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58-684: Authorship of the Targum Onkelos is traditionally attributed to Onkelos , a famous convert to Judaism in Tannaic times (c. 35–120 CE). According to the Talmud , the essential content of Targum Onkelos was already known in the time of Ezra (immediately after the Babylonian captivity ). However, it was later forgotten by the masses, and rerecorded by Onkelos. While the Aramaic translation of

116-474: A bat kohen (daughter of a kohen) or bat levi (daughter of a Levite) to participate in nesiat kapayim because the practice is a direct continuation of the Temple ritual, and should be performed by those who would authentically be eligible to do so in the Temple. Customs differ if a Kohen under Bar Mitzvah can recite the blessing together with an adult Cohen. Blessings based on the priestly blessing are used in

174-717: A bat kohen may deliver the blessing; another view holds that a bat kohen is not permitted to participate in the Priestly Blessing because it is a continuation of a Temple ritual that women were not eligible to perform. Conservative Judaism has also lifted some of the restrictions on Kohanim including prohibited marriages. The Masorti movement in Israel, and some Conservative congregations in North America, require male kohanim as well, and retain restrictions on Kohanim. In Liberal (and American Reform) congregations,

232-530: A Kohen is not present), the text of the prayer is recited by the hazzan instead, without any special chant or gestures. At the beginning of the Jewish ceremony, Levites in the congregation wash the hands of the Kohanim and the Kohanim remove their shoes (if they are unable to remove their shoes without using their hands, the shoes are removed prior to the washing) and go to the area (often elevated) in front of

290-400: A child, he peeked from under his father's tallit and saw the gesture; many years later, when introducing the character of Mr. Spock, he and series creator Gene Roddenberry thought a physical component should accompany the verbal "Live long and prosper" greeting. The Jewish priestly gesture looked sufficiently alien and mysterious, and became part of Star Trek lore. Leonard Cohen , who

348-474: A verse, rather than its literal translation, are as follows: Onkelos Onkelos ( Hebrew : אֻנְקְלוֹס ʾunqəlōs ), possibly identical to Aquila of Sinope , was a Roman national who converted to Judaism in Tannaic times ( c.  35–120 CE). He is considered to be the author of the Targum Onkelos ( c.  110 CE). Onkelos is mentioned several times in the Talmud . According to

406-540: Is customary for the Kohanim to raise their hands and recite an extended musical chant without words before reciting the last word of each phrase; in the Western Ashkenazic rite, there is a short chant before each word (except for the name of God), and usually the chazzan will begin a tune when he prompts the kohanim, who will then continue (rather than repeat) the tune. There are different tunes for this chant in different communities. Aside from its pleasant sound,

464-620: Is not circumcised, for thus is it written: "He makes known his words to Jacob, his precepts and judgments to Israel. He has not done the like of which to any other nation." Unto whom, then, [has he done it]? Unto the sons of Israel!’ After his conversion, the Talmud records a story of how the Roman emperor tried to have Onkelos arrested. Onkelos cited verses from the Tanakh to the first Roman contubernium , who then converted. The second contubernium

522-481: Is not customary to this chant on a daily basis; some do so on Festivals as they would outside of Israel. In Conservative Judaism , the majority of congregations do not perform the priestly blessing ceremony, but some do. In some American Conservative congregations that perform the ceremony, a bat kohen (daughter of a priest) can perform it as well. The Conservative movement's Committee on Jewish Law and Standards has approved two opposing positions: One view holds that

580-476: Is only one Kohan performing the blessings, he starts the blessing over performing the blessings without any prompting from the congregation; the hazzan then continues as normal. In the Yemenite tradition when there is a solitary Kohen, he says the first word of the blessing without prompting after having said the preparatory blessing. During the course of the blessing, the hands of the Kohanim are spread out over

638-500: Is replaced by "from before me" (Exodus 33:23) , while "beneath his feet" is replaced by "under his throne of glory" (Exodus 24:10) , and "The Lord came down upon Mount Sinai" by "The Lord manifested himself upon Mount Sinai" (Exodus 19:20) . Samuel David Luzzatto suggests that the translation was originally meant for the "simple people". This view was strongly rebutted by Nathan Marcus Adler in his introduction to his commentary to Targum Onkelos Netinah La-Ger . He often updates

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696-595: Is that on these days Kohanim cannot drink alcohol prior to the ceremony. In the Diaspora in Ashkenazic Orthodox communities, as well as some Sephardic communities such as many Spanish and Portuguese Jews , the Jewish ceremony is performed only on Pesach , Shavuot , Sukkot , Shemini Atzeret , Rosh Hashanah , and Yom Kippur . This Ashkenazic practice is based on a ruling by the Remoh , who argued that

