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{{Kehuna and Kohanim}}
{{Judaism}}
'''Kohen''' ({{lang-he|{{Script/Hebr|כֹּהֵן}}}}, ''kōhēn'', {{IPA-he|koˈ(h)en|}}, "priest", pl. {{Script/Hebrew|כֹּהֲנִים}}, ''kōhănīm'', {{IPA-he|koˈ(h)anim|}}, "priests") is the Hebrew word for "[[priest]]", used in reference to the Aaronic [[Priest#Judaism|priesthood]], also called '''Aaronites''' or '''Aaronides'''.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Aaronides {{!}} Encyclopedia.com|url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/religion/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/aaronides|access-date=2020-06-21|website=www.encyclopedia.com}}</ref> They are traditionally believed, and [[halakha|halakhically]] required, to be of direct [[Patrilineality|patrilineal descent]] from the biblical [[Aaron]] (also ''Aharon''), brother of [[Moses]], and thus belong to the [[Tribe of Levi]].<ref name=Leuchter2021>{{cite web|last=Mark Leuchter|first=Mark Leuchter|title=How All Kohanim Became Sons of Aaron|work
During the existence of the [[Temple in Jerusalem]] (and previously the [[Tabernacle]]), ''kohanim'' performed the Temple [[korban|sacrificial offerings]], which were only permitted to be offered by them. Following [[Siege of Jerusalem (70 CE)|its destruction]], it seems that most of them joined the [[Synagogal Judaism|Synagogal Jewish movement]] before adopting gradually [[Rabbinic Judaism]] or [[Christianity]].<ref name=":5">{{Cite book |url=https://www.openbookpublishers.com/product/1209 |title=Diversity and Rabbinization: Jewish Texts and Societies between 400 and 1000 CE |date=2021 |publisher=Open Book Publishers |isbn=978-1-78374-993-5 |editor-last=McDowell |editor-first=Gavin |series=Semitic Languages and Cultures |volume=7 |language=en |doi=10.11647/obp.0219 |editor-last2=Naiweld |editor-first2=Ron |editor-last3=Stökl Ben Ezra |editor-first3=Daniel |doi-access=free }}</ref> Today, ''kohanim'' retain a lesser though distinct status within [[Rabbinic Judaism|Rabbinic]] and [[Karaite Judaism]], including certain honors and restrictions.
In the [[Samaritans|Samaritan]] community, the kohanim have remained the primary religious leaders. [[Beta Israel|Ethiopian Jewish]] religious leaders are sometimes called ''[[kahen]]'', a form of the same word, but the position is not hereditary and their duties are more like those of [[rabbi]]s than kohanim in most Jewish communities.
== 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'' ({{script|Phnx|𐤊𐤄𐤍}}). The cognate [[Arabic]] word {{lang|ar|كاهن|rtl=yes}} (''kāhin'') means
The [[noun]] ''kohen'' is used in the [[Hebrew Bible|Bible]] to refer to [[priest]]s, whether Jewish or pagan (such as the ''kohanim'' of [[Baal]] or [[Dagon]]),<ref>Verses that use the term to refer to non-Aaronides include: {{Bibleverse|Genesis|14:18|HE}}, {{Bibleverse-nb|Genesis|41:45,50|HE}}, {{Bibleverse-nb|Genesis|46:20|HE}}, {{Bibleverse-nb|Genesis|47:22,26|HE}}; {{Bibleverse|Exodus|2:16|HE}}, {{Bibleverse-nb|Exodus|3:1|HE}},{{Bibleverse-nb|Exodus|18:1|HE}}; {{Bibleverse|Judges|17:5,10,12,13|HE}}; {{Bibleverse-nb|Judges|18:4-30|HE}}; {{Bibleverse|1 Samuel|5:5|HE}}, {{Bibleverse-nb|1 Samuel|6:2|HE}}; {{Bibleverse|1 Kings|12:31-32|HE}}, {{Bibleverse-nb|1 Kings|13:2,33|HE}}; {{Bibleverse|2 Kings|10:11,19|HE}}, {{Bibleverse-nb|2 Kings|17:32|HE}}; {{Bibleverse|Jeremiah|48:7|HE}}, {{Bibleverse-nb|Jeremiah|49:3|HE}}; {{Bibleverse|Amos|7:10|HE}}; {{Bibleverse|2 Chronicles|13:9|HE}}, {{Bibleverse-nb|2 Chronicles|23:17|HE}}, {{Bibleverse-nb|2 Chronicles|34:5|HE}}</ref> although Christian priests are referred to in modern Hebrew by the term ''komer'' ({{Script/Hebrew|כומר}}).<ref>[https://www.morfix.co.il/%D7%9B%D7%95%D7%9E%D7%A8 מילון מורפיקס: פירוש כומר בעברית]</ref> ''Kohanim'' can also refer to the Jewish nation as a whole, as in {{bibleverse|Exodus|19:6|HE}}, where the whole of Israel is addressed as a "priestly kingdom (or: kingdom of priests) and a holy nation".
