Bat-Kohen
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Priesthood in Judaism |
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Priestly covenant |
A bat-kohen or bat kohen (
Hebrew Bible
In the Bible, both
If the daughter of a priest engaged in illicit sexual relations, her penalty was to be burned;[3] in contrast to the usual penalty which was strangulation.[4]
Daughters of priests were allowed to eat the sanctified gifts to priests (terumot hakodashim), just as sons of priests, and priests themselves, were allowed to.[5]
Rabbinic sources describe Tamar as the daughter of Shem, and consider Shem have been a priest before the priestly covenant was given to Aaron.[6] This explains why Judah suggested she be burned to death for her alleged sexual affair,[7] as burning is a form of punishment which the Torah generally reserves for daughters of priests.[3]
In rabbinic literature
Marriage preferences
Although basic Torah law allows for the bat kohen to marry a
The Talmud narrates how the
British Chief Rabbi Nathan Marcus Adler ruled in 1863 that the daughter of a Cohen may only marry a non-Cohen.[10][verification needed]
Consumption of priestly gifts
The types of
The bat-kohen may offer her employees to partake in her
The daughter of a priest is likewise permitted to consume the
Ketubah
The
Shneur Zalman of Liadi stated that the marriage ceremony and feast a bat kohen to a non-kohen man is not considered a seudat mitzvah, since the marriage is one that may produce negative results.[19]
The 400-Zuz ketubah was practiced during the amoraic period, but from then onward, no mention of the increased amount is found in rabbinic sources.[20][21][22]
Justification
Jonathan of Lunel describes the excessive amount given the bat kohen as the rightful due to her and her family for keeping to the Torah laws and restrictions that apply to priestly families and keeping to the heritage (yukhsin) of priestly lineage. He rejects the notion that such excess would cause envy and jealousy from non-priestly families (who are not officially entitled to the excess amount).[23]
Joseph ibn Habib justifies the excess amount by saying it is a greater shame for a kohen if his daughter is divorced, and the higher ketubah value discourages husbands from divorcing their bat-kohen wives.[24]
Other
When a priest's daughter committed adultery, not only did she suffer the special penalty of burning (rather than strangulation), but her father was demoted from being honored with the
The bat-kohen receive lenient specifications in her preparations for
The firstborn of a daughter of a Kohen or Levite is not redeemed at thirty days.
One author has suggested that a bat-kohen should have priority in leading a women's zimmun just as a kohen does for a men's zimmun.[27]
In modern Judaism
In modern times, Orthodox and many Conservative rabbis maintain the position that only a man can act as a kohen, and that a daughter of a kohen is recognized as a bat kohen only in those limited ways that have been identified in the past. Accordingly, in Orthodox Judaism only men can perform the Priestly Blessing and receive the first aliyah during the public Torah reading, and women are generally not permitted to officiate in a Pidyon HaBen ceremony.
Similarly, the Conservative halakha committee in Israel has ruled that women do not receive such aliyot and cannot validly perform such functions,[28] and many traditionalist Conservative synagogues have retained traditional gender roles and do not permit women to perform these roles at all.[29]
Other Conservative rabbis, along with some Reform and Reconstructionist rabbis, are prepared to give equal kohen status to the daughter of a kohen. The US Conservative movement, consistent with the view that sacrifices in the Temple will not be restored and in light of many congregations' commitment to gender (but not caste) egalitarianism, interprets the Talmudic relevant passages to permit elimination of most distinctions between male and female kohanim in congregations that retain traditional tribal roles while modifying traditional gender roles. They base this leniency on the view that the kohen's privileges come not from offering Temple offerings but solely from lineal sanctity, and that ceremonies like the Priestly Blessing should evolve from their Temple-based origins. (The argument for women's involvement in the Priestly Blessing acknowledges that only male kohanim could perform this ritual in the days of the Temple, but that the ceremony is no longer rooted in Temple practice; its association with the Temple was by rabbinic decree; and rabbis therefore have the authority to permit the practice to evolve from its Temple-based roots).[30] As a result, some Conservative synagogues permit a bat kohen to perform the Priestly Blessing and the Pidyon HaBen ceremony, and to receive the first aliyah during the Torah reading.
Many egalitarian-oriented Conservative synagogues have abolished traditional tribal roles and do not perform ceremonies involving kohanim (such as the Priestly Blessing or calling a kohen to the first aliyah).[29] Most Reform and Reconstructionist temples have taken a similar position.