754-756: Is the reading of the Torah and the Haftara with the Aramaic translation (in this case, Targum Onkelos for the Torah and Targum Jonathan ben 'Uzziel for the Haftarah ). The custom to read the Aramaic Targum each Sabbath day in the synagogue during the weekly Torah lection was eventually abandoned by other communities, and eventually codified in the Shulhan Arukh ( Orach Chaim §145:3) who did not encourage its practice, saying that they do not understand

812-552: Is the subject of a story wherein he first consulted with the spirits of three deceased enemies of Israel to see how Israel fared in the next world . The first was his uncle Titus , who was blamed for the destruction of the Second Temple ; the second was the seer Balaam , hired by Balak king of Moab to curse Israel; and the last was Yeshu , a name used for those who sought to lead Jews astray to idolatry, in particular an idolatrous former student of Joshua ben Perachiah in

870-455: The Hasmonean period as well as Manasseh of Judah . (In later writings Yeshu is used for Jesus, but opinions differ over whether it can be understood this way in the Talmud. ) Onkelos is said to have seen all of them subjected to humiliating punishments for harming Israel. However, while Titus and Balaam dissuade him from converting, Yeshu encourages him to join the Jewish people (prompting

928-465: The Targum Onkelos as an exposition of the "official" interpretation of the peshat (or basic meaning) of the Torah as received by rabbis Eliezer ben Hurcanus and Joshua ben Hananiah . This helped canonise the status of both Onkelos and his Targum in the Jewish tradition. Priestly Blessing The Priestly Blessing or priestly benediction ( Hebrew : ברכת כהנים ; translit. birkat kohanim ), also known in rabbinic literature as raising of

986-623: The Torah , Aaron blessed the people, and YHWH promises that "They (the Priests) will place my name on the Children of Israel (the Priests will bless the people), and I will bless them". Chazal stressed that although the priests are the ones carrying out the blessing, it is not they or the ceremonial practice of raising their hands that results in the blessing, but rather it is God's desire that

1044-520: The Torah ark at the front of the synagogue. The use of a platform is implied in Leviticus 9:22. They cover their heads with their tallitot , recite the blessing over the performance of the mitzvah , turn to face the congregation, and then the hazzan slowly and melodiously recites the three verse blessing, with the Kohanim repeating it word by word after him. After each verse, the congregation responds Amen . If there are more than one Kohen performing

1102-521: The Aramaic Targum of Onkelos . The days in which the Parashah was read depended largely upon custom. Some had it as their custom to break down the reading into two days. Among Yemenite Jews , Wednesday mornings were given over to the first half of the Parashah , while Thursday mornings were given to the second half of the Parashah . Others read the entire Parashah on Thursday mornings, while others on Thursday nights. Onkelos' Aramaic translation of

1160-517: The Divine Presence would shine through the fingers of the priests as they blessed the people, and no one was allowed to look at this out of respect for God. In those congregation where the custom is to give the blessing during the week; with "five openings", traditionally linked to the verse in Song of Songs (2.8–9), where it is said that God "peeks through" the latticework, or the cracks in

1218-563: The Five Books of Moses is almost entirely a word-by-word, literal translation of the Hebrew Masoretic Text , with very little supplemental material in the form of aggadic paraphrase . However, where there are found difficult biblical passages, Onkelos seeks to minimize ambiguities and obscurities. He sometimes employs non-literal aggadic interpretations or expansions in his translated text, usually in those places where

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1276-601: The Greek and the Aramaic versions, insofar that "both versions betray the same outstanding characteristics." A modern scholar has argued that the Aramaic translation must date to the late fourth-early fifth centuries, due to reusing language from other midrashim composed at that time, and thus could not have been composed by Aquila/Onkelos, who lived in the second century. Others, dissenting, have concluded that Onkelos' Aramaic translation originated in Syria Palaestina in

1334-518: The Kohanim were commanded to bless the people "with joy", and that Kohanim in the diaspora could not be expected to feel joyful except on the above-mentioned holidays where all Jews are commanded to feel joy. Many German communities perform the blessing in Shaharit, Musaf, and (on Yom Kippur) in Neilah. Eastern European congregations only perform it at Musaf. Spanish and Portuguese Jews generally perform

