שלחן הטהור על אודות מקור המנהג של ברכת כהנים רק ביו"ט

1

שלחן הטהור (או"ח קכז:ג) says that the מנהג is פשוט by all אשכנזים, our ancestors and their ancestors, that there is no ברכת כהנים except on יו"ט.

This מנהג (says שלחן הטהור) was established by נביאים (his language) namely

רבינו שמואל הנביא, ר שמעון הגדול, ר יהודה החסיד and רבינו אלעזר הרוקח, the smallest among whom could revive the dead.

Since this מנהג was instituted by שרפים וחיות הקודש, how can anyone of a later generation be able to stop the מנהג?! This is nothing but insanity! And particularly since the בעל שם טוב didn't change this מנהג and whoever changes the status quo has the lower hand and we will go 'בשם ה!

2

The first problem with the שלחן הטהור is that it reports a historical phenomenon which involved people that lived centuries prior, without bringing any source for this claim. If this מנהג indeed originates where שלחן הטהור says it did, why is he the first one to say so?

Even were this to be true, that the אשכנזי מנהג was established by 'ר יהודה החסיד וכו, from whence do they derive the authority to uproot a מצות עשה?

3

Additionally, the בעל שם טוב is not known for changing מנהגים to be more in line with the strict הלכה, so the fact that he did not change this מנהג should not, seemingly, significantly change anything.

4

All the above being said, to change a practice of questionable origin and legitimacy would not seem to be insane at all, as the שלחן הטהור says doing so would be, but rather, indeed, a praiseworthy and legitimate effort. [1]

[1] We have mentioned previously that גדולים of previous generations attempted to reinstate daily ברכת כהנים were seemingly punished for doing so. This phenomenon indeed raises a thorny theological problem, namely, why would one be punished for attempting to perform a מצוה properly. This point will בעז"ה be addressed in a future post.