Duchaning without a talis

Question

I recently prayed mincha on a fast day where no talis was present. The kohen present did not bless us, since he could not cover his hands with a talis. (No one called him to do so, so he wasn't in violation of refusing to bless when called to do so, which I understand is the main problem with not blessing. Still, had there been a talis, he would have blessed.) What should he have done?

• Not blessed us.
• Blessed us without covering his hands.
• Covered his hands with something else and blessed us.
• Something else. (What?)

Answer 1

See SA OC128, 23 in annotation of the Rama.

הגה: וגם הכהנים לא יסתכלו בידיהם על כן נהגו לשלשל הטלית על פניהם וידיהם חוץ לטלית. ויש מקומות שנהגו שידיהם בפנים מן הטלית שלא יסתכלו העם בהם (בית יוסף):‏

The function of the Talit is not to cover the hands according to the first minhag, because the hands are out of the Talit.

At first glance, it seems that Talit is not really required.

We see that it is no (if at all) absolute requirement to cover their hands.

See Magen Avraham sk 35

דמשמע דלשון להסתכל משמע דוקא להסתכל הרבה אסור אבל ראיה בעלמא לא מיתסר' ...to see without focusing (or observing) is not prohibited.

Conclusion:

What should he have done? Blessed us without covering his hand?

--> Yes

Answer 2

Chashukei Chemed - Megila - page 314 says that it is better for the Kohain not to Duchan rather than covering himself with another object.

Yalkut Yosef 5764 edition - Tefila Volume 2 - 128:100 also says that a Kohain should not Duchan if he has no Talis.

אם אין לכהן טלית, וגם אין טלית בבית הכנסת, אין לכהן לישא כפיו בלא טלית

Answer 3

http://etzion.org.il/en/birkat-kohanim-priestly-blessing-part-iv According to this article on the Yeshivat Har Etzion Virtual Beit Midrash there are achronim who hold that If one does not have a tallit he should not go up to duchan because that would be too distracting to the tzibbur. However the Piskei Teshuvot 128:53 says that if the only tallit one has is passul, then one should put on the tallit only out of respect for Birkat Kohanim and not as a garment thereby exempting the garment from the mitzvah of tzizit.

Answer 4

The sefer נשיאת כפים כהלכתא writes in perek 10 (12) that if one cannot obtain a tallis one should not duchan since the custom today is that ll the kohanim cover themselves with a tallis and one is not allowed to deviate from the custom and therefore the kohain should leave the synagogue (temporarily) before “retzei”.

He gives an argument to support his words above and says that this is the pesak of Teshuvos veHanhogos part 2, 107, from Rav M Sternbuch and Shaalos & Teshuvos “Shevet Hekehosi” 1 (79).