Yevarekhekha

Birkat kohanim (Priestly Blessing) is one of the most moving and solemn moments of the morning liturgy on holidays and, in the Land of Israel, on Sabbaths, too (some Sephardi communities outside Israel also follow this custom). Each word of this ancient blessing is first sung by the hazzan and then repeated by the descendants of the kohanim (the priestly caste) who stand in front of the heikhal (Holy Ark) to bless the congregation while covered with prayer shawls. In the present recording, Rev. Lopes Cardozo sings alternatively the part of the hazzan, the priests (with an echo, as if they were far away) and the congregation (in short responses performed with piano accompaniment). According to him, this is an old Portuguese melody from New York City and it differs from the standard one used in the Portuguese synagogues of Western Europe (Lopes Cardozo 1987: 98; compare: Aguilar-De Sola 1857: 41, no. 44).