{"id":8459,"date":"2016-02-20T14:00:27","date_gmt":"2016-02-20T12:00:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/?p=8459"},"modified":"2018-05-24T13:05:05","modified_gmt":"2018-05-24T10:05:05","slug":"03-20-14","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/03-20-14\/","title":{"rendered":"14. Those Eligible and Ineligible to Perform Birkat Kohanim"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The <em>kohanim<\/em> were commanded to perform <em>Birkat Kohanim<\/em>, but the blessing itself comes from God and does not depend on the righteousness of the <em>kohanim<\/em>. Therefore, even a <em>kohen<\/em> eats forbidden foods, has forbidden sexual relations, or commits other sins must perform <em>Birkat Kohanim<\/em>. If he does not perform it, he compounds his sin, as Rambam writes: \u201cDo not tell an evil person, \u2018Do more evil and refrain from performing <em>mitzvot<\/em>\u2019\u201d (MT, Laws of Prayer 15:6).<\/p>\n<p>However, a <em>kohen<\/em> who has committed sins that mar his priestly status, such as marrying a divorcee or becoming contaminated by a corpse, is penalized by the Sages and forbidden him to perform <em>Birkat Kohanim<\/em>. Likewise, a <em>kohen<\/em> who worshipped idols or publicly desecrated Shabbat out of spite is deemed ineligible to perform <em>Birkat Kohanim<\/em>. However, if the <em>kohanim<\/em> who committed these sins repent completely, they may resume their priestly duties and perform the <em>berakha<\/em> (SA 128:37, 40-41; <em>Peninei Halakha: Prayer<\/em> 20:10).<\/p>\n<p>A <em>kohen<\/em> who has killed may not perform <em>Birkat Kohanim<\/em>, as it is written: \u201cWhen you spread your hands, I will turn My eyes away from you\u2026 your hands are full of blood\u201d (Yeshayahu 1:15; <em>Berakhot<\/em> 32b). The <em>kohen<\/em>\u2019s job is to increase kindness and life, like Aharon, who loved and pursued peace. A <em>kohen<\/em> who has killed has damaged the core of his priesthood. Thus, a <em>kohen<\/em> who unintentionally ran someone over with his car may not perform <em>Birkat Kohanim<\/em>. The <em>poskim<\/em> disagree about whether he may repent by fasting, <em>tzedaka<\/em>, and resolving not to sin again would enable him to once again perform <em>Birkat Kohanim<\/em>. In practice, a <em>kohen<\/em> who undergoes such a terrible experience must go to his rabbi to receive personal instruction about what to do (<em>Peninei Halakha: Prayer<\/em> 20:11).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The kohanim were commanded to perform Birkat Kohanim, but the blessing itself comes from God and does not depend on the righteousness of the kohanim. Therefore, even a kohen eats forbidden foods, has forbidden sexual relations, or commits other sins must perform Birkat Kohanim. If he does not perform it, he compounds his sin, as [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[124],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8459","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-03-20"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>14. Those Eligible and Ineligible to Perform Birkat Kohanim - Peninei Halakha<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/03-20-14\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"14. 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