In many Ashkenazi communities outside Israel, one of the quietest moments of Yom Tov davening comes during Birkat Kohanim — often pronounced Birkas Kohanim. The shul falls silent, the kohanim lift their hands to shoulder height, and in many communities they draw their talleisim over their heads and faces as they bless the congregation with the words the Torah itself records. The congregation faces them but lowers its eyes, receiving a blessing first commanded to Aharon and his sons in the Wilderness. Children gather beneath their fathers’ talleisim, and for the span of three brief verses the room is filled with the age-old words Hashem commanded the kohanim to place upon the people of Israel.

That sense of continuity also expresses the spirit of Rabbi Meir Baal Haness Charities, which seeks to carry the merit of giving from one generation to the next. In the article below we will learn the words of Birkat Kohanim, its origin, its deeper meaning phrase by phrase, and the halachos of how and when the kohanim bless the congregation.

Understanding Birkat Kohanim

Birkas Kohanim, the priestly blessing, is the blessing the Torah commands the kohanim to pronounce upon the Jewish people. Its formal halachic name is nesias kapayim, “the lifting of the hands,” because the blessing is delivered with a distinctive physical gesture: the kohanim lift their hands toward the congregation, spread their fingers in the traditional formation, and stand in the posture of blessing prescribed by halacha. Chazal note that outside the Beis HaMikdash the hands were raised to shoulder height, while in the Mikdash they were lifted higher. In Yiddish it is called duchening, from the duchan, the platform on which the kohanim once stood in the Beis HaMikdash.

When. The kohanim bless the people during the repetition of the Amidah, just before the final bracha of peace. In Eretz Yisroel and in most Sephardic communities, the kohanim duchen every day. In Ashkenazi communities of the diaspora, the prevailing custom is to duchen only during the Mussaf of the Yamim Tovim.

Who. Any kohen who is fit and free of the specific disqualifications named by the halacha rises to bless. The blessing is given by the kohanim but, as the Torah itself makes clear, the One who blesses is Hashem; the kohanim are the conduit, not the source. A Yisrael may not perform nesias kapayim.

Where it fits. The priestly blessing sits at the climax of the Amidah’s structure, immediately before Sim Shalom, so that the blessing of peace the kohanim invoke flows directly into the congregation’s own request for peace. The primary halachic source is Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim 128, the entire siman devoted to nesias kapayim, with the diaspora Yom Tov custom recorded by the Rama at Orach Chaim 128:44. The detailed laws of how the blessing is performed are drawn from Maseches Sotah 38a–39a.

The History and Origins of Birkat Kohanim

The priestly blessing was given at the dedication of the Mishkan. In Bamidbar (Numbers) 6:22–27, in Parshas Naso, Hashem instructs Moshe to tell Aharon and his sons the exact words with which they are to bless Bnei Yisroel. The closing verse of that passage, “v’samu es Shemi al Bnei Yisroel va’ani avarcheim” — “they shall place My Name upon the children of Israel, and I shall bless them” — establishes the foundation of the entire mitzvah: the kohanim are commanded to be the vessel through which Hashem’s blessing flows, while the blessing itself is His.

In the Beis HaMikdash, the kohanim pronounced the blessing using the Divine Name as it is written, and the people answered not with Amen but with Baruch Shem kevod malchuso l’olam va’ed. Outside the Mikdash, the Gemara in Sotah 38a teaches, the Name is rendered with its substitute. The same passage transmits the conditions of the blessing as they have come down to us: it is recited standing, with raised hands, facing the people, in a loud voice, and in the holy tongue. These details were not innovations but the careful preservation of the form Aharon first received.

The Tannaim and the poskim who followed clarified the practice across the generations. The Rambam codified nesias kapayim in his Mishneh Torah, and the Tur and Shulchan Aruch gathered the laws into Orach Chaim 128. The most consequential difference among communities is the diaspora Ashkenazi custom recorded by the Rama (Orach Chaim 128:44), that the kohanim duchen only on Yamim Tovim. The Rama explains that the custom in these lands is to bless only on Yom Tov, because then the people are in the joy of Yom Tov, and one who blesses should do so with a full heart. In Eretz Yisroel, where the original daily practice was preserved, the kohanim continue to bless the people every day. These are differences of minhag, attributed to the communities that hold them, and they are machlokes l’sheim Shamayim over how best to honor a single Torah command.

The Full Text — Hebrew, Transliteration, Translation

What Birkat Kohanim Means: A Deeper Look

The blessing rises in three steps, and the meforshim read the steps as a deliberate ascent: from material protection, to the light of Divine favor, to the peace that holds everything else together. Each verse adds a word of grace the previous one did not contain.

“Yevarechecha Hashem v’yishmerecha” — May Hashem bless you and guard you. Rashi, citing the Sifrei, explains the pairing precisely: yevarechecha is the blessing of increase, that your possessions multiply, and v’yishmerecha is the guarding of that blessing, that no thief come to take what you were given (Rashi, Bamidbar 6:24). The two halves belong together, because a blessing unguarded is no blessing at all.

“Ya’er Hashem panav eilecha” — May Hashem shine His countenance upon you. A shining face, Rashi teaches, is the face of welcome and favor, the look of a parent whose joy is visible when a child enters the room. The Sforno explains this as an illumination of the eyes and mind, so that a person can perceive Hashem’s wonders and recognize that the blessings he attains come from Him (Sforno, Bamidbar 6:25). To ask that Hashem’s face shine upon us is to ask not only for help but for closeness, for the warmth of being seen.

