Hiding from Kohanim: Covering Hands, Faces, and Children with a Tallit During the Priestly Blessing

Authors

Zvi RonFollow

Abstract

When the priestly blessing is performed as part of prayer services in both Ashkenazic and Sephardic communities, many of the members of the congregation can be seen covering themselves with their tallit, and also covering their children. The practice evolved from the Talmudic reference of not looking at Kohanim while they recite this blessing in the Temple, because of the Divine Presence resting on their hands and the belief that looking at it would damage a person’s vision. Later authorities expanded this to blessings outside the Temple as well, leading to the practice of Kohanim covering themselves and their outstretched hands when blessing the congregation. The perceived danger associated with looking at the Kohanim led to the grassroots custom of congregants covering themselves as well, which spread between Ashkenazic and Sephardic communities. All the covering practices originated with the people, later gaining approval from rabbinic authorities. Fathers covering their children began as a way to protect them from the harm associated with looking at the Kohanim, but evolved into an act of the father channeling the priestly blessing to his children, through placing a hand on the child’s head. First recorded among Sephardic communities in the early twentieth century, it is not motivated by any legal concerns, but rather emotional ones. Eyewitness accounts demonstrate that this practice was still considered rare in the early 1980s, but is seen in just about every synagogue in the present.

Recommended Citation

Ron, Zvi (2025) "Hiding from Kohanim: Covering Hands, Faces, and Children with a Tallit During the Priestly Blessing," Jewish Folklore and Ethnology: Vol. 4: Iss. 1, Article 3.
Available at: https://digitalcommons.wayne.edu/jewishfolklore/vol4/iss1/3