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The 'blessing of the Kohenites' in the Jewish ritual is based on Numbers VI: 22–27. The Kohenites, i.e., the members of the priestly caste, ascend a platform and extend their hands towards the community. The face of the Lord is believed to be shining upon Aaron and his descendants, the Kohenites, who bless the children of Israel by putting the name of the Lord upon them. The blessing is done with outstretched hands and extended fingers. Through these extended fingers the Lord himself is supposed to look upon the community like a bridegroom looking at his bride (Cant. II:9). When the Kohenites are giving their blessing they shall not look around in any direction and the people are not supposed to look at the Kohenites. Prohibitions, both Biblical and post-Biblical, clustering around the rite, strongly emphasize the taboo on sex. The author regards the taking off of the shoes by the Kohen as equivalent to circumcision and discusses the castration significance of the chalitzah rite (Genesis XXXVIII:8) which absolves a brother of marrying his dead brother's wife. The prohibitions of looking are connected with the 'primal scene'. The author's conjecture that the blessing repeats the scene of Sinai on a small scale is very interesting. The blessing, according to tradition, consisted in pronouncing the name of the divinity while the five fingers are so placed as to form the divine name Shaday. Feldman shows that