Is There an Obligation for a Yisroel to Hear Birchas Kohanim?
There is a machlokes haposkim if the mitzvah of birchas kohanim is a mitzvah which is incumbent only upon the kohanim, or if it’s also a mitzvah which is incumbent on yisroelim as well, and there is an obligation for a yisroel to make sure that he receives a berachah from a kohen.
The Chareidim (12:18) writes: וישראל העומדים פנים כנגד פני הכהנים בשתיקה ומכוונים לבם לקבל בר כתם כדבר ה' הם נמי בכלל המצוה – “A yisroel should stand, with his face opposite the faces of the kohanim, quietly, and should have intention to accept their berachah like Hashem commands, as they are also included in the mitzvah.”
The Hafla’ah (Kesubos 24b) also writes: “Any mitzvah that one person can’t do without another, the second person is also commanded in the mitzvah.”
However, the Ritva (Succah 31b) writes: There is no mitzvah for a yisroel to get blessed, and the mitzvah of birchas kohanim is only for kohanim (the Torah Temimah in this week’s parsha (ois 135) proves that there is no mitzvah for a yisroel to go and get blessed.)
What About Women?
According to the poskim that there is a mitzvah for a yisroel to get blessed - is there a chiyuv [obligation] for a woman as well, and a woman should do her best to go and hear birchas kohanim, or is it only a chiyuv upon the men?
The Minchas Chinuch (378:4) writes: Even according to the opinions who maintain that there is a mitzvah on the yisroel to be blessed, it could be that it is only a chiyuv for the men. The Rosh (Yoma 8:20) explains, that the din of not performing birchas kohanim at night is min haTorah. There is a hekesh (לשרתו ולברך בשמו ) between the avodah and birchas kohanim, and we learn, that just like avodah is only in the day, similarly, birchas kohanim is only in the day. Since the din of not performing birchas kohanim at night is de’O’raisa, it’s a time bound mitzvah, therefore, women are exempt.
However, from the Gemara in Ta’anis (27a) it’s clear that the hekesh is merely an asmachtah [reliance] and not a drosha on a de’O’raisa level. Since on a de’O’raisa level it’s not time bound, it could be that women also have a chiyuv to come and hear birchas kohanim.
However, the Shu”t Chakel Yitzchok (44) writes: Even according to the Hafla’ah women are exempt, as it’s a time bound mitzvah as it doesn’t apply by night.
The Mechaber writes that if a beis haknesses is all kohanim, they should all go up to duchen and they should bless the people in the fields. The Taz (Orach Chaim 128:22) asks: Why don’t they bless the women? He answers: The berachos of birchas kohanim are said in masculine form, moreover, אין אשה מתברכת אלא מפרי בטנה של בעלה – a woman’s blessing comes via the blessing of her husband, so it comes out the kohanim are really blessing themselves. If, so, how could the Minchas Chinuch entertain a possibility that there is a chiyuv for women to go and hear birchas kohanim?
Perhaps we can answer, that if there are also men in shul then the two arguments of the Taz don’t apply.
[If we take on that there is in fact an obligation for women to go and hear birchas kohanim, then we can suggest an 11th reason for why in Chutz La’aretz birchas kohanim is not performed every day. It’s very difficult for women to go to shul, therefore, to ensure that there is not too much of a burden placed them, they established that birchas kohanim is only performed on Yom Tov, when it is easier for women to get out and go to shul.]
