Showing posts with label birkat kohanim. Show all posts
Showing posts with label birkat kohanim. Show all posts
Oct 26, 2025
JERUSALEM TODAY! The Priestly Blessing (Birkat Kohanim) at the Western Wall! (video)
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Apr 11, 2023
Prayer for Peace at Home. Passover Priestly Blessing Takes Place at Western Wall in Jerusalem (video)
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May 31, 2022
Interesting Psak: Birkat Kohanim in Tiberias
We all know that in Israel the Birkat Kohanim is recited daily and not just during the holidays as is done abroad (in Ashkenazic communities).
What is less known is that in northern Israel the standard is not to recite Birkat Kohanim at all morning services, but only at Mussaf - meaning in most ashkenazic shuls, the weekday prayers usually wont have birkat kohanim, but only Shabbos Mussaf and Rosh Chodesh will.
Hamechadesh is reporting that the Admor of Tzanz went to Tiberias to inaugurate a new community building for the growing Tzanz community in Tiberias. At the time, the Rebbe met with the community rav (his son) and the community dayan to discuss this matter. The decision they came to, and the psak they issued, was that the Tzanz community in Tiberias will change from the current custom and start saying Birkat Kohanim during all morning services instead of just Mussaf services.
The change was set to take place this past Shabbos.
No explanation was given but I am curious to hear why they decided to change their custom and especially in light of that being the prevailing custom for the entire area.
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Mar 18, 2021
changes to Birkat Kohanim this Pesach
The news is reporting that a decision has been made for how the mass Birkat Kohanim at the Kotel will work this year.
Last year it was cancelled, sort of, due to COVID-19. That was the beginning of the pandemic and Pesach was under the most serious of all the lockdowns. In an effort to not actually cancel the event, the government permitted a minyan of 10 people with kohanim and their Birkat Kohanim was broadcast live on the Internet. Obviously the normal masses of thousands, tens of thousands, of people, were not able to participate with their actual presence at the Kotel.
This year, with restrictions progressively easing up due to falling Covid numbers and rising vaccination/recovery numbers, it has been decided to allow the Birkat Kohanim event to return, almost to its original format - with some adjustments.
In the past, the birkat kohanim event would be held on the first day of Chol Hamoed for non-Israelis. This year that would be on Tuesday. This year the event will be split into two events, one day after the other, so that people can go to one or the other. The Birkat Kohanim events will take place on both Monday and Tuesday mornings at the Kotel. I suspect the reason Monday was chosen is because this year there are no tourists here for the holiday (besides the people who live here "short term"), so the issue of allowing them to come on chag is minimized, along with them still having the option of Tuesday.
It should be noted that the Western Wall Heritage Center has requested of the public to not try to be present at both. if you go on Monday, do not go on Tuesday. The purpose of splitting it to two days is to space out the crowds.
The Chief Rabbis, Mayor of Jerusalem, and other dignitaries will be present at the event on both days
(source: Habim)
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Jan 18, 2021
becoming a kohen
Behadrei has the story of someone, a Haredi fellow from Northern Israel, that went to Germany two years ago on a trip to explore his family history. When he went to visit the graves of his ancestors, he discovered an etching on the grave that indicated the man buried was a kohen, of the priestly tribe. The etching was of the hands displayed in the blessing form - a common etching on graves of kohanic families.
Mr Traveler came back from his trip and told his family and showed them the pictures. Everyone was in shock. They had thought they were Levites, because of the name (which we do not know), but now they have discovered they are actually kohanim. The Holocaust interrupted their tradition, and they are only now rediscovering it.
They spent the next two years investigating the family line and history further. They even came across documentation from the town their ancestors were born in and they are listed and registered as kohanim.
They presented the findings to their local rabbi and to the posek Rav Sariel Rosenberg in Bnei Braq. After looking at the issue, both Rav Rosenberg and their local rav have affirmed that they are kohanim and expressed that people should not raise any questions or doubts about their kohanic descent. The male family members now all duchan and take the first aliya of the Torah as full kohanim. In shul this past Shabbos they had the gabbai distribute "chocolate fingers" as a celebration and to symbolize their blessing of the community for the first time with the kohanic blessings.
The shul I grew up in in Chicago had a similar story. When an older fellow got out of Russia and emigrated to Chicago, he was shocked to discover shuls - he remember praying in one as a child, but never since as they had all been shut down. He went to shul regularly after that. In the USA the kohanim only duchen on holidays. When the first holiday arrived (I think it was Pesach but I am not sure), Mr Lapushin saw the duchening and remembered his grandfather doing that. After speaking to the rabbi and undergoing some investigation, he was declared a kohen.