1392-486: The Talmud to praise "the sinners of Israel"). The earlier Jerusalem Talmud gives the subject of these stories as Aquilas the proselyte, often understood as being a person other than Onkelos. The difficulty with this theory, however, is that the Jerusalem Talmud says explicitly that he (Aquilas the proselyte) translated the Torah under Eliezer ben Hurcanus and Joshua ben Hananiah . The Babylonian Talmud repeats

1450-517: The Targum, verse by verse, in conjunction with the Torah that is read aloud on the Sabbath day is not to be confused with a different practice, namely, that of reviewing the entire Parashah before the commencement of the Sabbath, and which practice has its source in the Talmud , and which the codifiers of Jewish law have ruled as Halacha: "A person should complete his portions of scripture along with

1508-423: The Torah is traditionally attributed to Onkelos, a translation of the Torah into Greek is mentioned in the Talmud as being made by Aquila of Sinope . However, most scholars hold these to be one and the same person. According to Epiphanius of Salamis , the Greek translation was made by Aquilas before he converted to Judaism, while the Aramaic translation was made after his conversion. This is said to have been under

1566-504: The biblical prohibition against a Kohen with hands that are disfigured in any way from offering the blessing. The rabbis softened this prohibition by saying that a Kohen with disfigured hands to which the community had become accustomed could bless. In later centuries, the practice became for all Kohanim to cover their hands so that any disfigurement would not be seen by the Congregation. This gave rise to folklore that one should not see

1624-720: The blessing is specified in Numbers 6:22–27 : "And the LORD spoke unto Moses, saying: This is the oldest known Biblical text that has been found; amulets with these verses written on them have been found in graves at Ketef Hinnom , dating from the First Temple Period . The triple invocation of YHWH in the three verses gave rise to various interpretations, which connect them to the three Patriarchs ( Abraham , Isaac , and Jacob ), or to three attributes of God : Mercy, Courage, and Glory. Extrabiblical evidence such as

1682-535: The blessing only in Shaharit. On Simchat Torah , some communities recite it during Musaf, and others during Shacharit, to enable Kohanim to eat or drink during the Torah reading between Shacharit and Musaf. Customs vary as to whether the blessing is delivered outside Israel on a holiday when it falls on Shabbat. When the blessing is omitted from a prayer in which it could be recited (on weekdays and Shabbat in Ashkenazic diaspora communities, or in any community if

1740-496: The blessing should be symbolised by the Kohanim's hands. Even after the destruction of the Second Temple , the practice has been continued in Jewish synagogues , and today in most Jewish communities, Kohanim bless the worshippers in the synagogue during shacharit prayer services. Leviticus 9:22 and Deuteronomy 10:8 and 21:5 mention Aaron or the other priests blessing the Israelites . The text to be used for

1798-567: The blessing to the concept of death. Although specific words in the Priestly Blessing are commonly found in the Bible, the syntactic sequences in which they occur suggest parallels not to other biblical passages, but to blessing inscriptions from late Iron Age southern Levant. In particular, it has been suggested that the enigmatic instruction to "put [YHWH's] name on the Israelites" in Numbers 6:27 reflects an ancient practice of physically wearing

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1856-483: The blessings then they wait until someone in the congregation calls out "Kohanim" before starting the blessing over performing the blessings (in some Ashkenazic and Chassidic communities, the Chazzan himself will recite "eloheinu velohei ovoteinu barkheinu ba-berekhah hamushulshet", sometimes in an undertone, until he gets to the word "kohanim", which he calls out); the hazzan then continues the procedure. However, if there

1914-643: The ceremony is performed during the Ne'ila service as well. On fast days other than Yom Kippur, it is performed at Mincha , if said in the late afternoon; when Mincha is recited earlier in the afternoon, most communities in Jerusalem omit the blessing, but in Bene Berak it is generally recited in accordance with the ruling of the Chazon Ish . The reason for offering the blessing in the afternoon only on fast days

1972-468: The chant is done so that the congregation may silently offer certain prayers containing individual requests of God after each of the three blessings of the Kohanim. Because supplications of this nature are not permitted on Shabbat , in Eastern Ashkenazic communities, the chant is also not done on Shabbat. In Western Ashkenazic communities, it is done as normal on the Sabbath. In Israel, it

2030-495: The community, reading the scripture twice and the targum once ( Shnayim mikra ve-echad targum )." Here, the reference is to completing the reading of the Parashah at home or in the Beit Midrash , along with others, reading in tandem, during which reading each verse is repeated twice; once by the reader himself, followed by a repetition of the same verse by the entire group, and lastly by the initial reader himself who cites

