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In which of the positions (1) or (2) does the comma go in the introduction to Birkas Kohanim,

ברכנו בברכה המשלשת (1) בתורה (2) הכתובה על ידי משה עבדך

Bless us with the blessing which is tripled (1) in the Torah (2) which is written through Moshe Your servant.

(free translation)

and why? I have seen siddurim with both versions.

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I've thought about this, and I've concluded that it makes little difference, because the sentence, contextually, makes sense - but has problems - with either parsing. There really ought to be no comma, IMHO, but when reading it you instinctively want there to be one. – Seth J Jul 6 '12 at 16:06
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@SethJ, The essential question is, I think, whether "which is written" modifies "the blessing" or "the Torah." A properly-placed comma would serve to disambiguate. – Isaac Moses Jul 6 '12 at 17:14
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@SethJ, That's true, but the intent of the composer of this prayer (AKH"G?) was probably to indicate one or the other. – Isaac Moses Jul 6 '12 at 17:48
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@SethJ Same here, but it sounds much better to me with the comma in the first position because a) the phrase "המשולשת בתורה" would be very strange and not in keeping with the ways (משולש(ת is used in the תורה, and even more convincingly, b) הכתובה על ידי משה is parallel to האמורה מפי אהרן and the latter can only refer to this ברכה, not the entire תורה (unless you say כהנים were the פוסקים and therefore "said" the תורה as well...). – WAF Jul 6 '12 at 18:44
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And I think by "comma" we are all just referring to a subordinate phrase boundary and not an actual comma. – WAF Jul 6 '12 at 18:45
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1 Answer

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Per Artscroll - Nusach Sefard after המשלשת, Nusach Ashkenaz after בתורה.

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Is that a difference that Artscroll affirmatively describes, or something you infer by looking at different editions? In the latter case, it's quite possible that the placement of the comma was a function of day on which it was typeset rather than of the nusach of the edition. – Isaac Moses Jul 6 '12 at 17:20
All the Ashkenaz Artscroll Sidurim have it one way and all the Sefard ones have it the other way. – Gershon Gold Jul 6 '12 at 17:22
How many did you check? – Isaac Moses Jul 6 '12 at 17:27
@GershonGold, all the different editions? – Seth J Jul 6 '12 at 17:29
Yes all the Artscroll Ashkenaz have it one way and all the Sefard have it the other way. – Gershon Gold Jul 6 '12 at 20:13

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