sotah 39]
13-When the Kohanim turn their faces to the people to bless them and when they turn their faces from the people after blessing them, they may not turn except to the right in every place. And, similarly, all turns that a person makes, he should not turn but in a rightward direction (B. Sotah 15 and B. Zevachim 62).
14-. . . .But, outside the Temple, they bless them after each prayer except for mincha as we have said. In every case, they should look to see that the one calling to them is a Yisrael [and not a Kohen] as it is (Numbers 6:22) "Say to them" from which one concludes that the caller should not be one of them [But note Kesef Mishnah argues from B, Berakhot 34 that the Shaliach Tzibbur may be a Kohen--and see below 15:10]
1-Six things prevent "raising of the hands." Language, blemishes, sin, years, wine, and impurity of the hands. The language, what is it? The stumblers that do not say the sounds in their proper form, for instance, they confuse alef and ayin or samech and shin and similar errors do not raise their hands. And so, those with difficulties of the mouth or the tongue that their words are not clear to all do not raise their hands (B. Megillah 24b)
2-The Blemishes, what are they? For instance, a Kohen who has a blemish in his face, or his hands, or his feet such as mis-shapen fingers or spotted hands does not raise his hands because the people will stare at it. He whose spittle falls on his beard when he speaks and similarly, he who is blind in a single eye does not raise his hands, And if he is a permanent resident in his area and everyone is used to him, the one who is blind in one eye or whose spittle dribbles is permitted as they will not stare at him. And similarly, he whose hands are stained and discolored does not raise his hands,. And if most of the people of the area are in similar work. he raises his hands as they will not stare (B. Megillah 24b)/
3-The sin, what is it? A Kohen who killed a person even though he repented, may not lift his hands as it is said (Isaiah 1:15) "Your hands are full of blood" and it says "and when you spread your hands." And a Kohen who worshipped idols be it by force or be it by accident, even though he repented may never raise his hands as it is said (II Kings 23:(9), "the Kohanim of the high places did not go up to the altar of YHWH in Jerusalem". And blessing is like the Temple Service as it is said (Deut 10:8) "to serve Him and to bless in His name." And similarly, a Kohen who adopted a religion of idol worship [although he did not serve idols] even though he turns from it, may never raise his hands [some Adhkenazic authorities permitted this, however]. And other sins do not prevent
4-The Years, what are they? A boy Kohen does not raise his hands until his beard is present [but not others say that this just means a minor Kohen may not bless if there is no adult but may join adult Kohanim in blessing]. And the wine, what is it? The one who has drunk a reveit (see below) of wine in one gulp may not raise his hands until the wine wears off since the blessing is compared to the Temple Service If he drinks a reveit of wine in 2 gulps or if he dilutes it with a little water, it is permitted [to bless]. And if he drinks more than a reveit, even though he dilutes it, even though he drinks it in many gulps, he may not raise his hands until the wine wears off.. And how much is a reveit, 2 fingers by 2 fingers by 1.5 fingers (read "inch" for "finger" so a reveit is a container holding 6 cubic inches). And this is the finger with which the Torah always measures, it is the thumb
5-Impurity of the hands, what is it? A Kohen who has not washed his hands does not lift his hands but washes his hands until the wrist in the way that they were sanctified for the Temple service and after that he blesses as it is written (Psalms 144:2) "Raise your holy hands and bless YHWH), And a Hallal (the son of a Kohen and a woman he is forbidden to marry) does not raise his hands as he is not really a Kohen
6-A Kohen who has none of these problems as to raising the hands, even though he is not a scholar and is not careful about performing commands or people generally despise him or he does not do business honestly, raises his hands and we do not prevent him. Because this is a positive command on every Kohen fit for raising his hands and we do not say to an evil man "Increase your evil and stay away from commands."
7-And do not protest and say "What is the value of a blessing from such an individual? Because receiving the blessing does not depend on the Kohanim but on the Holy One, Blessed be He as it says (numbers 6:27) "And place My Name on the Israelites and I will bless them." The Kohanim do their command that they were commanded in and the Holy One Blessed be He in His mercy blesses Israel in their desires
8-People that are behind the Kohanim, they are not in the category of those who are blessed. And those who stand on the Side, behold, they are in the category of these blessed. And if there is a barrier between the Kohanim and those being blessed, even if it be an iron wall, since their faces are turned to the Kohanim, behold, they are in the category of those blessed.
9-Raising the hands requires a minyan and the Kohanim count for that minyan. A synagogue all of whose (male) members are Kohanim, all raise their hands. And who are they blessing? Their brothers in the North and in the South [ Jews all over the world] And who answers after them "Amen", the women and the children (Y. Berakhot 5,4). And if there are there 10 Kohanim beyond those who go up to duchan, the 10 answer amen and the rest bless
10-A congregation which has no Kohen except for the Shaliach Tzibbur. He does not raise his hands. And if he is sure that he can raise his hands and return to his prayer--he is permitted. And if there is no Kohen present, when the Shaliach Tzibbur gets to Sim Shalom, he says "Our God and God of our ancestors, bless us with the threefold blessing in the Torah that was written by the hand of Moses your servant, that is spoken by the mouth of Aaron and his sons, Priests, Your Holy People. As it says "May YHWH bless you and guard you. May YHWH light your face upon you and favor you, May YHWH lift his face toward you and place on you peace. And you will put my name on the Israelites and I will bless them (Numbers 6: 24-27) . [In Ashkenaz this last verse is not added]/." And the people do not answer amen and he starts and says "Sim Shalom:
11-A Kohen who lifts his hands in a synagogue and goes to another synagogue and finds a congregation praying, and they have not yet gotten to Birkat Kohanim, raises his hands for them and blesses them, however many times this will happen during the day. A Kohen that does not leave his place to go up to duchan when the shaliach tzibbur says "Retzeh", he cannot then go up during that prayer but if he did move his feat to go up even though he does not reach the platform until after "Avodah" (at the end of the 17th of the daily and the fourth of the Shabbat and festival blessings) he goes up and blesses.
12-A Kohen who does not go up to duchan, even though he nullifies [only] one positive
command, behold, he is as one who violates 3 commands as it says (Numbers 6: 22-27) "Thus
shall you bless the Israelites,"" say to them," and "place my name." And every Kohen who does
not bless, will not be blessed. And every Kohen who blesses will be blessed as it says (Genesis
12:13() "And I will bless those who bless you." [B. Sotah 38]
Go home.