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Priestly duties involved offering the Temple [[Korban|sacrifices]], and delivering the [[Priestly Blessing]]. When the Temple existed, most sacrifices and offerings could only be conducted by priests. Non-priest Levites (i.e. those who descended from [[Levi]] but not from Aaron) performed a variety of other Temple roles, including [[Shechita|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.<ref>{{Bibleverse|Numbers|18:20|HE}}</ref> Instead, they were compensated for their service to the nation and in the Temple through the [[twenty-four kohanic gifts]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cohen-levi.org/temple_studies/order_of_the_temple_service.htm |title=
===Vestments===
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In addition to the above "golden garments", the [[High Priest of Israel|high priest]] also had a set of white "linen garments" (''bigdei ha-bad'') which he wore only for the [[Yom Kippur Temple service]].<ref>{{bibleverse|Leviticus|16:4|HE}}</ref> The linen garments were only four in number, corresponding to the garments worn by all priests (undergarments, tunic, sash and turban), but made only of white linen, with no embroidery. They could be worn only once, new sets being made each year.
=== Torah instruction ===
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According to {{bibleverse|1|Chronicles|24:3–5|HE}}, King [[David]] divided the priests into 24 [[priestly divisions]] (Heb. משמרות, ''mishmarot''). Each division would perform the Temple service for one week in a 24-week cycle, with all divisions eligible to serve on holidays. According to the [[Talmud]], this was an expansion of a previous division, by Moses, into 8 (or 16) divisions.<ref>Taanit 27a</ref>
Following the destruction of the [[Second Temple]], and the displacement to the [[Galilee]] of the bulk of the remaining Jewish population after the [[Bar Kokhba revolt]], Jewish tradition in the [[Talmud]] and poems from the period record that the descendants of each priestly watch established a separate residential seat in towns and villages of the Galilee, and maintained this residential pattern for at least several centuries in anticipation of the reconstruction of the Temple and reinstitution of the cycle of priestly courses. In subsequent years, there was a custom of publicly recalling every [[Shabbat]] in the synagogues the courses of the priests, a practice that reinforced the prestige of the priests' lineage.<ref>[[Robert Bonfil]], ''Jews in Byzantium: Dialectics of Minority and Majority Cultures'', Brill: Leiden 2012, p. 42 {{ISBN|9789004203556}}</ref> Following this destruction, it seems that most of them joined the [[Synagogal Judaism|Synagogal Jewish movement]] ; before being gradually converted towards [[Rabbinic Judaism]] and [[Christianity]].<ref name=":5" />
=== Qualifications and disqualifications ===
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=== Marital restrictions ===
{{Bibleverse|Leviticus|21:7|HE}} prohibits marriage between a kohen and certain classes of women. According to [[halakhah|rabbinic law]], these classes include divorcees, non-Jews, converts (who were previously non-Jews), and women who have previously engaged in certain forbidden sexual relationships (even if involuntary, i. e., rape).<ref>[[Sefer Hachinuch]], 266-268</ref> If a kohen did have relations with any of these women, the offspring are described as "profaned" (male: ''challal'', female: ''challalah''); their status is nearly identical to a normal Jew, while the ''challalah'' herself is one of the categories which a kohen may not marry.<ref>Yishma'el Tanuji Ha-Kohen, ''Sefer Ha-zikaron'', London 1974 (Hebrew)</ref>
Rape poses an especially poignant problem. The pain experienced by the families of kohanim who were required to divorce their wives as the result of the rapes accompanying the capture of Jerusalem is alluded to in this Mishnah:
