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Thousands Attend Priestly Blessing at Western Wall for First Time Since Pandemic

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For the first time since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, thousands of worshippers participated in the traditional Birkat Kohanim (Priestly Blessing) at the Western Wall in Jerusalem on Monday morning.

Last year, the Birkat Kohenim was given virtually but this time people were allowed to come to the Western Wall itself.

“We have been privileged now to be blessed with many people in attendance, as it says ‘The King's glory is in a multitude of people,’” said a press release from the Western Wall Heritage Foundation.

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Israel’s chief rabbis attended the event as well as the Minister of Religious Affairs, Rabbi Yaakov Avitan, Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Leon and Deputy Interior Minister MK Yoav Ben Zur.

“Birkat Kohanim written in the Torah contains a promise to protect from harm and for peace on Israel,” said Rabbi Shmuel Rabinowitz, rabbi of the Western Wall and holy sites.

“In these difficult times, we need this blessing more than ever – a prayer for peace in the Jewish nation and for health for everyone in the world,” said Rabinowitz.

In the Book of Numbers, God commands Moses and Aaron to bless the Children of Israel:

“The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.”

This Aaronic Benediction or blessing is a daily part of Jewish prayers. Normally, the priestly blessing takes place two times a year at Passover and Sukkoth at the Western Wall so people can come and be blessed.

At the end of the service, Rabinowitz also prayed a special thanksgiving prayer for diminishing the coronavirus pandemic in Israel and prayed for the pandemic to end in the entire world.

This year marks 50 years since the reinstitution of the Birkat Kohanim event.

In order to prevent overcrowding at the Western Wall and give another opportunity for more people to be blessed, rabbis held a second Birkat Kohanim event again on Tuesday that was broadcast live on the Kotel (Western Wall) website and on YouTube

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About The Author

Julie Stahl
Julie
Stahl

Julie Stahl is a correspondent for CBN News in the Middle East. A Hebrew speaker, she has been covering news in Israel fulltime for more than 20 years. Julie’s life as a journalist has been intertwined with CBN – first as a graduate student in Journalism; then as a journalist with Middle East Television (METV) when it was owned by CBN from 1989-91; and now with the Middle East Bureau of CBN News in Jerusalem since 2009. As a correspondent for CBN News, Julie has covered Israel’s wars with Gaza, rocket attacks on Israeli communities, stories on the Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria and