Stories, Mussar, Practical Halacha (Tractate "Sotah" Daf 38-
44) (Vol. 88) From the Sochatchov "Beis Medrash of Teachers
of the Daf HaYomi" Bnei Brak
Contents of this Issue of Meoros: * Why say birkas
kohanim only on holidays? * Tevila for kohanim before birkas
kohanim * Birkas kohanim in the presence of non-Jews * Why
is birkas kohanim only in chazoras hashatz? * A question
from Egyptian Jews visiting the Kosel * Carrying a sefer
Torah to a jail * Moving sifrei Torah inside a shtiblach *
Removing sifrei Torah to the plaza of the Kosel * Payment
for damages caused by an "evil eye" * How did Moshe Rabbenu
write 13 sifrei Torah in one day? * The difference between
kishuf and an "evil eye" * Naming a child "Alter" as a
segula against the "evil eye" * Efforts of the "S'dei
Chemed" to avoid flattering * "Permission" to flatter one's
wife
38a "So shall you bless"-with nesi'as kapayim
[raised hands"].
Why Say Birkas Kohanim Only on Holidays?
Our daf deals at length with the halachos of Birkas
Kohanim whose source is the verse (Bamidbar
6:23), "So shall you bless Bnei Yisroel." According to
the Rambam (Introduction to Hilchos Tefillah) Kohanim
are obliged to bless Yisroel "every day." The poskim
write, however, that about seven hundred years ago, for
various reasons, the minhag was introduced in many
places that the Kohanim would not do nesi'as kapayim
each day.
A variety of minhagim: Today, in most cities in Eretz
Yisroel, Kohanim duchan each day at Shacharis,
as is the opinion of the Rambam and the Beis Yosef (end
of Siman 128) [the duchan is the platform on
which the Kohanim stand on when they bless us. Colloquially
to "duchan" means "to go up and bless']. In northern
Eretz Yisroel and some cities in the south, Kohanim
duchan only during Mussaf of Shabbos and Yom
Tov.
In Jewish communities in the Diaspora, the minhag of
Ashkenazim is to fulfill the mitzvah of nesi'as
kapayim only on Mussaf of Yom Tov. In some places
the Kohanim duchan whenever there is a public reading
in the Torah, and still others have the minhag to duchan
once a month (see "Nesi'as Kapayim" ch. 2).
Tevila in a mikveh for Kohanim before
birkas Kohanim: The poskim discuss at length
why the earlier gedolei Yisroel annulled the positive
mitzvah of saying birkas Kohanim every day. The
Maharil (Responsa HaChadashos Siman 21) writes that
the minhag to duchan only on Yom Tov is
because Kohanim used to be accustomed to immerse in a
mikveh before going up to duchan. Our
Chachamim saw how difficult this was for them, and
especially during the cold rainy winter, so they enacted
that nesi'as kapayim be done only on Yom Tov, for
then the Kohanim anyway were obliged to tovel in a mikveh
in order to purify themselves for Yom Tov (Rosh
Hashanah 16b). The Beis Yosef (Orach Chaim Siman
128) objects to this explanation, saying that since we
do not find any source to oblige the Kohanim to tovel
before nesi'as kapayim, not being able to
tovel is insufficient reason to annul a positive
mitzvah of the Torah.
Fulfilling the mitzvah with simcha: The Remoh (Orach Chaim
128:44) offers a different explanation -- one that sheds
light upon the importance of a person's frame of mind when
he goes to fulfill a mitzvah. During the year, he writes,
and even on Shabbos, people are often troubled with thoughts
about their livelihood. Since birkas Kohanim must be
said with simcha and with love for the congregation, the
Kohanim duchan only on Yom Tov when there is already
a mitzvah to be joyful. The Remoh adds that in order that
the Kohanim give the brocho with great simchah,
nesi'as kapayim is done during Mussaf at the end
of the tefillah, for the Kohanim then are in a happy
frame of mind, for they are about to partake of their Yom
Tov meal.
