Yerushalmi Berakhot 5:4 ירושלמי ברכות ה׳:ד׳

MISHNAH: He who stands before the arc should not answer Amen after the Cohanim because of the distraction¹⁵⁴The “emissary of the congregation” who stands before the arc and has to recite the priestly blessing (between the last two benedictions) so that the Cohanim may repeat the blessing aloud should not say “Amen” after each sentence of the priesly blessing because he must go on reciting the appropriate words (and the following last benediction) without the help of a prayer book.. If there is no Cohen there but him, he should not lift his hands. But if he is sure that he can lift his hands and return to his prayer, he may do so¹⁵⁵Midrash Rabba Devarim 7(1), an early Israeli Yelammedenu Midrash, extends the last sentence, “but if he is sure that he can return to his prayer, he may do so,” also to answering Amen after the Cohanim, “because there is nothing greater before the Holy One, praise to Him, than the Amen which Israel answer.” It is very likely that when this Midrash was composed, the flowering of synagogal poetry already had led to the writing of prayer books for the reader..

HALAKHAH: It was stated¹⁵⁶Tosephta Megillah 3:27 is similar to this text.: He who recites the blessings for the Shema‘¹⁵⁷The Hebrew expression meant different things at different times. The translation follows the consensus of the Gaonic responsa that פורס means “recites the benediction” on basis of Targum Jonathan to 1Sam. 9:13 where הוא יברך הזבח is rendered by הוּא פָרִיס מְזוֹנָא. The Gaonic interpretation is that, even though at the end of a full prayer one may recite Amen on his own prayer, this does not apply to the benedictions after the Shema‘. Most Medieval commentators take פורס to mean “to parcel out” and apply the term to a group of people who prayed with less than a quorum and after the Amidah found themselves with 10 adult males; they then may appoint a reader who recites half Kaddish, ברכוּ, possibly the first benediction for the Shema‘, and the repetition of the Amidah with Qedushah and the priestly blessings. The Ashkenazic interpretation is supported by the reading of the Tosephta (loc. cit.) where פורס clearly means “breaking, parcel out”., he who stands before the ark, he who lifts his hands, he who reads in the Torah, he who recites Haphtarah from the prophets, and he who recites any blessing for obligations spelled out in the Torah, should not recite Amen after his own benediction. If he answered, he is uncivilized. Some Tannaïm have stated: he is uncivilized; and some Tannaïm have stated: he is wise. Rav Ḥisda said: He who said “he is wise” refers to him who answers at the end¹⁵⁸In Sephardic and Oriental interpretation, this refers to all prayers, when one recites “Amen” after one’s own benediction at the end of a well defined unit of several benedictions which form a whole that can stand for itself (except the benedictions for the recitation of Shema‘). This is the reasonable interpretation of the Yerushalmi here. In the Babli, the parallel discussion is Berakhot 45b on reciting Grace after the meal, where Amen separates the part which is a Biblical obligation from the rest which is purely rabbinic. Hence, Ashkenazic interpretation restricts “Amen” after one’s own benediction to the third benediction of Grace., but he who says “he is uncivilized” refers to him who answers every single benediction.

Rebbi Ḥanina said¹⁵⁹Since the Mishnah speaks about the priestly blessing, some rules are added here about the preference given to Cohanim in the society of Non-Cohanim. The parallel to the second statement of R. Ḥanina is in Babli Yoma 37a.: Two Israel¹⁶⁰Jews who are not Cohanim. Levites seem to be included in the general denomination of “Israel”. and one Cohen, one takes the Cohen in the middle¹⁶¹To give the place of honor to the Cohen.. That is, when they are all equal. But if one of them is learned, one takes the one with a title¹⁶²A rabbinic title. A compacted version of the Yerushalmi is quoted in Raviah #577. in the middle.

Rebbi Joshua ben Levi said: I never recited Grace¹⁶³Reciting Grace aloud for all the participants in a meal. Rebbi Joshua ben Levi was the greatest authority in his generation; nevertheless he refused for himself the precedence granted the rabbinical authority by Rebbi Ḥanina. In the Babli, Megillah 28a, that is rather vehemently opposed by R. Yoḥanan. in the presence of a Cohen and I never let an Israel say Grace before me¹⁶⁴In the parallel, Yerushalmi Giṭṭin 5:9, the reading is “before him”, meaning the Cohen. In that version, R. Joshua ben Levi negates the entire ruling of R. Ḥanina and states that the Cohen always has precedence. Nevertheless, since his statement is formulated as a personal act, not as a precept for everybody, the Yerushalmi Giṭṭin proves by this statement that the precedence given the Cohen is a Rabbinic ordinance, not a Torah law. [R. Eliahu Fulda and R. Z. Frankel hold that R. Joshua was a Levite and extends the rule of R. Ḥanina to place the Levite between Cohen and Israel in order of precedence.].

