369. "This is How You Shall Bless..."

Tefillah u’Birkas Kohanim 14:10

In the Temple, the kohanim would pronounce the Tetragrammaton as it is written; this is what is meant by “the explicit Name” of God. Outside of the Temple, we pronounce it “Ado-nai.” When Shimon HaTzaddik died, the kohanim stopped using the explicit Name even in the Temple out of concern that it might be learned by someone unqualified to possess that information. In earlier generations, scholars would teach this Name once every seven years, and then only to students who had demonstrated that they were fit to receive it. This was all done out of reverence for God’s Name.

Tefillah u’Birkas Kohanim 14:11

Birkas kohanim is only recited in Hebrew as per Numbers 6:23, “This is how you shall bless the children of Israel.” The following instructions were passed to us from Moshe: “This is how you shall bless” – standing, with raised hands, in Hebrew, face to face, loudly and, when in the Temple, using the explicit Name.