09 Jul BIRKAS KOHANIM ON THE BATTLEFIELD

I. Shoes Off
In the Diaspora,
Ashkenazim perform
Birkas Kohanim (the
priestly blessings)
only on holidays.
However, in most
places in Israel, it is done every day,
albeit without the lengthy singing.
This is a biblical requirement, which
raises the question why it is not done
everywhere. Be that as it may, soldiers
who are kohanim (from the priestly
families) perform Birkas Kohanim
whenever they can pray with a minyan
in the morning. Even in the battlefield or
while occupying enemy territory, if there
is no active fighting then the soldiers pray
with a minyan in a safe place. However,
this often raises a question about how the
kohanim act.
R. Yochanan Ben Zakkai, the great
Jewish leader after the destruction of
the Second Temple, instituted many
enactments. One is that kohanim must
remove their shoes for Birkas Kohanim
(Rosh Hashanah 31b). The Gemara

(Sotah 40a) offers two possible reasons
for this enactment: 1) out of respect for
the community, 2) in case the shoelace
becomes untied and the kohen will
stop to tie it and miss Birkas Kohanim,
which will raise suspicion in the eyes of
the congregation who note his absence.
When a soldier recites Birkas Kohanim,
does he have to remove his shoes?
Often, this will cause him to get very
uncomfortable and dirty.
Rambam (Mishneh Torah, Hilkhos
Tefillah 14:6) writes that the kohanim
may not ascend to the dukhen, the raised
platform near the ark, wearing shoes but
rather must be barefoot. Rambam clearly
says that kohanim must be barefoot but
Rav Yosef Karo (Beis Yosef, Orach
Chaim 128) quotes R. Mano’ach who
says that Rambam only says barefoot
to exclude shoes because those were
the only options in his time. Nowadays,
when people wear socks,
kohanim may ascend the dukhen while
wear socks. Hagahos Maimoniyos (ad
loc., 4) quotes Ra’avyah as explicitly
permitting socks. (I use the modern term

“socks” for batei
shokayim, which
were a form of cloth
or leather covering
of the feet and the
leg up to the knee,
sometimes with laces
that are tied at the
knee.)
II. Blessing From
the Ground

Rav Yishmael Ha-
Kohen (19th cen.,

Italy) was asked
whether kohanim may say Birkas
Kohanim while wearing cloth shoes. He
did not allow it in his synagogue but he
learned that most other synagogues near

him permitted the practice. Rav Ha-
Kohen reviews the sources and concludes

that leather shoes are forbidden with
or without laces but cloth shoes are
forbidden only with laces (Zera Emes,
Orach Chaim, no. 14). In the case of
cloth shoes, because they have shoelaces
they must be removed before reciting
Birkas Kohanim. More recently, Rav
Shlomo Zalman Auerbach (20th cen.,
Israel) says that technically kohanim
may recite Birkas Kohanim while
wearing cloth (or canvas) shoes but they
should not do so because people will
become confused and permit all shoes
(Halikhos Shlomo, Tefillah 10:11). Rav
Yechezkel Katzenellenbogen (18th
cen., Germany) also addresses the
question of reciting Birkas Kohanim
while wearing cloth shoes with laces.
He rules that it is forbidden but then
suggests that it is only forbidden
to ascend to the dukhen and recite
Birkas Kohanim while wearing such
shoes. When they stand on an elevated
platform and then lift their arms, their
shoes are revealed to the congregation.
However, if the kohanim remain on the
floor, the enactment does not apply to
them (Kenesses Yechezkel, no. 11).
Rav Eliezer Waldenburg (20th cen.,
Israel) served as the rabbi of the Sha’arei
Tzedek Hospital. He often had patients
wearing slippers attend services who
wanted to say Birkas Kohanim but
would not or could not take off the
slippers due to the cold (Tzitz Eliezer,
vol. 14, no. 11). Rav Waldenburg
quotes other authorities who rule
like Rav Katzenellenbogen, that the
enactment to remove shoes is limited to

those who ascend to the dukhen. While
this minority view should not become
common practice, the hospital patients
may say Birkas Kohanim on the ground
while wearing their hospital slippers.
Similarly, Rav Ovadiah Yosef (21st cen.,
Israel) was asked about kohanim who
refused to say Birkas Kohanim without
shoes. He also permits the practice of
the kohanim remain on the floor for
those who otherwise would not recite
the blessings. At the same time, he
encourages kohanim to remove their
shoes in the traditional way for Birkas
Kohanim (Yechaveh Da’as, vol. 2, no.
13). Rav Simcha Rabinowitz (cont.,
Israel) rules likewise for the elderly and
infirm (Piskei Teshuvos 128:15).
Rav Yosef Tzvi Rimon (cont., Israel)
writes that when he was a soldier, he
personally asked Rav Ovadiah Yosef
whether soldiers in the field may recite
Birkas Kohanim while wearing their
shoes. Rav Yosef sent him a written
response permitting this practice as
long as the soldiers do not ascend to
the dukhen. Since, in the field, there
generally is no dukhen, this poses no
difficulty. Just like we can be lenient
for kohanim who are sick or who refuse
to perform this mitzvah without shoes,
we can also be lenient for soldiers
(Halakhah Mi-Mkorah, vol. 1, p. 125).
Rav Zechariah Shlomo (cont., Israel)
similarly rules leniently for soldiers
during field exercises or military
actions, for whom removing their shoes
would pose great difficulty, to recite
Birkas Kohanim on the floor and not
the dukhen (Hilkhos Tzava 21:6). Rav
Nachum Rabinovitch (21st cen., Israel)
adds that in most situations in the field,
a soldier can find a plank or something
else clean on which he can comfortably
stand in socks after removing his shoes
(Melumedei Milchamah, no. 24).