The Lived Mishnah·A Zeman Nakat Project
Tisha B'Av Series
Mishnah 21 of 41
אִם אֶשְׁכָּחֵךְ יְרוּשָׁלָיִם
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KodashimSederסדרקָדָשִׁים
TamidMasechtaמסכתתמיד
7Perekפרקז׳
2Mishnahמשנהב׳
נושא · Topicבִּרְכַּת כֹּהֲנִים — בַּמִּקְדָּשׁ וּבַמְּדִינָהBirkas Kohanim: in the Mikdash and the Medinah
Mishnah תמיד ז׳:ב׳ · Tamid 7:2
בָּאוּ וְעָמְדוּ עַל מַעֲלוֹת הָאוּלָם.
עָמְדוּ הָרִאשׁוֹנִים לִדְרוֹם אֲחֵיהֶם הַכֹּהֲנִים, וַחֲמִשָּׁה כֵלִים בְּיָדָם:
הַטֶּנִי בְיַד אֶחָד,
וְהַכּוּז בְּיַד אֶחָד,
וְהַמַּחְתָּה בְיַד אֶחָד,
וְהַבָּזָךְ בְּיַד אֶחָד,
וְכַף וְכִסּוּיָהּ בְּיַד אֶחָד.
וּבֵרְכוּ אֶת הָעָם בְּרָכָה אַחַת.
בַּמְּדִינָה אוֹמְרִים אוֹתָהּ שָׁלשׁ בְּרָכוֹת,
וּבַמִּקְדָּשׁ בְּרָכָה אֶחָת.
בַּמִּקְדָּשׁ הָיוּ אוֹמְרִים אֶת הַשֵּׁם כִּכְתָבוֹ,
וּבַמְּדִינָה בְּכִנּוּיוֹ.
בַּמְּדִינָה הַכֹּהֲנִים נוֹשְׂאִים אֶת כַּפֵּיהֶם, יְדֵיהֶם כְּנֶגֶד כִּתְפוֹתֵיהֶם,
וּבַמִּקְדָּשׁ עַל גַּבֵּי רָאשֵׁיהֶן,
חוּץ מִכֹּהֵן גָּדוֹל שֶׁאֵינוֹ מַגְבִּיהַּ אֶת יָדָיו לְמַעְלָה מִן הַצִּיץ.
רַבִּי יְהוּדָה אוֹמֵר, אַף כֹּהֵן גָּדוֹל מַגְבִּיהַּ אֶת יָדָיו לְמַעְלָה מִן הַצִּיץ,
שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (ויקרא ט) וַיִּשָּׂא אַהֲרֹן אֶת יָדָיו אֶל הָעָם וַיְבָרְכֵם.
They came and stood on the steps of the Ulam.
The first stood to the south of their fellow kohanim, with five vessels in their hands:
the teni (ash-basket) in the hand of one,
the kuz (jug) in the hand of one,
the machtah (coal-pan) in the hand of one,
the bazach (incense-bowl) in the hand of one,
and the spoon with its cover in the hand of one.
And they blessed the people with a single blessing.
In the medinah they say it as three blessings,
and in the Mikdash as one.
In the Mikdash they would say the Name as written,
and in the medinah by its substitute.
In the medinah the kohanim raise their hands to shoulder height,
and in the Mikdash above their heads,
except the Kohein Gadol, who does not raise his hands above the tzitz.
Rabbi Yehuda says: even the Kohein Gadol raises his hands above the tzitz,
as it says (Vayikra 9) “And Aharon lifted his hands toward the people and blessed them.”
case/objectrestrictive rulingpermissive rulingTannareasonpasuk/proof text
Transcript
Summary Chart
Birkas Kohanim: in the Mikdash and the Medinah▾
CaseRulingReason
What do the five kohanim carry as they emerge?The teni, the kuz, the machtah, the bazach, and the spoon with its cover—
How many blessings, and how are they said?Medinah: three separate · Mikdash: one continuous—
How is the divine Name pronounced?Mikdash: as written · Medinah: a substitute—
How are the hands raised?Medinah: shoulder-height · Mikdash: above the head—
Does the Kohein Gadol raise his hands above the Tzitz?Tanna Kamma: No—
Rabbi Yehuda: YesVayikra 9:22
All Meforshim
Mishnah Insights
Birkas Kohanim, sealed onto the morning avodah▾
עֲשֵׂה לְךָ רַב
R' Yehuda (bar Ilai) · Dor 4 · Usha — רַבִּי יְהוּדָה

The stam ‘Rabbi Yehuda’ of the Mishnah is R’ Yehuda bar Ilai — its most frequently cited sage. A disciple of R’ Akiva and one of the five students who rebuilt Torah after the Hadrianic persecutions, he was called rosh hamedabrim b’chol makom, honored to speak first wherever the Sages gathered (Berachos 63b).

What ‘the Name as written’ means

The mishnah says that in the Mikdash the kohanim said the Name as it is written and elsewhere by its substitute. Bartenura specifies the difference: in the Mikdash they pronounced the Shem HaMeforash itself, spelled yud-heh; everywhere else, the kinuy (aleph-daled). The explicit Name could be spoken only there.

When in the service it fell

Rambam and Tosafos Yom Tov place the blessing precisely: it came after the limbs of the morning tamid were carried up to the mizbeach — the kohanim who had served inside then blessing the people from the steps of the Ulam. It was a fixed part of the daily morning service, not a rite of its own.

Its home in two masechtos

Rambam notes that he has already explained this blessing in full in the seventh perek of Sotah, and gives here only its Mikdash setting — the same mishnah placed in two masechtos, worked out in Sotah and set in the avodah here.

Series Insights
Series context▾
← Previous
Sotah 7:6
How berachos differed in the Mikdash
Mishnah 21 of 41
Tamid 7:2
Birkas Kohanim in the Mikdash
Next →
Bechoros 4:1
The bechor, before and after the Bayis

Where this sits

This is the Mikdash form of a blessing we still say every day — and the series holds it up beside its everyday version. Here the Name is spoken as written, the kohanim bless as one voice from the steps of the Ulam, and the whole thing is fused to the avodah it crowns. What we do now is the outline the Churban left us; this mishnah lets us hear the blessing at full volume, in the one place it could be.

‹PreviousSotah 7:6 ›NextBechoros 4:1