[Avodah] Birchat Cohanim

[Micha Berger]

On Wed, Nov 22, 2023 at 08:15:33AM +0200, Joel Rich via Avodah wrote:
> He thus explains a report of a practice in Italy that when the Cohanim went
> up to the duchen, only one would say the birchat cohanim (either the
> greatest of them or with the one with the best voice.) While this practice
> seems to be inconsistent with the Talmud, he posits that it's an ancient
> practice...

Remember that the Jewish community in Italy were more connected with
the Yerushalmi, whether because they came from that community or were
in the same empire and had better communication.

We could expect they (and many believe Ashkenazim as well) would have
minhagim that better fit the Y-mi or the Midrashei Halakhah than the
Bavli.

So I went to the Y-mi to see if their basis was there, rather than saying
it doesn't work with the Bavli. No help. On Berakhos 5:4 (vilna 41a)
we find both R Yudah (sic) b Pazi and R Elazar, who are both kohanim,
both hold that every kohein must go up. With stories about how they each
handled the problem when they got older and couldn't. (RYbP would lean
on a pillar, to avoid mar'is ayin -- people would see he had problems
just standing. And R Elazar would leave the room.)

If the minhag continued, I assume posqim along the way found a basis
for not saying it's a minhag ta'us. But my search failed.



Sources for not duchaning daily in chu"l:
https://www.beureihatefila.com/files/2007_04_06_Tefila_Newsletter.pdf
https://www.beureihatefila.com/files/2007-04-13Tefila_Newsletter.pdf

(And if you don't know about https://www.beureihatefila.com/ check it out.
Ignore the formatting -- the content is wonderful!)

Tir'u baTov!
-Micha

-- 
Micha Berger                 "Someday I will do it." - is self-deceptive. 
http://www.aishdas.org/asp   "I want to do it." - is weak. 
Author: Widen Your Tent      "I am doing it." - that is the right way.
- https://amzn.to/2JRxnDF                 - Reb Menachem Mendel of Kotzk