2088-579: The concept of the priesthood has been largely abandoned , along with other familial ( caste ) and gender distinctions. Thus, this blessing is usually omitted or simply read by the hazzan . North American Reform Jews omit the Musaf service, as do most other liberal communities, and so if they choose to include the priestly blessing, it is usually appended to the end of the Shacharit Amidah. Some congregations, especially Reconstructionist ones, have

2146-435: The congregation. In most communities, the custom (based on Kabbalah) is to spread the fingers of both hands so as to make five spaces between them; the spaces are (1) between the ring finger and middle finger of each hand, (2) between the index finger and thumb of each hand, and (3) the two thumbs touch each other at the knuckle and the aperture is the space above or below the touching knuckles. The Kohen raises his hands, with

2204-529: The custom of the congregation spreading their tallitot over each other and blessing each other that way. This custom was started when Montreal Reconstructionist rabbi Lavy Becker saw children in Pisa , Italy , run under their fathers' tallitot for the blessing, and he brought it home to his congregation. Some congregations alter the grammar so that the blessing is read in the first person plural: "May God bless us and keep us..." Orthodox Judaism does not permit

2262-634: The deity's name and blessing for protection against evil. As with many Jewish practices, customs regarding many of the above points may vary widely between countries, communities, and even synagogues. Among Jews in Israel (except in Galilee ), and among most Sephardic Jews worldwide, the ceremony is performed every day during the repetition of the Shacharit Amidah , and it is repeated on Mussaf on days that include this prayer. On Yom Kippur ,

2320-559: The direct guidance and instruction of the tannaim Joshua ben Hananiah and Eliezer ben Hurcanus . Indeed, the same biographical stories that the Jerusalem Talmud attributes to Aquila, the Babylonian Talmud attributes to Onkelos. Rabbi Yirmeya said, and some say Rabbi Ḥiyya bar Abba : The translation of the Torah was composed by Onkelos the convert based on Rabbi Eliezer and Rabbi Yehoshua. Rebbi Jeremiah in

2378-419: The first day and what was created on the second day, and how many [years] have passed since the universe was created, and by what [things] the world is sustained. Moreover, their Divine Law is the truth.’ He said to him, ‘Go and study their Divine Law, but do not be circumcised.’ Aquilas then said to him, ‘Even the wisest man in your kingdom, and an elder who is aged one-hundred, cannot study their Divine Law if he

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2436-523: The first or early second centuries CE, but that its final redaction was done in Babylonia probably in the fourth or fifth century CE. Onkelos' revised translation became the official version used in translating the Torah on each Sabbath day, displacing the earlier Palestinian Aramaic traditions which had been widely used. The Babylonian Talmud refers to the Torah's Aramaic translation (Targum Onkelos) as "targum didan" ("our translation"), as opposed to that of

2494-602: The hands (Hebrew nesiat kapayim ), rising to the platform (Hebrew aliyah ledukhan ), dukhenen (Yiddish from the Hebrew word dukhan – platform – because the blessing is given from a raised rostrum), or duchening , is a Hebrew prayer recited by Kohanim (the Hebrew Priests, descendants of Aaron ). The text of the blessing is found in Numbers 6:23–27 . It is also known as the Aaronic blessing . According to

2552-459: The hands of the Kohen or even that harm would befall someone who sees the hands of the Kohen. Some congregants will even turn their backs to the Kohanim so as to avoid any possibility of seeing their hands—although this practice is unsupported by any rabbinic source, and in fact the halacha says that those who face away from the Kohanim are not included in the blessing. In some Jewish communities, it

2610-459: The king, ‘I wish to convert and to become one of Israel.’ He answered him, ‘You are seeking [to join] that nation? How have I despised it! How have I killed it; the most downtrodden of the nations you are asking to join!? What have you seen in them that you wish to be made a proselyte?’ He replied, ‘The smallest of them knows how the Holy One, blessed be He, created the universe; what was created on

2668-603: The liturgy of the Roman Catholic, Anglican, and Lutheran churches. In Christian contexts, the Priestly Blessing is generally known as "The Benediction", and often finishes a service. Settings of the text include: In the mid-1960s, actor Leonard Nimoy , who was raised in a traditional Jewish home, used a single-handed version of this gesture to create the Vulcan salute for his character, Spock , on Star Trek . He has explained that while attending Orthodox services as

2726-508: The meaning of its words. Where the custom is to read the Aramaic Targum during the public reading of the Torah on Sabbath days, the story of Reuben ( Gen 35:22 ) and the second "Golden Calf" episode ( Ex 32:21–25 ) are read but not translated, as they involve shameful events. Similarly, the Priestly Blessing ( Num 6:24–26 ) is read but not translated, since the blessings are only to be recited in Hebrew. The reading of

