duchen

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Pronunciations

duchen (DU-khin) listen

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Definitions

Example Sentences

  • "Because it was Yom Tov, we had duchening today."

  • "I recently found out that if I don't duchen I must leave the sanctuary during this prayer."

  • "Jonathan's a kohen so once he's Bar Mitzvah, he'll be able to duchen in synagogue." (Glinert)

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Languages of Origin

  • Textual Hebrew
  • Aramaic
  • Yiddish

Etymology

  • Yiddish דוכענען dukhnen, from Hebrew/Aramaic דוכן duchan 'platform' (Steinmetz).

      • Who Uses This

      • Religious: Jews who are engaged in religious observance and have some Jewish education
      • Orthodox: Jews who identify as Orthodox and observe halacha (Jewish law)

      Regions

      • North America
      • Great Britain
      • South Africa
      • Australia / New Zealand

      Dictionaries

      • The JPS Dictionary of Jewish Words, by Joyce Eisenberg and Ellen Scolnic, (Philadelphia, 2001).
      • The Joys of Hebrew, by Lewis Glinert (New York, 1992).
      • Dictionary of Jewish Usage: A Popular Guide to the Use of Jewish Terms, by Sol Steinmetz (Lanham, MD, 2005).

      Alternative Spellings

      duchan, dukhenen, dukhn, dukhen, duchenen, duchn, dukhan, duchnen, dukhnen

Notes

  • A synagogue ritual where the kohanim recite the Priestly Benediction (Num. 6:24-26), blessing the rest of the congregation.

    In Israel, this occurs every day, elsewhere it only occurs on holidays.

    The English verb duchen inflects regularly (He duchened, He duchens, We were duchening etc) (Steinmetz).

    One contributor mentions that the term can still be used to mean a platform, such as the sentence, "the Rov delivered his drosh from the duchen."

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