Some women's prayer groups that practice under the halakhic guidance of non-Orthodox rabbis, and which conduct Torah readings for women only, have adapted a custom of calling a bat kohen for the first aliyah and a bat levi for the second.[31]
In Kabbalah
Isaac Luria explains the negative aspect of a bat kohen not marrying a kohen from the Kabbalistic view, using gematria; that since the Hebrew letters K H N ( ה,נ,ך those that spell "kohen") do not have a match using the Ayak Becher formula, therefore it is best for a kohen to marry a kohen.
"Ayak Becher" formula | ||
---|---|---|
א | י | ק |
ב | כ | ר |
ג | ל | ש |
ד | מ | ת |
ה | נ | ך |
ו | ס | מ |
ז | ע | ן |
ח | פ | ף |
ט | צ | ץ |
The formula, explains Luria, portrays that the such marriage between Kohanic families works nicely.[32]
In literature
The expectations upon the daughter of a Kohen feature in Julian Stryjkowski's Voices in the Darkness.[33]
See also
- Bat Levi
- Halakha given to Moses on Sinai
Further reading
- Bat Kohen - The Marriage Of A Bat Kohen To A Kohen (Igud HaKohanim, Published 2019 ISBN 978-1719263108)
References
- ^ Genesis 41:45
- ^ Exodus 2:16–21
- ^ a b Leviticus 21:9
- ^ Mishnah Sanhedrin 11:1
- ^ Numbers 18:19
- Targum Yonatan
- ^ Genesis 38:24
- ^ Yalkut Shimoni to Leviticus p. 738 (HaMaor edition), Talmud Pesachim p. 49a
- ^ Rashi to Talmud Pesachim 49a
- ^ The enduring remnant: the first 150 years of the Melbourne Hebrew ... Joseph Aron, Judy Arndt—1992 "(Incidentally this fact is presumably the answer to the riddle to the ruling by Chief Rabbi Adler cited in the minutes of 18 October 1863 to the effect that the daughter of a Cohen may only marry a non-Cohen. "
- Rambam, Hilchot Trumoth 6:1
- Menachem Meiri on Yevamot, p. 314
- ^ Ketuboth1.5; B.Ketuboth 12b
- Ketuboth1:5 p. 6a)
- Ketuboth, chap. 236
- ^ Asher ben Jehiel on Ketuboth p. 12a minor chap. 26, Pithkei HaRo"sh minor chap. 26
- Ketuboth12b
- Ketuboth12b
- ^ Shneur Zalman of Liadi Shulchan Aruch HaRav Siman 444:15
- ^ Epstein, The Jewish Marriage Contract (New York: Arno Press, 1973)
- ^ Toldot HaKetubah B'Yisrael, p. 49
- ^ Women, Slaves and the Ignorant in Rabbinic Literature, and Also .. 2008 p114 Solomon Zucrow "At first there was no difference in the amount written in the Kethuba of one who married a widowed daughter of a Cohen, but later it was instituted that in such a case the amount should be two hundred zuzim instead of the customary one ..."
- Ketuboth11b
- Ketubothp. 12a
- ^ Encyclopedia Talmudith; "Bat Kohen"
- Talmud Yerushalmi, Pesachim1
- ^ "Bnot Kohanim: Our Holy Daughters. Midreshet Lindembaum". Archived from the original on January 18, 2009.
- ^ Rabbi Robert Harris, 5748
- ^ a b "Rabbi Joel Roth. The Status of Daughters of Kohanim and Leviyim for Aliyot" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on November 27, 2010.
- ^ "Rabbi Meyer Rabbinowitz, "Women Raise Your Hands"" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on March 20, 2009.
- ^ "Hebrew Institute of Riverdale, Women's Tefillah". Hir.org. Archived from the original on 2012-08-31. Retrieved 2013-02-18.
- ^ Kitvei Ar"i vol. 2 p. 184, vol. 4 p. 275, Shaar Maamaroei Raza"l p. 15
- ^ Contemporary Jewish writing in Poland: an anthology p44 Antony Polonsky, Monika Adamczyk-Garbowska—2001 "'Does he write that Chamariem, the daughter of Reb Toyvie, leads a life unworthy of a Jewish daughter, the more so the daughter of a Cohen?' 'Uhum.' 'Does he write that Chamariem, the daughter of Reb Toyvie, is a goy's concubine and has ..."