A patrilineal descendant of the biblical Aaron, a male kohen (plural kohanim) could serve in the Temple in Jerusalem when it was standing; various other laws apply to kohanim also, male and female.
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374 views
Daughter of a Jewish woman and non-Jewish man
Is a Kohen allowed to marry a woman who is the daughter of a Jewish woman and non-Jewish man?
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1answer
48 views
Would a replacement kohen gadol be anointed on yom kippur?
Here is what I know:
When a kohen gadol dies we replace him. In fact we've got a replacement kohen gadol waiting in the wings on yom kippur just in case
Any kohen who becomes kohen gadol gets ...
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0answers
33 views
HaKohen, HaLevi - source and reason
What is the source, earliest recorded record, and reason many who are Kohanim and Leviyim write after their name HaKohen or HaLevi?
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0answers
19 views
Invalidating women from the priesthood and from terumah
In Yevamot 6:2, we are told that one who has sexual intercourse with various types of women will "invalidate" them. The language is as follows:
וכן הבא על אחת מכל העריות שבתורה או פסולות כגון ...
5
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1answer
80 views
Source for bechorot losing/reclaiming priesthood
At a parshat hashavua shiur that I regularly attend, the rabbi has stated on multiple occasions that the bechorot (firstborn sons of Israel) were supposed to serve the purpose that the Leviim and ...
10
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2answers
239 views
What happens to the family of a Kohen today if his wife is a victim of rape?
What happens to the family of a Kohen today if his wife is a victim of rape?
What are the steps taken and how does this come to be resolved according to halachah and in the most constructive way for ...
3
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2answers
86 views
Levi does not want to wash Kohen's hands
Suppose there is only one Levi in Shul and he does not want to leave the Shul to wash the Kohain's hands since he will lose the Amein's during the time he is out of the Shul. Should the Levi be ...
11
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3answers
212 views
Why do plastic bags and not fuselages protect against impurity?
In a picture on this article, we see a kohen who has enclosed himself in a plastic bag so as to avoid becoming impure as a result of flying over a cemetery. Why is it that a pressurized fuselage does ...
1
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2answers
85 views
What Chasam Sofer writes in regards to a Kohen Gadol marrying a Basuleh
The Chasam Sofer in Toras Moshe Parsha Emor writes the following:
A cohen should marry a basuleh (virgin). The Ramabm counts this as a Mitzvas aseh (positive commandment). However one could have ...
3
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2answers
939 views
Is a Kohen required to marry a virgin?
In a recent conversation with several friends regarding ba'alei teshuva marrying Kohanim (specifically college students), one person present said that a Kohen can only marry a virgin. I contested this ...
4
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1answer
252 views
Kohen flying over a cemetery?
Is there a problem with a kohen flying in an airplane that may fly over a Jewish cemetery? If so, how can a kohen be sure that a flight does not go over a Jewish cemetery?
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1answer
70 views
Kohen Duchaning with First Two Fingers Together [duplicate]
I recently saw some drawings of the Kohen's hands during duchaning, not the way I do it. I put my two first fingers together without leaving a window. I would like to know if there is any valid way ...
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2answers
106 views
Can any kohanim trace all the way back to Aaron?
Can any kohanim alive today trace their lineage all the way back to the High Priest Aaron? If not, who can go the farthest?
10
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2answers
147 views
Preference to Kohanim in repeating situations
Based on this question and answer, it seems that the obligation to honor the kohein is when everyone has equal rights, the kohein gets first pick, but not everything. For instance, if a host serves a ...
2
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1answer
54 views
Are there still descendants of Aaron serving as priests in Jerusalem?
Are there still descendants of Aaron serving as priests in Jerusalem?
3
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2answers
47 views
Mishna, Brakhot 2a: When the kohanim enter…where?
Mishna, Brakhot 2a
מאימתי קורין את שמע בערבין משעה שהכהנים נכנסים לאכול בתרומתן
What is the author implying as the direct object of the verb נכנסים? In other words, from the hour that the kohanim ...
7
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1answer
248 views
Prohibition of a Kohen marrying a Zonah
In the prohibition of a Kohen marrying a Zonah (cf. Vayikra 21:7), what defines a woman as a Zonah? Is it just having had relations with a non-Jew, or does it also include having relations out of ...
