Dirshu Mishnah Berurah

We learn about the days when tachanun is not said which includes the mincha service on the preceding day.

We discuss when and where tachanun is not said or where we do not fall onto our arms but the we recite the words of tachanun.

In early times tachanun involved a complete bowing down to the ground however today we lean on our arm instead. We discuss which arm to lean on in the morning prayers and afternoon prayers.

Prior to the last word of each of the 3 blessings the cohanim extend a tune during which time the congregation says the ribono shel olam prayer that helps where a person had a bad dream.

In Israel, the priestly blessing occurs daily during shacharit and on Shabbat also during mussaf. It is also said during during the neila prayer (when neila is said, such as on Yom Kippur). It is not said during Mincha out of concern that excess alcohol may have been consumed during lunch and rendering a Cohen unfit to duchen. In the diaspora, the priestly blessing is only said on yom tov festival...

The Halacha describes how the Cohanim wave their hands as they say each of the three blessings during duchaning.

We discuss the different opinions as to whether a Cohen who is mourning can duchen and the reason that Cohanim in the diaspora do not duchen every day (like in Israel)

Can a Cohen who transgresses Judaism still Duchen and does that still hold true if he has married someone is prohibited from marrying?

We continue exploring issues that would cause a Cohen to become invalid from blessing the Jewish people. The Halacha considers the status of an idol worshipper, a desecrator of Shabbos in public, and a drunken Cohen.

We continue our discussion of situations that might invalidate a Cohen from duchening such as not pronouncing the words correctly, a lone child Cohen, and a Cohen who has murdered another person.

A Cohen must not add blessings of his own into the Bricat Cohanim however, he may bless the people multiple times a day and makes a bracha each time he does so. We also learn about physical blemishes that prevent a Cohen from duchening because people will find it unusual and stare at him, and not have intention to listen carefully to the bracha.

In the times of the Temple, the Cohanim mentioned the explicit name of G-D and the Divine Presence rested on their hands. As a remembrance of this we do not stare at the Cohanim nor at their hands. There are different customs as to whether Cohamin cover their hands with their Tallis during the blessing, and the people cover their faces during this time. We also discuss what should be done when the...

The Halacha discusses what a Cohen chazan should do if there there are other cohanim able to duchen without him or if he is the only one available to do this.

The opinion of the Sefer Charadim is that there is a Torah obligation on all Jews to receive and engage in the Birchas Cohanim. The answering of 'amen' is they way we complete the blessing.

Many of the particulars of how the Cohanim bless the community are learnt directly from Torah verses. These are critical to the successful performance of the mitzvah. One such requirement is the ability of the Cohen to raise his arms unaided during the blessing.

The Cohanim initially face the Aron when they go to bless the people. This is because they offer a request as a prayer before they perform their mitzvah. As a prayer it is proper to face the Divine Presence (Shechina). When they perform the mitzvah of blessing the people this has to be done face to face with them and so they turn around to do this.

Does the Cohen Make a Bracha When Washing His Hands for Duchening since he has washed and made a bracha before shacharis? Also we learn the correct time the Cohen needs to move towards the duchen during rotzeh.

It is a positive mitzvah for a Cohen to bless the Jewish people. Should a Cohen feel to unwell or weak to do so he should leave shul at least before the Chazan announces "Cohanim". The custom is to remain outside shul until the prayer has been concluded. A Cohen should not wear shoes when making the priestly blessing, but neither should he go barefoot.

It is a positive mitzvah for a Cohen to bless the Jewish People, and prohibited for a non-Cohen to try and do this in the same way as a Cohen. We discuss the point at which the obligation commences for a Cohen.

The community as well as the chazan need to say Modim D'Rabbonon - which is different from the rest of the the amidah where the chazan is our agent in saying the blessings. Modim is different as it is an expression of thanks and we cannot "outsource" thanks to anyone else - we must express thanks ourselves.

We discuss the importance of when the chazan misses saying brochos of the amidah and specifically the "blessing" for those who slander the Jewish People. If he misses this brocho he is removed immediately from his position as we are worried that he considers himself one of them and is in fact a heretic.

We discuss the elevated status of kedusha and the importance of listening carefully to each word. We also learn about the custom to raise oneself on one's tip toes in responding to kedusha.

We learn that technically, if a person missed out an insertion that necessitates going back to the beginning of the Amidah, he could fulfil his obligation by listening carefully to every word of the Chazan's repetition.

Answering Amen is a fundamental part of our daily practice. We delve into the meaning and application of this and when it should NOT be said.

This shiur examines the intent behind saying 'Amen' and its importance.