Priestly Blessing
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The Priestly Blessing, (in Hebrew: Birkat Kohanim, ברכת כהנים), also known as Nesiat Kapayim (Raising of the hands) is a Jewish ceremony and prayer recited during certain Jewish services. It is based on the Biblical verses:
- (And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: Speak unto Aaron and his sons, saying, in this manner shall bless the children of Israel; you shall say to them:)
- May the Lord bless you and keep you - יְבָרֶכְךָ יְהוָה, וְיִשְׁמְרֶךָ
- May the Lord shine His face upon you - יָאֵר יְהוָה פָּנָיו אֵלֶיךָ, וִיחֻנֶּךָּ
- May the Lord lift His countenance upon you, and grant you peace - יִשָּׂא יְהוָה פָּנָיו אֵלֶיךָ, וְיָשֵׂם לְךָ שָׁלוֹם
- (So shall they put My name upon the children of Israel, and I will bless them). :(Numbers 6:23-27) [1]
On certain occasions, in Orthodox and some Conservative synagogues, this blessing is said by actual descendents of Aaron, called Kohanim (priests), members of Judaism's priestly clan, through a special ceremony.
Some Christian denominations also use the same blessing text as a Benediction, although with a different context and ceremony from the Jewish Nesiat Kapayim.
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[edit] The ceremony
At the beginning of the ceremony, the Leviim in the congregation (Levites, members of the tribe of Levi) wash the hands of the Kohanim and then the Kohanim remove their shoes, cover their heads with their tallitot, and go up to the bimah. The hazzan or prayer leader recites the three verses of the blessing, word by word, and the Kohanim repeat each word after him. After each verse, the congregation responds with Amen.
Over the course of the blessing, the hands of the Kohanim are spread out over the congregation, with the fingers separated to make three parts corresponding to the Hebrew letter Shin, a special sign of the priestly blessing. Usually, the tallitot cover the arms as well, up to the palms of the hands. During the reading of the text, it is customary to close one's eyes and rock gently side to side. Performing the ceremony of the priestly blessing is known in Yiddish as duchening.
[edit] When performed
This ceremony is traditionally performed daily in Israel, and among most Sephardic Jews worldwide, during the repetition of the Shacharit Amidah (prayer during the morning service), and on Shabbat, Pesach, Shavuot, Sukkot, Rosh Hashanah, and Yom Kippur during the repetition of the Shacharit amidah and during Mussaf. On Yom Kippur the ceremony is performed during the Neilah service as well.
In the Diaspora in Ashkenazic Orthodox communities, the ceremony is performed only on Pesach, Shavuot, Sukkot, Rosh Hashanah, and Yom Kippur during Mussaf only. On week-days and Shabbat the priestly blessing is recited by the shaliach tzibbur, or a chazzan, after the Modim prayer, towards the end of the Amidah.
[edit] The blessing
The source of the text is the Book of Numbers, chapter 6, where Aaron and his sons bless the Israelites with this blessing.
This is the oldest known Biblical text that has been found; amulets with these verses written on them have been found in graves in dating from the First Temple Period, and are now in the Israel Museum, Jerusalem (see Ketef Hinnom).
Various interpretations of these verses connect them to the three Patriarchs; Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, or to three attributes of God; Mercy, Courage, and Glory.
[edit] Customs connected to the blessing
- According to halakha, a Kohen who has caused the death of another may not participate in the blessing.
- If a Kohen does not wish to participate, he must leave the sanctuary for the duration of the blessing.
- In many traditional Jewish communities it is the custom for congregants to spread their tallitot over their own heads during the blessing and not look at the Kohanim so as to emphasize that the blessing is from God. If a man has children, they will come under his tallit to be blessed, even if they are quite old.
- This blessing is also used by some parents to bless their children on Friday night before the beginning of the Shabbat meal. Some rabbis will say the blessing to a boy at his bar mitzvah ceremony. It also may be said before a long journey, and some people will write it out and wear/keep it as an amulet. It is often used in the liturgy as the first section of Torah to be read in the morning after reciting the blessing before studying Torah.
[edit] In Reform and Liberal Judaism
In liberal (and American Reform) congregations, the concept of the priesthood has been largely abandoned, along with other caste and gender distinctions, so as to provide equality among all Jews. Thus, this blessing is usually omitted or simply read by the hazzan. North American Reform Jews omit the Mussaf service, as do most other liberal communities, and so if they choose to include the priestly blessing, it is usually appended to the end of the Shacharit Amidah. Some congregations, especially Reconstructionist ones, have the custom of the congregation spreading their tallitot over each other and blessing each other that way. This custom was started when a Reconstructionist rabbi from Montreal saw children in Pisa, Italy run under their father's tallitot for the blessing, and he brought it home to his congregation.
[edit] In Conservative Judaism
In Conservative Judaism, the majority of congregations do not perform the priestly blessing ceremony, but some do. In some American Conservative congregations that perform the ceremony, a bat kohen (daughter of a priest) can perform it as well. [1]. Orthodox Judaism requires male kohanim (plural of kohen), in continuity with the requirements of the Temple. The Masorti movement in Israel, and some Conservative congregations in North America, require male kohanim as well.
[edit] If there are no Kohanim
In the case where no Kohanim are present in the synagogue (but there still is a minyan) the hazzan will read the prayer verse by verse, and the congregation will respond after each verse with "Amen, may it be God's Will." This practice is also done on days and times when the Amidah is publicly repeated but the Kohanim do not recite the priestly blessing.
In Judaism, only Kohanim can perform the nesiat kapayim ritual including the hand gestures, chant, etc.
[edit] Pop Culture
In the mid 1960s, actor Leonard Nimoy, who was raised in a traditional Jewish home, used a single-handed version of this gesture to create the Vulcan Hand Salute for his character, Mr. Spock, on Star Trek. He has explained that while attending Orthodox services as a child, he peeked from under his father's tallit and saw the gesture; many years later, when introducing the character of Mr. Spock, he and series creator Gene Roddenberry thought a physical component should accompany the verbal "Live long and prosper" greeting. The Jewish priestly gesture looked sufficiently alien and mysterious, and thus was television & science fiction history made. [citation needed]
[edit] References
- ^ Mayer Rabinowitz, Women Raise Your Hands, OH 128:2.1994a
[edit] Further reading
- Reasons for the customs of the Priestly Blessings (Birchat Kohanim) from the Chabad.org Jewish Knowledge Base
- Priestly Blessing, from the Union of Reform Judaism
- www.cohen-levi.org procedure for the blessing of the kohanim (info on ceremony and picture of hand position for blessing -- Orthodox perspective)
- Bircas Kohanim: The Priestly Blessings: Background, Translation, and Commentary Anthologized from Talmudic, Midrashic, and Rabbinic Sources Artscroll Mesorah Series, 1981. ISBN 0-89906-184-2
