[Avodah] birchat kohanim

[Micha Berger via Avodah]

On Thu, Jul 28, 2016 at 10:07:42PM -0400, Akiva Miller wrote:
: R' Micha Berger asked [about the issur of non-kohanim duchaning]:
:> Which is? The worst they did was recite three pesuqim. I know
:> many fathers who are not kohanim who use these pesuqim when
:> blessing their children Fri night.
...
: There's nothing wrong with doing so, but the reason that there's nothing
: wrong with it is because they are giving their *own* bracha. It is modeled
: after Birkas Kohanim, but it makes no attempt to *be* Birkas Kohanim.
: That's the red line....

So have them say it al tenai. If the kehunah of a typical kohein today is
really a safeiq, then one would either be saying BK (withough a berakhah)
or pesuqim, depending on the tenai.

Along simiar lines... One shouldn't say Hallel on stam any day, which
is why RYBS didn't say Hallel on Yom haAtzma'ut. Some take a middle
road and say Hallel without a berakhah.

Seems pretty similar, using a tenai to say "if it's inappropriate, I am
'just' saying pesuqim" to allow one to navigate a safeiq between an asei
and a lav.

...
: My *guess* is that it is an exaggeration to say that "our kohanim's yichus
: is uncertain", and that m'ikar hadin we are confident that they really are
: kohanim. But the safek is not absent altogether, and it is appropriate to
: be machmir, keeping in mind that it is only a chumra, and there are real
: dangers in being overly machmir when chumra is uncalled for.

Yes, like our not performing an asei. If it's not really a safeiq, one
is being meiqil -- ignoring the opportunity to fulfill a deOraisa.
Aside from the opportunity to benefit from a berakhah as a berakhah.

Tir'u baTov!
-Micha

-- 
Micha Berger             "Fortunate indeed, is the man who takes
micha at aishdas.org        exactly the right measure of himself,  and
http://www.aishdas.org   holds a just balance between what he can
Fax: (270) 514-1507      acquire and what he can use." - Peter Latham