Study Sotah folio 38A with parallel Hebrew-English text, traditional commentary, and modern study tools. Free access to Babylonian Talmud online.
Text Excerpt
ככתבו, ובמדינה בכינויו. במדינה כהנים נושאים את ידיהן כנגד כתפיהן, ובמקדש על גבי ראשיהן. חוץ מכהן גדול, שאינו מגביה את ידיו למעלה מן הציץ. רבי יהודה אומר: אף כהן גדול מגביה ידיו למעלה מן הציץ, שנאמר: ״וישא אהרן את ידיו אל העם ויברכם״.
as it is written in the Torah, i.e., the Tetragrammaton, and in the country they use its substitute name of Lordship. In the country, the priests lift their hands so they are aligned with their shoulders during the benediction. And in the Temple they lift them above their heads, except for the High Priest, who does not lift his hands above the frontplate. Since the Tetragrammaton is inscribed on it, it is inappropriate for him to lift his hands above it. R' Yehuda says: Even the High Priest lifts his hands above the frontplate, as it is stated: “And Aaron lifted up his hands toward the people and blessed them” (Leviticus 9:22).
גמ׳ תנו רבנן: ״כה תברכו״ — בלשון הקודש. אתה אומר בלשון הקודש, או אינו אלא בכל לשון? נאמר כאן ״כה תברכו״, ונאמר להלן ״אלה יעמדו לברך את העם״. מה להלן בלשון הקודש, אף כאן בלשון הקודש.
Talmud: A baraita states: The mitzva given to the priests: “So you should bless the children of Israel” (Numbers 6:23), is that they bless them in the sacred tongue, Hebrew. Do you say that the benediction must be recited in the sacred tongue, or perhaps it may be recited in any language? The baraita answers: It is stated here, with regard to the Priestly Benediction: “So you should bless,” and it is stated there, with regard to the blessings and curses: “These should stand on Mount Gerizim to bless the people” (Deuteronomy 27:12). There is a verbal analogy between these two usages of the word “bless”: Just as there, the blessings and curses were recited in the sacred tongue, as stated above (33a), so too here, the Priestly Benediction is recited in the sacred tongue.
רבי יהודה אומר: אינו צריך, הרי הוא אומר ״כה״ — עד שיאמרו בלשון הזה.
R' Yehuda says: It is not necessary to derive this from a verbal analogy, as it says with regard to the Priestly Benediction: “Thus,” which means that it is not recited correctly unless they recite it in this exact language, as it is written in the Torah.