Priestly Blessing
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The Priestly Blessing or priestly benediction, also known in rabbinic literature as raising of the hands, rising to the platform, dukhenen, or duchening, is a Hebrew prayer recited by Kohanim. The text of the blessing is found in Numbers 6:23–27.
Large crowds congregate on Passover at the Western Wall to receive the priestly blessing
Ketef Hinnom scrolls: The second Silver Scroll, an amulet from the First Temple period containing the Priestly Blessing, on display at the Israel Museum. The scroll is the earliest known artifact written in the Paleo-Hebrew alphabet.
Blessing gesture depicted on the gravestone of Rabbi and Kohen Meschullam Kohn (1739–1819)
Mosaic in the synagogue of Enschede
Simchat Torah
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Simchat Torah, also spelled Simhat Torah, is a Jewish holiday that celebrates and marks the conclusion of the annual cycle of public Torah readings, and the beginning of a new cycle. Simchat Torah is a component of the Biblical Jewish holiday of Shemini Atzeret, which follows immediately after the festival of Sukkot in the month of Tishrei.
The Feast of the Rejoicing of the Law at the Synagogue in Livorno by Solomon Hart, 1850. Jewish Museum, New York
Throwing cakes to children on Simḥat Torah, by Johann Leusden in Philologus Hebræo-Mixtus, Utrecht, 1657
Paper flag for Simchat Torah, 1900, in the collection of the Jewish Museum of Switzerland.
Simchat Torah celebrated in the Israeli army with Shlomo Goren, 1969