Kohen


Kohen is the Hebrew word for "priest", used in reference to the Aaronic priesthood, also called Aaronites or Aaronides. They are traditionally believed, and halakhically required, to be of direct patrilineal descent from the biblical Aaron, brother of Moses, and thus belong to the Tribe of Levi.
During the existence of the Temple in Jerusalem, kohanim performed the Temple sacrificial offerings, which were only permitted to be offered by them. Following its destruction, it seems that most of them joined the Synagogal Jewish movement before adopting gradually Rabbinic Judaism, other types of Judaism, Christianity or Islam. Today, kohanim retain a lesser though distinct status within Rabbinic and Karaite Judaism, including certain honors and restrictions.
In the Samaritan community, the kohanim have remained the primary religious leaders. Ethiopian Jewish religious leaders are called kahen, and do similar works to the kohanim.

Name

The word kohen originally derives from a Semitic root common at least to the Central Semitic languages. In the ancient polytheistic religion of Phoenicia, the word for priest was khn. The cognate Arabic word كاهن means "priest".
The noun kohen is used in the Bible to refer to priests, whether Jewish or pagan, although Christian priests are referred to in modern Hebrew by the term komer. Kohanim can also refer to the Jewish nation as a whole, as in, where the whole of Israel is addressed as a "priestly kingdom and a holy nation".
In Targum Yonatan, interpretive translations of the word kohen include "friend", "master", and "servant". Other interpretations include "minister".

Individuals and history

The early books of the Bible mention several pagan priests, such as Potipherah, the other priests of Egypt, and Jethro.
The non-Jewish priest Melchitzedek, however, is described as worshipping the same God as Abraham. Later Jewish sources even discuss the possibility that Melchitzedek's family could have served as priests for the future Jewish nation, though in the end this did not happen.
Jewish priests are first mentioned in. Here God offered the entire Jewish people the opportunity to become a symbolic "kingdom of priests and a holy nation". More practically, though, in this chapter "the priests who approach the Lord" were warned to stay away from Mount Sinai during the revelation of the Ten Commandments. The identity of these priests is not specified. According to many later Jewish sources, the firstborn son in each family served as priests, starting in the period of the patriarchs.
Nevertheless, shortly after the Sinai revelation, Aaron and his sons were chosen to be the priests. The exclusive possession of the priesthood by Aaron's descendants was known as the priestly covenant. Many commentators assert that the firstborns lost their status due to their participation in the golden calf sin. A number of reasons have been suggested for why Aaron and his descendants were chosen instead:
  • Due to Aaron's role in the Exodus, alongside Moses
  • As reward for greeting Moses cheerfully, willingly subordinating himself to Moses in the Exodus, even though he was the elder of the two brothers
  • Because Aaron possessed a higher level of prophecy than anyone at the time except Moses himself
  • The Tribe of Levi, and possibly even Aaron's own family within that tribe, maybe have been chosen for Divine service even before the Exodus.
  • Because Moses himself was unsuitable to serve as priest, either for general reasons or as punishment for trying to avoid his Divine mission in
  • Because Moses had a non-Israelite wife, while Aaron's wife Elisheba was not only Israelite but noble, and thus more suitable to found the priestly family
Moses, too, performed sacrificial services before the completion of Aaron's consecration, and arguably is once called a "priest" in the Bible, but his descendants were not priests.
Since Aaron was a descendant of the Tribe of Levi, priests are sometimes included in the term Levites, by direct patrilineal descent. However, not all Levites are priests.
During the 40 years of wandering in the wilderness and until the Holy Temple was built in Jerusalem, the priests performed their priestly service in the portable Tabernacle.

Ancient roles

Laws and duties

Priestly duties involved offering the Temple sacrifices, and delivering the Priestly Blessing. When the Temple existed, most sacrifices and offerings could only be conducted by priests. Non-priest Levites performed a variety of other Temple roles, including ritual slaughter of sacrificial animals, song service by use of voice and musical instruments, and various tasks in assisting the priests in performing their service.
The kohanim were not granted any ancestral land to own. Instead, they were compensated for their service to the nation and in the Temple through the twenty-four kohanic gifts. Most of these gifts are related to Temple sacrifices, or else the agricultural produce of the Land of Israel. A notable gift which is given even in the Jewish diaspora is the five shekels of the pidyon haben ceremony.