It also reminds me of the old joke of the fellow who wanted to be a kohen. He went to his Orthodox rabbi and asked to be made into a kohen. He offered $10,000, but the rabbi refused. He then went to the local Conservative rabbi who also refused, despite the financial temptation. He then went to the Reform rabbi who accepted the money and declared him a kohen. The Rabbi then asked why he so desperately wanted to be a kohen. The fellow responded, my father was a kohen, my grandfather was a kohen, I have to be a kohen as well!
May the newly rediscovered kohanim bless the Jews faithfully, and may we all discover more about our true heritage.
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Apr 12, 2020
Picture of the Day
Birkat Kohanim, one year ago and today. The event normally draws tens of thousands of people to the Kotel and the Old City of Jerusalem. The bottom picture was today's Birkat Kohanim event, due to CoronaVirus
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LIVE NOW! Birkat Kohanim at the Kotel (video)
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Apr 5, 2020
Kotel Birkat Kohanim falls to Corona
It is not really a surprise, as pretty much every public event around the world for the coming couple of months has already been, or is being, cancelled, but now it is officially announced.
Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Li-On announced during an interview that the traditional holiday mass Birkat Kohanim" event, normally scheduled for the first day of Chol Hamoed for people from abroad (this year would have been Sunday), is cancelled. Li-On said that unless a miracle happens and we will suddenly see a drastic drop in the number of people sick with the Corona virus, the mass Birkat Kohanim will not take place.
source: Kipa
This event takes place on Chol Hamoed of Sukkos and of Pesach every year, and has happened every year since 1970 when it was founded, by Rabbi Menachem Mendel Gafner during the War of Attrition.
I should add, that it seems likely the Birkat Kohanim event will happen in some capacity, possibly with just ten people present, maybe all ten being kohanim. Though honestly that just sounds like the regular minyan, so I am not sure what would make it unique...
Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Li-On announced during an interview that the traditional holiday mass Birkat Kohanim" event, normally scheduled for the first day of Chol Hamoed for people from abroad (this year would have been Sunday), is cancelled. Li-On said that unless a miracle happens and we will suddenly see a drastic drop in the number of people sick with the Corona virus, the mass Birkat Kohanim will not take place.
source: Kipa
This event takes place on Chol Hamoed of Sukkos and of Pesach every year, and has happened every year since 1970 when it was founded, by Rabbi Menachem Mendel Gafner during the War of Attrition.
I should add, that it seems likely the Birkat Kohanim event will happen in some capacity, possibly with just ten people present, maybe all ten being kohanim. Though honestly that just sounds like the regular minyan, so I am not sure what would make it unique...
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Sep 26, 2018
Tweet of the Day
this is referring to the traditional Birkas Kohanim at the Kotel on Chol Hamoed event..
Thousands of Zionist settlers have stormed al-Aqsa Mosque Compound to do Talmudic rituals at al-Buraq Wall today! pic.twitter.com/6hP6X48yt2— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) September 26, 2018
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Mar 23, 2016
Birkat Kohanot at the Kotel
The Women of the Wall are looking to make history this Pesach, with the first ever "Birkat Kohanot" ceremony...
Fresh off their recent success at attaining the Kotel deal, they are pressing on and not just sitting pat.
In a Facebook post on the Women of the Wall Facebook page, they put out an invitation for women to join them for the ceremony and all women from kohein families to participate.
Interestingly, they claim support from Leonard and Susan Nimoy for this. Leonard Nimoy is dead, so I am not sure how he can be giving his support for it, and he died well before this first-time-ever event will have happened (though perhaps he would have if he had been alive - I don't know).
The Birkat Kohanot is going to take place in the women's section of the Kotel (unless it gets stopped) rather than in the egalitarian section of the Kotel designated specially for them.
Also interestingly - I checked the calendar and discovered that the date of the Birkat Kohanot is going to be April 24, Sunday, the first day of Chol Hamoed Pesach. The regular Birkat Kohanim event is always on the first day of chol hamoed for "bnei chutz laaretz" - meaning on the second day of chol hamoed.
Thinking about that for a moment I came up with two thoughts:
1. they would probably have an even better event, from the perspective of drawing attention and creating a spectacle, and even from the perspective of equality I think if they would join the regular birkat kohanim event and have their kohanot join in and give the blessings to the plaza full of people rather than to the small number of people who will come just for their own event. I wonder why they are making a separate event.
2. The regular birkat kohanim does it on the second day of chol hamoed so bnei chutz laaretz can participate. For the Women of the Wall, there is probably no such thing as second day yom tov, as Reform Jews only keep one day of yom tov, even in chutz laaretz (most Reform Jews even keep just one day of Rosh Hashana). So they too are doing their event in a way that their bnei chutz laaretz can participate. This is another indication that the agenda of the WoW is being set by the Reform, despite the claims that they are not Reform but have Reform supporters and Reform people in the group.
