After the idea for this site came up, I looked for a domain name. Finding a name is sometimes difficult, because so many phrases have been used or reserved. The concatenated word “kohenblessing” was available, and it had immediate appeal for two reasons:
- Kohen with a “K.” Cohen is a common Jewish name, and almost always spelled with a “C.” For the site I prefer the “K” because it differentiates site name from the names of many people. Of course, the majority of people named Cohen are Kohanim, but not all. And Cohen is not the only common name among Kohanim. Others include Coen, Cohn, Katz, Kagan, Kaplan, Kohn, Coen. Et cetera. And many Kohanim, like me, have names that are not directly linked to the Kohanic lineage, but derive from town names or occupations, or other sources (the subject of how surnames came into common use throughout the world is a huge and fascinating topic that I am not expert in, and will not address in this site). By the way, my family name derives from the Yiddish/German word for tin, likely because some of my ancestors worked with the metal in their trade.
- 13 letters. Kohenblessing has 13 letters. Numerology fans may note that there are also 13 Hebrew letters, constituting the first verse of the Kohane Blessing. (Note: when written in a Torah scroll the text contains 15 letters, but I used a 2 letter abbreviation for the name of God here, to keep the 13 letter motif). Numbers and counting play a big role in both ancient and modern Biblical analysis, and specific numbers are often associated with specific Holy attributes or concepts. The most common association for 13 is the 13 aspects of Divine mercy attributed to God in the 34th chapter of Exodus, verses 6 & 7. Considering one of the forms of our relationship with God, that God is our True Judge who sees and considers us strictly, it is always appropriate for us to call on His attributes of mercy. The Kohane Blessing is such a call.