<blockquote>If a woman were imprisoned by non-Jews concerning money affairs, she is permitted to her husband, but if for some capital offense, she is forbidden to her husband. If a town were overcome by besieging troops, all women of priestly stock found in it are ineligible [to be married to priests or to remain married to priests], but if they had witnesses, even a male or female slave, these may be believed. But no man may be believed for himself. Rabbi Zechariah ben Hakatsab said, "By this Temple, her hand did not stir from my hand from the time the non-Jews entered Jerusalem until they went out." They said to him: No man may give evidence of himself.<ref>[[Mishnah]] [[Ketubot]] 2:9</ref></blockquote>
[[Orthodox Judaism]] recognizes these rules as still binding, and Orthodox rabbis will not perform a marriage between a kohen and a divorced woman.<ref name=civil/> This is the attitude of the [[Israeli rabbinate]], with the result that a kohen cannot legally marry a divorced or converted woman in the [[State of Israel]]. (However, if such a marriage were performed outside Israel, it would be recognized as a valid marriage by the
[[Conservative Judaism]] has issued an emergency ''takanah'' (rabbinical edict) temporarily suspending the application of the rules in their entirety, on the grounds that the high intermarriage rate threatens the survival of Judaism, and, hence, that any marriage between Jews is welcomed.<ref name=ra/> The ''takanah'' declares that the offspring of such marriages are to be regarded as kohanim.<ref name=ra>{{Cite web|url=http://www.rabbinicalassembly.org/teshuvot/docs/19912000/goodman_marriageconvert.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101127130257/http://www.rabbinicalassembly.org/teshuvot/docs/19912000/goodman_marriageconvert.pdf|url-status=dead|title=Arnold Goodman, "Solemnizing the Marriage between a Kohen and a Convert"|archive-date=November 27, 2010}}; {{Cite web|url=http://www.rabbinicalassembly.org/teshuvot/docs/19912000/goodman_marriagedivorcee.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101127130736/http://www.rabbinicalassembly.org/teshuvot/docs/19912000/goodman_marriagedivorcee.pdf|url-status=dead|title=Goodman, "Solemnizing the Marriage between a Kohen and a Divorcee"|archive-date=November 27, 2010}}</ref>
===Other laws===
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Since the [[Y chromosome]] is inherited only from one's father (biological females have no Y chromosome), all direct male lineages share a common [[haplotype]]. Thus, if ''kohanim'' share a direct male lineage to Aaron, one would expect to see a high level of commonality among their [[Y chromosome]]s.
Since 1997, a number of genetic studies have been done on this topic, using testing data from across sectors of the Jewish and non-Jewish populations. The results of these studies have been interpreted by various parties as either confirming or disproving the traditions of uniform descent.{{cn|date=November 2023}}
== Surnames ==
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Names often associated with kohanim include:
* [[Cohen (surname)|Cohen]], also spelled [[Kahn]]
* [[Katz (surname)|Katz]] ([[Hebrew abbreviations|Hebrew abbreviation]] of Kohen Tzedeq, "priest of justice"/"authentic priest")
* [[:he:מזא"ה|Maze]], Mazo, Mazer (acronym of the Hebrew phrase ''mi zera Aharon hakohen,'' meaning "from the seed of Aaron the priest")
* [[Azoulay]] (acronym of the Hebrew phrase ''ishah zonah ve'challelah lo yikachu,'' meaning "a foreign [non-Israelite woman] or divorced [Israelite woman] shall not he take": a prohibition binding on kohanim, {{Bibleverse|Leviticus|21:7|HE}})
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== In popular culture ==
The positioning of the kohen's hands during the [[Priestly Blessing]] was [[Leonard Nimoy]]'s inspiration for [[Spock|Mr. Spock's]] [[Vulcan salute]] in the [[Star Trek: The Original Series|original Star Trek television series]]. Nimoy, raised an Orthodox Jew (but not a kohen), used the salute when saying, "Live long and prosper."
The Priestly Blessing was used by [[Leonard Cohen]] in his farewell blessing during "Whither Thou Goest", the closing song on his concerts. Leonard Cohen himself was from a kohen family. He also used the drawing of the Priestly Blessing as one of his logos.
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