Kohen, Kohen

However, not all levites are kohanim. When the Temple existed, most services (i.e. the korbanot ) could only be conducted by kohanim. Non-kohen levites (i.e. all those who descended from Levi, the son of Jacob, but not from Aaron) performed a variety of other Temple roles, most notably providing music and songs (Psalms) to accompany Temple ceremonies but also a variety of other duties including standing guard over the Temple and Temple Mount, construction, maintenance, and assisting the kohanim by washing their hands and feet before services. During the era of the Tabernacle, the non-kohen levites were employed in caring for and transporting the Tabernacle between travel destinations.

Only when a Kohen became physically infirm could he no longer serve (see T.B. ibid., and Maimonides' Yad, Hilchoth Biath HaMiqdash 7:12, and Hilchoth Klei HaMiqdash 3:8).

However, should it be a correctable imperfection, the kohen would become eligible for service should the defect be corrected. At any time, he was permitted to eat of the holy food (same source as above, including adjacent verses and commentaries). Kohanim with these blemishes would be assigned to secondary roles in the Temple outside of performing the service itself.

They were permitted to consume or derive benefit from some of the 24 priestly gifts. If a kohen's daughter married a man from outside the kohanic line, she was no longer permitted to consume these priestly gifts. Conversely, the daughter of a non-priest who married a kohen took on the same rights as an unmarried daughter of a kohen.

His main job was the Yom Kippur service, but he did offer a daily meal sacrifice, and he had the prerogative to supersede any kohen and offer any offering he chose.

Although Orthodox Judaism retains a procedure to select a Kohen Gadol when needed, there is no Kohen Gadol today, in the absence of a Temple.

It is for this reason that authorities within Orthodox Judaism maintain that a Yisroel is not technically obligated to pay a modern day Kohen for the Pidyun Haben ceremony (He would ask for the five coins back after he gave it to the Kohen). Until the eighteenth century in Europe, nineteenth century in Yemen) many Kohanim could accurately trace their lineage back to a verifiable Kohen such as Ezra. Today, families may verify their priestly lineage via the tombstones of deceased ancestors, as the universal symbol of the hands arranged for the Priestly Blessing is a time-honored engraving for the tombstones of kohanim. Simply having the family name of "Cohen" (Cohn, Kogan, Kagan, etc.), or "Kahanowitz" etc. ("son of Cohen") is not proof enough, as emigration, assimilation and intermarriage have conferred the name on various individuals (and even non-Jewish descendants) as well. While no one today is considered a Kohen to the extent that he can serve in the Temple, in the Orthodox Jewish community as long as one has a paternal family tradition of being a Kohen, they are granted certain honorary roles and duties within the community.

On weekdays, this reading is divided into three; it is customary to call a Kohen for the first reading ( aliyah ), a Levite for the second reading, and a member of any other Tribe of Israel to the third reading. On Shabbat, the reading is divided into seven portions; a Kohen is called for the first aliyah and a Levite to the second, and a Yisroel for the rest.

Therefore the honors given to the Kohen during the Torah reading and in the performance of the Priestly Blessing are not observed in Reform or Reconstructionist Jewish communities. Many Reform and Reconstructionist Temples effectively forbid the practice of these laws and customs.

The Kohen first washes his hands and breaks bread, then calls for the father and the baby. The baby is typically brought in dressed in white and bedecked with gold jewelry, which the women in attendance contribute to beautify this mitzvah. The Kohen then engages the father in a formal dialogue, asking him whether he prefers to keep his money or his son. At the end of this exchange, the father hands over five silver coins (There is a debate about how much this should be in contemporary money. According to some calculations, this would be equal to approximately 101 grams of silver. It is a general custom to give a value more than what this would be worth, to enhance the mitzvah ), and the kohen blesses him and his son. Though this ceremony should be conducted when the child is 29 days (one lunar month) old, a first-born male who was never redeemed via Pidyon Haben may redeem himself later in life through a similar interaction with a kohen. Though no Kohen today can trace his lineage to a proven Kohen, a Yisroel technically has the right to demand the money be given back after the service.

In compliance with Talmudic law, they also may not marry a female convert, out of concern for what may have occurred to her while she was a gentile. A born-Jewish woman who has had premarital relations may marry a kohen if and only if all of her partners were Jewish.

The Kohen is not entitled to the finer portion of a meal (Kitzur Shulchan Aruch), and is called first to the Torah in order to prevent arguments between Kohanim, Leviem and Yisroels. A Yisroel cannot be called to the Torah for the spot of a Kohen so long as one is present nor can a Kohen be called for the spot of a Yisroel so long as one is present.

However, the question of what acts (if any) a Bat Kohen can perform in an Orthodox context is a subject of current discussion and debate in some Orthodox circles.

Additionally, some "kohen"-type surnames are considered stronger indications of the status than others. "Cohen" is one of the hardest to substantiate due to its sheer commonality.

Spock's Vulcan salute in the original Star Trek television series. Nimoy, raised an orthodox Jew (but not a kohen), used the salute when saying "live long and prosper." Furthermore, the Star Trek Symbol is the same shape as the negative (air) space created between the Kohein's thumbs and forefingers, which some Kohanim touch while doing the Birchas Kohanim (Priestly Blessing).

Source: Wikipedia > Kohen