Rebbi Judah ben Pazi in the name of Rebbi Eleazar: Every Cohen who stays in the synagogue and does not lift his hands transgresses a positive commandment¹⁶⁵This statement has been discussed in Halakha 3:1, Notes 84–89. The two tradents here were both Cohanim and they had different ways to evade their duty if they felt sick or weak. [In the Babli (Soṭah 38b) three positive commandments are enumerated that the Cohen transgresses by his inaction.]. When Rebbi Judah ben Pazi was weak he supported his head¹⁶⁶Possibly he bandaged his head so that is was clear to everybody that he was not well. and stood behind a pillar. Rebbi Eleazar went outside.

Rebbi Aḥa, Rebbi Tanḥuma ben Rebbi Ḥiyya in the name of Rebbi Simlai: They lift their hands in a town where all are Cohanim¹⁶⁷And there is nobody left in the men’s section of the synagogue whom they could bless. In the parallel in the Babli (Soṭa 38b) it is required that 10 Cohanim remain in their places in order to answer Amen after the blessings. The Babli is everywhere opposed to giving women a place in services or study. From here to the end of the Halakhah, the text is found (almost) word by word in Yerushalmi Giṭṭin 5:9.. Whom do they bless? Their brethren in North, South, East, and West. Who answers Amen after them? Women and small children.

Abbaye ben Rebbi Benjamin¹⁶⁸In the Babli (Soṭah 38b) he is called Abba the son of Rav Minyamin bar Ḥiyya, a Babylonian Amora of the third generation. stated: Those who stand behind the Cohanim are not included in their blessing. Those who stand before the Cohanim; Rebbi Ḥiyya bar Abba said the blessing even cuts through an iron wall¹⁶⁹In the Babli (loc. cit.) this is a tradition of R. Joshua ben Levi.. About those who stand on the side, we may understand from the following¹⁷⁰Mishnah Parah 12:2, dealing with a man who wants to sprinkle from the water mixed with ashes from the red heifer on a person impure by contact with a dead body. It is a general rule that the water used for this purpose becomes invalid if, after it was taken from a flowing source, the person in charge of the water lets it slip from his mind. An action that contradicts the intention has the status of a slip of mind.: If he wanted to sprinkle before him and he sprinkled behind him, behind him and he sprinkled before him, his sprinkling is invalid. Before him and he sprinkled on his sides, his sprinkling is valid. This implies that those who stand on the side are included in the blessing¹⁷¹Since the Cohanim intend to bless the people before them, this intention automatically includes those who stand on their sides and excludes only those behind their backs. (The same reason is given in the Babli, loc. cit.).

Rav Ḥisda said, the organizer¹⁷²In old sources, the חזן is not the person who sings in the service but the organizer of the community. The statement of the Yerushalmi implies that the call “Cohanim” to alert the priests to recite the benediction preceding the priestly blessing is not pronounced by the reader (who has to pronounce every word of the priestly blessing before it is recited aloud by the Cohanim) but by the organizer (or the servant) of the community. must be an Israel¹⁷³In the Babli (Soṭah 38a), Rav Ḥisda is quoted to the opposite effect that only a Cohen may call “Cohanim”. However, in one manuscript (Rome) of the Babli, the reading is not “a Cohen may call ‘Cohanim’ ” but “one Cohen calls ‘Cohanim’ ” and then the statement would be parallel to the Yerushalmi. This reading of the Babli is the basis of the interpretation of (the Italian) Shibbole Halleqet.. Rav Naḥman bar Jacob said, if there was one Cohen he calls “Cohen”¹⁷⁴In the Babli (loc. cit.), Abbaye declares that one Cohen is not called at all but he starts by himself., if there are two they call “Cohanim”. Rav Ḥisda¹⁷⁵In Yerushalmi Giṭṭin, the author of this statement is Rav Ḥuna. said, even if there was only one Cohen he says “Cohanim”, because he only calls the tribe.