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February 1, 2002
Tracing roots to Aaron
Kohanim represent the original Jewish priesthood.
KYLE BERGER REPORTER
A few days ago, I was discussing with some friends the importance
of following our Jewish traditions. I felt compelled to mention
the fact that I was a part of the kohain (priest) lineage
and that, with the title, came responsibilities to follow certain
rules and traditions.
"Well, I'm a member of the Jewish priesthood," I declared
as they nodded their heads in interest. "I get to do the first
aliyah (going up to read the Torah) at Saturday morning services."
Again they nodded. "And I can't marry a woman who has converted
to Judaism or I would not pass on the kohain status to my sons."
This time the response consisted of a few strange looks.
"You can't marry someone who converted?" asked one of
my friends who is a convert. "So even though I've gone through
everything I needed to be Jewish I'm still not looked at as an equal
by some Jews?"
Feeling a little shame, and not being knowledgeable enough to explain
why I had to follow such strict rules, I decided to gather a little
research on what it meant to be a kohain.
According to what I already knew, being a kohain meant that I was
a direct descendant of Aaron, Moses' brother, who was the first
Kohain Gadol or high priest. I also knew that the status
of kohain is passed on through the male side of the family, that
I had to stand outside of the cemetery at the funeral of my friend's
grandmother and that on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, I recite a
special blessing over my congregation.
But I couldn't tell you why.
A chat with Beth Israel Synagogue's Rabbi Charles Feinberg and a
lengthy search on the Internet taught me quite a bit about my genealogical
history and led me to some current scientific debate over whether
or not that history is, in fact, true.
The first thing I noticed is that Judaism certainly was not a classless
religion.
In the time of Aaron, your average, everyday, run-of-the-mill Jews
were called Israelites or simply the people of Israel. One of the
tribes of Israel was the Levites and the kohanim were a subset within
the Levite tribe.
The kohanim, as members of the priesthood, were at the top (hence
the honor of the first aliyah), the Levites in the middle (they
are honored with the second aliyah) and the Israelites at the bottom.
To be clear, this means that all kohanim are also Levites but not
all Levites are kohanim.
As the first Kohain Gadol, Aaron worked in the Temple and was involved
with the offering of sacrifices and blessing the people of Israel.
His sons continued the priestly traditions after him, and so on.
Today, it is estimated that approximately five per cent or 350,000
men of the seven million male Jews around the world are kohanim.
In the time of Aaron, the kohanim led the blessings of Israel in
the Temple and Tabernacle and were looked upon as the role models
of the Jewish people.
However, from the time that the Roman army destroyed the Temple
in 70 CE, membership in the kohanim priesthood was maintained by
keeping ritually pure. This meant kohanim couldn't marry a divorcee
because the woman had already shared herself with another man, and
kohanim couldn't marry a convert because their life prior to the
conversion had likely been filled with impure acts, according to
the Torah.
Kohanim were also commanded to avoid contact with a corpse in order
that they maintain the highest level of purity.
And even though it is safe to assume that most kohanim have likely
walked over some sort of unmarked grave in their lifetime, the Torah
commands that they not further impurify themselves by knowingly
doing it again.
So, now I know that, not only am I a direct descendant of Moses'
brother, but I am a member of the Jewish priesthood who carries
the heavy responsibilities of keeping the traditions of the kohanim
alive.
But there has been more than 3,300 years of descending going on
since then. Why should I really believe that a kohain in British
Columbia and a kohain in South Africa are both direct descendants
of the same Kohain Gadol?
My research continued.
In early 1997, Nature reported that a research team had found
a unique genetic chromosome linking kohanim across the globe.
Prof. Karl Skorecki, a blood specialist at Rambam Hospital in Haifa
and the head of molecular medicine at Israel's Technion medical
school, along with his researchers, found that the 188 unrelated
kohanim they tested shared a variation of the Y chromosome which
linked them to Aaron, who was born in 2365 BCE. This specific chromosome
would only be passed from father to son. This research provided
proof that the priesthood established by Aaron probably did exist
as the Torah details it.
However, not everyone in the scientific world agreed with Skorecki's
conclusions.
Dr. Avshalom Zoossmann-Diskin of the department of hematology and
genetic pathology at the medical school of Flinders University of
South Australia, attempted to cast doubt on Skorecki's findings.
In an article published in the Jerusalem Post, Feb. 28, 2001,
Zoossmann-Diskin claimed that studies of kohanim are "problematic
and arrive at conclusions that are not supported by all available
data." He added that "Jewish populations around the world
descend from a variety of maternal and paternal origins ... preliminary
genetic studies of mitochondrial DNA (from maternal ancestries)
have already demonstrated the connections between Jewish populations
and non-Jewish populations."
But Skorecki maintained his claims to be true and said the findings
of his research team have been corroborated several times since
then.
OK. So, now I accept that I probably really am a descendant of Aaron
and that kohanim are supposed to be the role models of the Jewish
people.
However, in the 21st century, the leadership role of the kohanim
has pretty much been replaced by rabbis and I don't find myself
being asked to participate in too many sacrifices these days. So
what kind of present-day responsibilities do kohanim still carry
out?
Well, that takes me back to my recollection of the special blessing
I recite at High Holy Day services.
Thirty-three centuries ago, Aaron would stand on a platform called
a "duchen" and bestow his daily, loving blessing upon
the people of Israel. Naturally, the kohanim carried on that tradition
and every day in Israel and on every festival in the Diaspora, the
kohanim perform what is now called "duchenen."
With their shoes off, the kohanim gather on the bimah (platform)
of the synagogue, hold their tallitot over their faces with outstretched
arms and recite an ancient blessing over the congregation:
"May God bless you and keep you, may God let His face shine
upon you and be gracious to you, may God bestow His favor on you
and grant you peace."
In some congregations, it is the tradition that the Levites present
wash the hands of the kohanim prior to the blessing.
The most interesting part of the blessing is how the kohanim must
hold their hands while reciting the blessing. With their palms facing
away, they spread their hands, touching the tips of their thumbs,
while the other four fingers on each hand split into twos. This
is the emblem of the kohanim which was made more famous by Leonard
Nimoy's character, Mr. Spock, on Star Trek.
This symbol is often found on the tombstones of kohanim.
The congregation is supposed to turn away from the kohanim during
the blessing and it is said that if they look at the kohanim, they
would become blind.
Now, having a little more knowledge and a better understanding of
where I come from, I can confidently say that I hope the tradition
of the kohanim lives long and prospers.
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