Jewish Folklore 7

The eighteenth century saw a massive questioning of the issue of daily Birkat Kohanim. On the one hand, no one really remembered why not saying it had started. (We have access to documents that were not generally available at that time.) On the other hand, it is a Biblical command, which had been all but uprooted. Mix in with this, the issue of the Ashkenazic concept of the supremacy of minhag, and we wind up with extremely mixed emotions. Elijah of Vilna 

was convinced that it had all been a great mistake. He decided to reintroduce the blessing, at least on Shabbat. The first Shabbat it was done a major fire broke out in Vilna. The following Shabbat, the same thing happened. He took this as a sign from Heaven that this was wrong, and ceased his efforts in this direction. (Elijah of Vilna was far more receptive than most to correcting mistaken customs. In a letter he wrote, he explained that one of his primary reasons for wanting to emigrate to the Holy Land, was "to be rid of Polish customs"). A younger contemporary, Rabbi Shneur Zaman of Liadi, (the first Rebbe of Chabad), questioned the custom in his Shulchan Aruch HaRav, concluding with an enthusiastic "Yeyasher Koach (good for you!) to the inhabitants of Eretz Yisrael, who bless daily". Chabad tradition maintains that there were three things that he wished to institute, but felt that he did not have sufficient authority. One of these was Birkat Kohanim every day. (The other two were the recitation of the Song of Songs before Shabbat, and the observance of the second day of Yom Tov even in Eretz Yisrael). The Jewish community in Eretz Yisrael was almost completely Sepharadic until the late eighteenth century. There was a large Ashkenazi "aliyah" at that time, consisting of both Hasidim and their opponents, the "mitnagdim". Many Sepharadic customs were accepted by both groups as "Minhag Eretz Yisrael". Among these, was Birkat Kohanim, either daily, or at least on Shabbat. To this day, Ashkenazim in E.Y. bless daily in most parts of the country, but only on Shabbat in the Northern part of the country. There are, however, exceptions. Chabad, for example, only bless on Shabbat everywhere in E.Y. Considering Rabbi Shneur Zalman's enthusiasm for this mitzvah, I find this rather ironic. An interesting proposition was suggested by Rabbi Shlomo Chaim of Koidanov (1797–1862), founder of one of the three Hasidic groups that existed in Lithuania. His proposal was as follows: When there is a service that would be appropriate for Birkat Kohanim, but for whatever reason it is not being said, the prayer leader recites a paragraph "Our G-d and G-d of our ancestors, bless us with the threefold blessing written in Your Torah, recited by Aaron and his sons, as it is said 'May the L-rd bless you and keep you...' (the text of the Birkat Kohanim is recited) The Rabbi of Koidanov suggested that the prayer leader always be a Kohen for the morning prayers, and should intend to be actually blessing the people. So as not to openly violate custom, rather than lifting his hands in the usual manner of Birkat Kohanim, he should show his enthusiasm by lifting them as though in supplication, thereby fulfilling the Biblical command, but not violating the custom in an obvious fashion. We see here the clash of folklore cum custom, conflicting with not only halachah, but with an actual Torah command. This is one of the reasons for which I became Sepharadic, and have never looked back. In my next post, I will get back to scientific and medical folklore, and how it is dealt with.