8
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1answer
141 views
Spitting at the High Priest on Yom Kippur
My question might sound a little complicated, but it actually boils down to something very simple: does anybody know of any references to a kohen gadol (a high priest) performing the procedure of ...
3
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1answer
49 views
Was it always the kohen who slaughtered the korbanot?
I'm not too experienced with the rabbinic literature and history, and from just plain reading of the text in this week's torah portion (V'Yikra) I'm finding that it says "HE shall bring it...HE shall ...
5
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2answers
154 views
My father-in-law was a Cohen. Are my children Cohanim?
I seem to recall that Kehuna passes from father to son. Does it pass through the mother as well?
My father-in-law was a Cohen. That makes my wife Bat-Cohen, but what does it make my children?
...
3
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1answer
115 views
Blessing: who gets first?
A father who wants to bless his family, whom should he bless first? His wife? His oldest son? His oldest child? The oldest among his sons, daughters, sons-in-law, and daughters-in-law? The cohanim? ...
5
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0answers
59 views
Significance of the Kohen's hand gestures?
What is the significance of the shapes (windows?) created by the kohen during birkas cohanim? This question and the ensuant answers detail at least 3 opinions of the gesture, I would really appreciate ...
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1answer
76 views
Children of a Cohen who had a vasectomy
A previously asked question on this site was whether a Cohen who had undergone a vasectomy may get married. Assuming that he is permitted to marry in such a case - if he has a child (through invitro ...
6
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2answers
182 views
Is Cohen who had a vasectomy allowed to Bless?
Is Cohen who had a vasectomy allowed to Bless the congregation? Also marry? What happens if he does marry?
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0answers
32 views
Do Beta Israel have Kohens?
Does the Beta Israel community have Kohens? Are Kahens equivalent? If so, are they descended from Aaron?
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0answers
23 views
What if anything was the correspondence between mishmarim of kohanim and cities?
There were twenty-four watches (mishmarim) of kohanim. Each worked for a week, from Shabas to Shabas, and then the cycle repeated itself. (Rambam, K'le Hamikdash 4.)
There were forty-eight cities in ...
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68 views
Kohain marrying divorcee
Can A Kohain marry a woman who had a reform/conservative rabbi officiate her wedding.. but she was divorced by an orthodox rabbi.
Thank you so much in advance
5
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1answer
166 views
Is a bat kohen allowed to go to cemetery?
Besides the permitted reasons for male kohen, is a bat kohen allowed to go to cemetery for other reason?
9
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1answer
187 views
Can a kohen be a mamzer?
A friend and I were discussing this. Generally speaking, it seems that it should be impossible for a person to be a kohen (rather than a chalal) and also a mamzer, because the set of women whom a ...
4
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2answers
187 views
Bas Cohen having relations with a non-Jew
It says in SA YD Siman 305 that a Bas Cohen that has a bechor (firstborn) with a non-Jew there is chiyuv of pidyon haben since the Bas Cohen through having relations with the non-Jew she looses her ...
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3answers
211 views
Did the priest ever cast out evil spirits?
I see in scripture (see citations below) some instances of evil spirits. How did the priests (I'm guessing it was the priests as they also dealt with instances of leprosy) deal with people that were ...
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2answers
98 views
Kohanim and paternal lines
Do you know the explanation why in modern Kohanim there is a paternal line encompassing about 50% of the Kohanim and then many lines encompassing the other 50% 1. Is it possible for a Kohen to be ...
6
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1answer
99 views
When there is no Levi, why do we call up the SAME Kohen “bimkom Levi” - “in place of a Levi.”
The Torah.org halakha class says,
If a kohen is present in the synagogue, he must be called to receive the first aliyah. After the Kohen, a Levi is called. If a Levi
is not present, the same ...
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2answers
143 views
What do you do if there is no Levi or Bechor to wash the Kohain's hands?
What do you do by Duchaning when there is no Levi or Bechor to wash the Kohain's hands?