2784-545: The more ancient Palestinian Targum . The earliest text samples ( Exodus 15:9–12 in Hebrew-Aramaic) appear on two incantation bowls (5th–7th centuries CE) discovered at Nippur , Babylonia . In Talmudic times, readings from the Torah within the synagogues were rendered, verse-by-verse, into an Aramaic translation. To this day, the oldest surviving custom with respect to the Yemenite Jewish prayer-rite

2842-545: The name of Rebbi Ḥiyya bar Abba: Akylas [ עקילס , Aquilas ] the proselyte translated the Torah before Rebbi Eliezer and Rebbi Joshua; they praised him [and said to him], you are a superhuman beauty The overwhelming similarities between the biographies of Aquila and Onkelos has led many to conclude they are the same person. Zvi Hirsch Chajes identified the Aramaic "Targum Onkelos" as Aquila's Greek translation, translated once again into Aramaic. Likewise, A.E. Silverstone (1931:73) has shown quite consummately that Aquilas wrote both

2900-403: The names of biblical nations, coinage and historical sites to the names known in his own post-biblical era. In matters of halakha , the targum entirely agrees with Rabbi Akiva 's opinions. Some authors suggest that Akiva provided for a revised text of the essential base of Targum Onkelos. Some of the more notable changes made by Onkelos, in which he attempts to convey the underlying meaning of

2958-417: The original Hebrew is marked either by a Hebrew idiom , a homonym , or a metaphor , and could not be readily understood otherwise. The translator is unique in that he avoids any type of personification, or corporeality, with God, often replacing "human-like" characteristics representing God in the original Hebrew with words that convey a more remote and impersonal sense. For example, "my face" (Heb. panai )

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3016-428: The palms facing downward and the thumbs of his outspread hands touching. The four fingers on each hand are customarily split into two sets of two fingers each (thus forming the letter Shin (שׁ), an emblem for Shaddai , "Almighty [God]"), or sometimes they are arranged to form an overlapping lattice of 'windows.' This Jewish ceremony is sometimes called Nesiat Kapayim, the "lifting of the hands." The Jewish tradition states

3074-469: The same oral tradition, but this time calls him by the name Onkelos the proselyte, which leads one to conclude that the name is a mere variant of Aquila , applied in error to the Aramaic instead of the Greek translation. This view is supported by Epiphanius of Salamis (4th century). The following story about Aquila's conversion appears in Midrash Rabbah : Once, Aquilas (עקילס) said to Hadrian

3132-521: The traditional Jewish sources, he was a prominent Roman nobleman, the son of a man named Callinicus ( Hebrew : קְלוּנִיקוּס Qəlūnīqūs or קַלִינִיקוּס Qalīnīqūs ) and the sister of Titus , the Roman emperor . According to the midrash Tanhuma , he was a nephew of Hadrian , and not Titus. These claims have been questioned, as Hadrian's sister, his only sibling, had a daughter, and the only known child of either of Titus' siblings to survive to adulthood

3190-497: The two silver Iron Age amulets found at Ketef Hinnom, contemporary Phoenician and Punic amulets and bands, and blessing inscriptions from the southern Levant have shown that the language of the Priestly Blessing derived from a broader tradition of apotropaic text, which was often inscribed on metal and worn in order to provide protection against evil. Variations of this blessing are frequently encountered in mortuary and religious settings, foreshadowing early Jewish commentaries linking

3248-468: The wall. However, on Shabbot and Yom Tov it is customary to spread all fingers apart. Each kohen's tallit is draped over his head and hands so that the congregation cannot see his hands while the blessing is said. Performing the Jewish ceremony of the priestly blessing is known in Yiddish as duchening , a reference to the bimah on which the blessing is said. The tradition of covering the hands stems from

3306-442: Was also a girl, later known as Saint Flavia Domitilla . This lack of mention of any other sibling, can easily be explained, that due to the conversion, his uncle had him expurgated from the historical record. Whether historical or not, the story goes that his uncle, the emperor, advised Onkelos to go out and find something that wasn't worth much today but would be invaluable in the future. Onkelos found Judaism. Onkelos' conversion

3364-487: Was also converted, after he juxtaposed God's personal guidance of Israel in the Book of Numbers to the Roman social hierarchy . A similar tactic was used for the third contubernium, where Onkelos compared his mezuzah to a symbol of God guarding the home of every Jew, in contrast to a Roman king who has his servants guard him. The third contubernium also converted and no more were sent. According to tradition, Onkelos authored

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