Fresh off their recent success at attaining the Kotel deal, they are pressing on and not just sitting pat.
In a Facebook post on the Women of the Wall Facebook page, they put out an invitation for women to join them for the ceremony and all women from kohein families to participate.
Interestingly, they claim support from Leonard and Susan Nimoy for this. Leonard Nimoy is dead, so I am not sure how he can be giving his support for it, and he died well before this first-time-ever event will have happened (though perhaps he would have if he had been alive - I don't know).
The Birkat Kohanot is going to take place in the women's section of the Kotel (unless it gets stopped) rather than in the egalitarian section of the Kotel designated specially for them.
Also interestingly - I checked the calendar and discovered that the date of the Birkat Kohanot is going to be April 24, Sunday, the first day of Chol Hamoed Pesach. The regular Birkat Kohanim event is always on the first day of chol hamoed for "bnei chutz laaretz" - meaning on the second day of chol hamoed.
Thinking about that for a moment I came up with two thoughts:
1. they would probably have an even better event, from the perspective of drawing attention and creating a spectacle, and even from the perspective of equality I think if they would join the regular birkat kohanim event and have their kohanot join in and give the blessings to the plaza full of people rather than to the small number of people who will come just for their own event. I wonder why they are making a separate event.
2. The regular birkat kohanim does it on the second day of chol hamoed so bnei chutz laaretz can participate. For the Women of the Wall, there is probably no such thing as second day yom tov, as Reform Jews only keep one day of yom tov, even in chutz laaretz (most Reform Jews even keep just one day of Rosh Hashana). So they too are doing their event in a way that their bnei chutz laaretz can participate. This is another indication that the agenda of the WoW is being set by the Reform, despite the claims that they are not Reform but have Reform supporters and Reform people in the group.
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Sep 23, 2013
Birkat Kohanim and Nir Barkat (video)
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Apr 9, 2012
Picture Of The Day
Picture Of The Day
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| An estimated 70,000 at the Kotel today for Birkat Kohanim. if you look carefully, you might see my 3 boys with my parents |
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Apr 15, 2011
Birkat Kohanim Schedule On Chol HaMoed Pesach
As reported on INN:
At the Kotel Plaza, preparations are underway for taking in multitudes during the Pesach holiday.
This year, the Kotel Heritage Fund has decided to place an electric mobility scooter next to the bus station, to make it easier for the elderly and disabled to reach the Plaza.
Kotel Rabbi Shmuel Rabinovich reached an agreement with the Israel Police that will make it easier for Jews whose permanent home is in the Diaspora to visit the Kotel without running into religious problems. The problem arises on the Second Yom Tov (Sabbath-like holiday) that Diaspora Jews observe after the first and last days of Pesach. During Chol Hamoed and Isru Chag, the entrance gates do not operate in Sabbath mode, and security checks include electronic devices, thus causing a problem for the Diaspora Jews.
According to the arrangement, people who mark the the second Yom Tov of Pesach will have the right to request a manual security check.
The Old City will be closed off to private vehicles during the holiday and visitors to the Kotel are asked to use public transport.
The traditional mass Priestly blessing, or Birkat Kohanim, is scheduled for Thursday, the second day of Chol Hamoed, April 21. Shacharit prayer will be at 8:45, Birkat Kohanim at 9:30, Musaf at 10:00 and Birkat Kohanim of Musaf at 10:15.
The Chief Rabbis, Rav Yonah Metzger and Rav Shlomo Amar, will then hold a reception for the pilgrims.So you can now plan your Chol HaMoed schedule...
Jul 26, 2007
impressions from travelling
Two biggies right away...
1. No Birkat Kohanim. In Israel the kohanim do birkat kohanim every day. In chutz la'aretz, only on the holidays (aside from sefardim who do it every day)..
2, realizing how great daf yomi really is. For someone who is travelling, it would be hard to keep to his learning schedule. He does not have his chavrusa, his regular shiur, he might be tired, distracted, etc.. With daf yomi, none of the matters. Wherever you go you just join a local shiur and pick up from where you left off...
1. No Birkat Kohanim. In Israel the kohanim do birkat kohanim every day. In chutz la'aretz, only on the holidays (aside from sefardim who do it every day)..
2, realizing how great daf yomi really is. For someone who is travelling, it would be hard to keep to his learning schedule. He does not have his chavrusa, his regular shiur, he might be tired, distracted, etc.. With daf yomi, none of the matters. Wherever you go you just join a local shiur and pick up from where you left off...
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