Birkas Kohanim in the presence of a non-Jew: The Maharil
(ibid.) writes that the minhag that Kohanim duchan
only on Shabbos is because during the week there often
were non-Jews in the beis knesses. Since this bracha
should be said only before Jews, as is written, "So
shall you bless bnei Yisroel," and the presence of non-Jews
limits the positive influence of the bracha (see
"Nesi'as Kapayim," ibid.) the minhag spread that
nesi'as kapayim is only on Shabbos.
A fire in the beis medrash: Contemporaries of the Vilna Gaon
zt'l testify (cited in "Minhchas Yitzchok" VIII:1)
that the Gaon was very distressed that Kohanim do not
perform the mitzvah of nesi'as kapayim each day. He
said that if he could, he would change the minhag and
would even take time out from his Torah study and
tefillah to travel from city to city to persuade
communities to have the Kohanim duchan every day.
The Gaon's talmid, R. Chaim of Volozhin, relates that
the Vilna Gaon once decided that in his beis medrash
Kohanim would duchan daily, but on that very day
people libeled the Gaon and he was imprisoned. The Gaon saw
this as a sign from Heaven not to change the minhag
of our fathers. R. Chaim of Volozhin himself tried to
make a minhag to duchan each day but changed
his mind after a fire burned down his beis medrash.
41a They flattered Agrippas
Efforts of the "S'dei Chemed" to Avoid Flattering
Our sugya discusses the severity of the sin of
flattering the wicked. It says that when Chachamim flattered
King Agrippas, who reigned contrary to the halacha,
"'enemies of Yisroel' [a euphemism to avoid explicit mention
of calamity] were condemned to be destroyed."
The source for the issur is the verse (Bamidbar
35:33), "You shall not flatter the evil doers of your
land" (Sifri 161, but see Rashi and Targum Onkeles),
which refers to flattering resho'im (Ramban, ibid.).
The Rishonim add (Reishis Chochma Sha'ar HaKedusha
ch. 12, "Orchos Chaim" of the "Rosh" letter 103) that it
also is forbidden to effusively praise a kosher person if he
is unworthy of such praise, when the aim is to gain favor
from him. If, however, one's aim is not selfish, and he only
wants the other person to have a good feeling from the
praise, it certainly is not prohibited. On the contrary, it
is a mitzvah to give such praise.
Flattery by the Baghdad shamashim: In the Responsa Rav
Pe'alim (IV Orach Chaim Siman 4) the author complains
bitterly about some of the shamashim [community
beadles] who would flatter the rich Jews of Baghdad. When
the rich would make a bris, the shamashim
would loudly proclaim to all that today we do not say
Tachanun, even when the bris was being done
somewhere else.
Exaggerating in bestowing titles of honor: Gedolei Torah
always have been careful to avoid speaking flattery. For
example, the S'dei Chemed (III, Ma'areches "Ches,"
Klal 140) relates that in order not to flatter people he
once decided not to bestow any titles of honor to those to
whom he sent letters. He changed this practice after he
realized that many people were insulted since they thought
the S'dei Chemed was degrading them. Accordingly, when he
printed his responsa he added titles of honor before the
names of honorable rabbonim. From then on, whenever he sent
a letter, he would address it to "HaRav HaGaon" so-and-so,
in order that he would not, choliloh, insult
venerable people.
To his sorrow, however, the S'dei Chemed saw that his new
policy created a new problem. He learned that individuals
who did not deserve this dignified title were boasting about
his letter, priding themselves on the fact that the S'dei
Chemed, a godol hador, had referred to them as "HaRav
HaGaon." Such flaunting caused a serious desecration of
Hashem's name. The S'dei Chemed then decided that in the
future he would honor a person only with the title that
people normally used to honor that person, even if the title
would exaggerate the truth. The issur is only on
flattering resho'im, but not to flatter a kosher Jew
is only a commendable form of behavior, and as such one is
allowed to flatter someone kosher when there is a risk of
insult.
It is interesting to point out what the Reishis Chochma
writes -- that it is fitting for a husband to praise his
wife even for a good attribute that he thinks she does not
really possess. Since the husband's goal is domestic
tranquility, there is no issur.