7
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3answers
184 views
Bimei Matisyahu ben Yochanan Kohen Godol
In "Al Hanisim" we say "Bimei Matisyahu ben Yochanan Kohen Godol", "in the days of Matisyahu the son of Yochanan the Kohen Gadol (=high priest)".
Who was the Kohen Godol: Matisyahu or Yochnan?
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2answers
176 views
Which Yochanan Kohen Godol is in Al Hanissim?
In Al Hanissim we mention a Yochanan Kohen Gadol. Since there were several kohanim gedolim named Yochanan which one is this, historically?
6
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1answer
88 views
Why did Aharon request that Hashem declare Miriam pure?
Rashi says that one of the meanings of Aharon's prayer regarding Miriam ("Let her not be like the dead, which comes out of his mother's womb with half his flesh consumed!"; Bamidbar 12:12) was that ...
5
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2answers
121 views
Can the daughter of two people who could not marry a Cohen marry a cohen?
Can a woman whose father's father isn't Jewish, but whose father's mother is a regular Jew, and whose mother is the child of two converts marry a Cohen?
On the one hand she isn't purely from ...
6
votes
1answer
101 views
Can/Should a Kohen Disqualify Himself from Birchas Kohanim because of Tumah?
Is it proper for a kohein to disqualify himself from duchaning if he feels that he is ritually unpure at that particular moment?
6
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2answers
224 views
Baldness as a disqualification for Kohanim
Is it true that most authorities say that baldness and left handedness disqualify a man for Kehunah? Does the same apply for Birchas Kohanim?
And why?
6
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1answer
163 views
Washing Kohen's Hands
Following kedusha during mussaf on a day when there is birchas kohanim (duchening), the Leviyim and Kohanim assemble at the sink and a Levi washes each Kohen's hands.
What procedure of hand-washing ...
5
votes
1answer
102 views
Why do the Leviim wash the hands of the Kohanim when they go up to bless the people?
When the Kohanim washed their hands and feet in the Beis HaMikdosh they did not have anyone to help.
Why then do the Kohanim need others to wash their hands when they go up to bless the people?
Why ...
7
votes
2answers
237 views
How are we to understand Malchi-Tzedek, non-Jewish priest of God?
Malchi-Tzedek is a gentile priest who worships God. I initially read this as just saying God is not exclusive (it says somewhere in Nevi'im that God also has covenants with other peoples), but today ...
11
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3answers
362 views
Nose Job in Halacha
Is a nose job allowed Hallachicly? Not all cosmetic surgeries, but rhinoplasty in particular, as I heard that rhinoplasty is allowed because we see by a Kohen that having an abnormally long nose is a ...
4
votes
2answers
218 views
Is a Cohen Allowed to Perform CPR?
CPR is performed when the heart has stopped but the brain is still alive. We have a general rule that a Cohen is not allowed to come in contact with a dead body. If so, does this mean that a Kohen ...
10
votes
2answers
101 views
How is a kohen allowed to go outside Israel?
There is a decree which says that all the land outside of Israel is Tamei (as there is a ch'shash that the non-Jews bury their dead outside of official cemeteries).
If so, how are Kohanim allowed to ...
13
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3answers
260 views
Adoptee a Cohen or Levi?
If a Cohen or Levi adopts a non-Jew, upon their conversion are they a Cohen or Levi as well or are they a Yisroel?
5
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1answer
254 views
If a woman converts to Judaism while pregnant, will her child be eligible to marry a Kohen?
If a woman converts to Judaism while pregnant, will her child be eligible to marry a Kohen?
Case #1 -- Assume her husband is a Jew by birth.
Case #2 -- Assume her husband converted to Judaism prior ...
3
votes
2answers
219 views
Who says the Ribbono shel Olam in Birkas Kohanim?
I've "seen" many Talmidei Chachamim not saying the Ribbono shel Olams following each bracha of Birkas Kohanim. At least, I hear them chanting with the Kohanim from start to finish. Are these tefilos ...
5
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0answers
108 views
Relations among King David, the Sanhedrin, and the high priest
Do we have any historical source that discusses the relations among King David, the Sanhedrin during his reign, and the high priest during his reign? Were they on friendly terms? Was there a power ...
