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The Priestly Blessing, (in ceremony and prayer recited during certain Jewish Services . It is based on the Biblical verses: And God spoke to Moses, saying, "Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying, 'So shall you bless the Children of Israel – say to them: On certain occasions, in Orthodox and some Conservative synagogues, this blessing is said by descendants of Aaron in the male line, called Kohanim (priests), members of Judaism's priestly clan, through a special ceremony. Some Christian denominations (especially Lutheran ) also use the same blessing text as a Benediction , although with a different context and ceremony from the Jewish ''Nesiat Kapayim''. THE CEREMONY At the beginning of the ceremony, the Leviim in the congregation (Levites, members of the tribe of Levi ) wash the hands of the Kohanim and then the Kohanim remove their shoes (if they are unable to remove their shoes without using their hands, the shoes should be removed prior to the washing), cover their heads with their Tallit ot, and go up to the Bimah . The Hazzan or prayer leader recites the three verses of the blessing, word by word, and the Kohanim repeat each word after him. After each verse, the congregation responds with '' Amen ''. Raising the hands Over the course of the blessing, the hands of the Kohanim are spread out over the congregation, with the fingers separated to make three parts corresponding to the Hebrew letter Shin , a special sign of the priestly blessing. Usually, the tallitot cover the arms as well, up to the palms of the hands. During the reading of the text, it is customary to close one's eyes and rock gently side to side. Performing the ceremony of the priestly blessing is known in Yiddish as ''duchening''. 's fingers and hands when blessing the congregation.]] The Talmud describes God as peering through the "lattice" formed by the hands of the Kohanim, referencing the verse in the Song Of Songs (2:9): :My beloved is like a gazelle or a young hart :Behold, he stands behind our wall :He looks in through the windows :Peering through the lattice The chant In some communities it is customary for the Kohanim to raise their hands and recite an extended chant before reciting the last word of each phrase. There are different tunes for this chant in different communities. Aside from its pleasant sound, the chant is done so that the congregation may silently offer certain prayers during each individual blessing of the Kohanim. Because these prayers are not offered on Shabbat , the chant is also not done on Shabbat. When performed This ceremony is traditionally performed daily in Israel , and among most Sephardic Jews worldwide, during the repetition of the Shacharit Amidah (prayer during the morning service), and on Shabbat , Pesach , Shavuot , Sukkot , Rosh Hashanah , and Yom Kippur during the repetition of the Shacharit amidah and during Mussaf . On Yom Kippur the ceremony is performed during the Neilah service as well. On other fast days it is performed at Mincha , if said in the late afternoon. In the Diaspora in Ashkenazi c Orthodox communities, the ceremony is performed only on Pesach , Shavuot , Sukkot , Shemini Atzeret , Rosh Hashanah , and Yom Kippur during Mussaf only. On Simchat Torah , some communities recite it during Mussaf, and others during Shacharit , to enable Kohanim to participate in the custom of making toasts and drinking alcohol during the Torah Reading between Shacharit and Mussaf . On week-days and Shabbat , in Ashkenazic diaspora communities, the blessing is not recited by Kohanim. Instead, it is recited only by the shaliach tzibbur, or a Chazzan , after the Modim prayer, towards the end of the Amidah, without any special chant or gestures. THE BLESSING The source of the text is the Book Of Numbers , chapter 6, where Aaron and his sons bless the Israelite s with this blessing. This is the oldest known Biblical text that has been found; amulets with these verses written on them have been found in graves in dating from the First Temple Period , and are now in the Israel Museum , Jerusalem (see Ketef Hinnom ). Various interpretations of these verses connect them to the three Patriarchs ; Abraham , Isaac , and Jacob , or to three attributes of God; Mercy, Courage, and Glory. LAWS AND CUSTOMS CONNECTED TO THE BLESSING
In Reform and Liberal Judaism In Liberal (and American Reform) congregations, the concept of the priesthood has been Largely Abandoned , along with other Caste and Gender distinctions, so as to provide equality among all Jews. Thus, this blessing is usually omitted or simply read by the Hazzan . North American Reform Jews omit the Mussaf service, as do most other liberal communities, and so if they choose to include the priestly blessing, it is usually appended to the end of the Shacharit Amidah. Some congregations, especially Reconstructionist ones, have the custom of the congregation spreading their tallitot over each other and blessing each other that way. This custom was started when a Reconstructionist rabbi from Montreal saw children in Pisa , Italy run under their father's tallitot for the blessing, and he brought it home to his congregation. In Conservative Judaism In . The Masorti movement in Israel, and some Conservative congregations in North America, require male ''kohanim'' as well. IF THERE ARE NO KOHANIM In the case where no Kohanim are present in the synagogue (but there still is a Minyan ) the Hazzan will read the prayer verse by verse, and the congregation will respond after each verse with "''kein yehi ratzon'', may it be God's Will." This response is used instead of "Amen," because the hazzan is merely "mentioning" the blessing, as it were, and not actually performing the ritual. This response is also employed on days and times when the Amidah is publicly repeated but the Kohanim do not recite the priestly blessing. In Judaism, only Kohanim can perform the ''nesiat kapayim'' ritual including the hand gestures, chant, etc. POP CULTURE In the mid-1960s, actor ''. He has explained that while attending Orthodox services as a child, he peeked from under his father's Tallit and saw the gesture; many years later, when introducing the character of Mr. Spock, he and series creator Gene Roddenberry thought a physical component should accompany the verbal "Live long and prosper" greeting. The Jewish priestly gesture looked sufficiently alien and mysterious, and thus was television & science fiction history made.1983 television show "Leonard Nimoy's Star Trek Memories" This story was told by Nimoy on camera and repeated in somewhat abbreviated form in 1999 on the SciFi Channel "Star Trek: Special Edition" commentary for the episode "Amok Time." Again, the story was told by Nimoy on camera. Bob Dylan 's song "Forever Young" from the Planet Waves album uses the form and some content ("May God Bless and keep you...") of the Priestly Blessings. In the movie '' Deep Impact '', the President of the United States, played by Morgan Freeman , recites the Priestly Blessing in a speech to the world. This speech announces to the world that a comet is approaching the world and will cause an E.L.E. (Extinction Level Event). REFERENCES FURTHER READING
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