Vestments

The Torah provides for specific vestments to be worn by the priests when they are ministering in the Tabernacle: "And you shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother, for dignity and for beauty". These garments are described in, and. The high priest wore eight holy garments. Of these, four were of the same type worn by all priests and four were unique to the high priest.
Those vestments which were common to all priests were:
  • Priestly undergarments : linen pants reaching from the waist to the knees "to cover their nakedness"
  • Priestly tunic : made of pure linen, covering the entire body from the neck to the feet, with sleeves reaching to the wrists. That of the high priest was embroidered, those of the priests were plain.
  • Priestly sash : that of the high priest was of fine linen with "embroidered work" in blue and purple and scarlet ; those worn by the priests were of white, twined linen.
  • Priestly turban : that of the high priest was much larger than that of the priests and wound so that it formed a broad, flat-topped turban; that for priests was wound so that it formed a cone-shaped turban, called a migbahat.
The vestments that were unique to the high priest were:
  • Priestly robe : a sleeveless, blue robe, the lower hem of which was fringed with small golden bells alternating with pomegranate-shaped tassels in blue, purple, and scarlet—tekhelet, argaman, tolaat shani.
  • Ephod: a richly embroidered vest or apron with two onyx engraved gemstones on the shoulders, on which were engraved the names of the tribes of Israel
  • Priestly breastplate : with twelve precious and semi-precious stones, each engraved with the name of one of the tribes; a pouch in which he probably carried the Urim and Thummim. The hoshen was fastened to the Ephod.
  • Priestly headplate : worn on the front of the turban, and inscribed with the words: "Holy unto YHWH".
File:Macoy Masonic Hebrew with text 1868 p134.jpg|thumb|Qodeš l-Yahweh, "Holy to Yahweh", an inscription worn on the forehead of the High Priest of Israel
In addition to the above "golden garments", the high priest also had a set of white "linen garments" which he wore only for the Yom Kippur Temple service. The linen garments were only four in number, corresponding to the garments worn by all priests, but made only of white linen, with no embroidery. They could be worn only once, new sets being made each year.
A priest would serve barefoot in the Temple, and would immerse in a mikvah before vesting, and wash his hands and his feet before performing any sacred act. The Talmud teaches that priests were only fit to perform their duties when wearing their priestly vestments, and that the vestments achieve atonement for sin, just as sacrifices do.
According to the Talmud, the wearing of the Priestly golden head plate atoned for the sin of arrogance on the part of the Children of Israel and she also symbolizes that the high priest bears the lack of all the offerings and gifts of the sons of Israel. And it must be constantly on his head for the good pleasure of God towards them.
  • According to the Talmud, the wearing of the Priestly turban atoned for the sin of haughtiness on the part of the Children of Israel.
  • According to the Talmud, the wearing of the Priestly ephod atoned for the sin of idolatry on the part of the Israelites.
  • According to the Talmud, the wearing of the Hoshen atoned for the sin of errors in judgment on the part of the Children of Israel.
  • According to the Talmud, the wearing of the Priestly sash atoned for "sins of the heart" on the part of the Children of Israel.
  • According to the Talmud, the wearing of the Priestly tunic and the rest of the priestly garments atoned for the sin of bloodshed on the part of the Children of Israel.
  • According to the Talmud, the Priestly undergarments atone for the sin of sexual transgressions on the part of the Children of Israel.

    Torah instruction

Numerous Biblical passages attest to the role of the priests in teaching Torah to the people and in issuing judgment. Later rabbinic statements elaborate on these roles. However, the priest's religious authority is not automatic: even a bastard who is a scholar takes precedence over an ignorant high priest.

High Priest

In every generation when the Temple was standing, one kohen would be singled out to perform the functions of the High Priest. His primary task was the Day of Atonement service. Another unique task of the high priest was the offering of a daily meal sacrifice; he also held the prerogative to supersede any priest and offer any offering he chose. Although the Torah retains a procedure to select a High Priest when needed, in the absence of the Temple in Jerusalem, there is no High Priest in Judaism today.