[Avodah] Subject: Sandakos

[Marty Bluke]

R' Jonathan Baker wrote:
<...Now, any given kohen cannot offer incense more than once (presumably aside
<from the kohen gadol, who deals with it every year at Yom Kippur).  So
<too today, any given person does not serve as sandek for two brothers
<from the same immediate family.

The Gra in Shulchan Aruch points out the fallacies in this reasoning.
First of all he says that there is no halacha that a Kohen cannot
bring incense more then once, rather since the incense is supposed to
make a person rich, the other kohanim would not allow any kohen to
repeat. That reason does not apply to a sandak (the father chooses)
and as the Gra says, he hasn't seen anyone get rich from being a
Sandak. Secondly, why should there be a difference between brothers
and not brothers. Why can 1 person be sandak for 2 babies who are not
related? If we are going to assur based on the ketores then what is
the difference whether the babies are related or not? The Gra
concludes that the minhag not to have the same person for 2 brothers
is based on the tzava of R' Yehuda Hachassid.

The Aruch Hashulchan writes that the reason based on the ketores is
very forced and doesn't really make sense (like the Gra). He says that
Rabbenu Peretz and others who made a big deal about the Sandak were
big mekubalim and must have had kabbalistic reasons. However, they
didn't want to base halacha on kabbala and therefore were toleh it on
the ketores.