“Vichuneka” — and be gracious to you. The word shares its root with chein, grace, the undeserved favor that no ledger can earn. Rashi renders it simply: that He grant you grace. There are moments a person cannot reason or work his way into, when what is needed is sheer chein, and the priestly blessing places exactly that gift on our heads. It is a quiet correction to the instinct that everything must be earned; some of the best things are given.

“V’yasem lecha shalom” — and grant you peace. The blessing ends, as everything must, with shalom. The very last Mishnah of Shas, in Maseches Uktzin 3:12, teaches that Hashem found no vessel able to hold blessing for Israel except peace, citing the verse, “Hashem will give strength to His people, Hashem will bless His people with peace.” Peace is not one more item on the list; it is the container without which the rest spills out. Place blessing, light, and grace into a life with no shalom, and they cannot be held. This is why the kohanim end here, and why their blessing flows straight into the congregation’s own prayer for peace.

When and How the Kohanim Bless: The Laws of Duchening

The priestly blessing is governed by a defined procedure, with the steps outlined below:

1. Preparation. The kohanim wash their hands, traditionally with the Leviim pouring the water, and remove their shoes before ascending. A kohen with one of the specific disqualifications discussed by the poskim does not go up.
2. The call. During the repetition of the Amidah, after Modim, the kohanim ascend to the front. The chazzan calls out Kohanim, summoning them to bless, and the kohanim recite the bracha, “…asher kid’shanu bikdushaso shel Aharon v’tzivanu l’varech es amo Yisroel b’ahavah,” who sanctified us with the holiness of Aharon and commanded us to bless His people Israel with love. The congreation answers Amen.
3. The posture. The kohanim face the aron and then turn to face the congregation, raise their hands to shoulder height with the talleisim drawn over them, and separate their fingers in the traditional manner. The Midrash connects the spaces between their fingers to the verse in Shir HaShirim, that the Shechinah “peers through the lattice” (Shir HaShirim Rabbah 2:9).
4. The blessing.The chazzan reads each word and the kohanim repeat it, verse by verse, in a loud voice, and the congregation answers Amen after each verse. The congregation faces the kohanim but does not gaze at their hands.

When it is said. In Eretz Yisroel and most Sephardic kehillos, the kohanim bless daily, at Shacharis and at Mussaf on days that have one. In the Ashkenazi diaspora the prevailing custom, recorded by the Rama in Orach Chaim 128:44, is to duchen only during Mussaf of the Yamim Tovim, the setting of fullest joy. When Yom Tov coincides with Shabbos, communities follow their own established practice, and where customs differ they are honored as the minhag of that kehillah, not corrected.

Who blesses. A kohen who is fit performs nesias kapayim; a Yisrael may not. The status of a kohen who has taken a life, even unintentionally, is the subject of a well-known halacha: the Mechaber rules that such a kohen does not duchen, and the Rama adds that some permit him to bless after teshuvah, recording this as the primary ruling (Orach Chaim 128:35). A kohen who is an onen, or a minor not yet of age, does not duchen. These are matters of settled din alongside long-standing minhag, and the two should be distinguished rather than blurred.

The Spiritual Power of Tefillah and Tzedakah

Chazal teach in Bava Basra 10a that tzedakah is great, for it brings the redemption near, and Shlomo HaMelech writes in Mishlei that “tzedakah tatzil mimaves,” charity rescues from death (Mishlei 10:2, and again in 11:4). The priestly blessing and the act of giving belong to the same avodah: tefillah opens the gates of blessing above, and tzedakah builds the zechus that allows that blessing to descend and rest upon a person. We do not give in order to obligate Heaven; we give as an act of emunah and chesed, and through it we make ourselves into vessels fit to receive the very shalom the kohanim invoke over our heads.

There is a fitting closeness here. The final word of Birkat Kohanim is shalom, peace, and the deepest peace a Jew can know is the peace of having lifted another. When the kohanim ask that Hashem turn His face toward us, they ask for closeness; and there is no surer way to draw that closeness than to turn our own face toward the poor.

This is the work of Rabbi Meir Baal Haness Charities, which carries the gifts of givers to the needy of Eretz Yisroel and upholds the tzaddik’s legacy to intercede in Heaven for those who give to the poor in his memory. To stand beneath the priestly blessing and then to bless others with our giving is to let the blessing pass through us, exactly as it passes through the hands of the kohanim.

Give Tzedakah in the Merit of Rabbi Meir Baal Haness The kohanim end their blessing with peace, and the surest path to peace is the hand that lifts another. In the merit of Rabbi Meir Baal Haness, let your gift bring shalom to the needy of Eretz Yisroel and draw Hashem’s countenance toward your home.

About Rabbi Meir Baal Haness Charities

Rabbi Meir Baal Haness Charities, founded in 1799, is one of the oldest and most trusted tzedakah organizations serving the poor of Eretz Yisroel, upholding Rabbi Meir Baal Haness’s legacy that those who give to the needy in his memory find heavenly intercession in their time of need.

Today it distributes funds to Torah scholars, widows, orphans, and needy families throughout Eretz Yisroel, an unbroken chain of compassion that is a zechus for the giver and their family.

Frequently Asked Questions About Birkat Kohanim

Closing

Three verses, fifteen words, and the King’s face turned toward His people. Birkat Kohanim is the blessing the Torah places in the hands of the kohanim, for Hashem Himself to bestow, and it ends, as all blessing must, in peace. When we give in the merit of Rabbi Meir Baal Haness, we let that blessing pass onward to the poor of Eretz Yisroel. May Hashem turn His countenance toward you and grant you shalom.