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128-625: Bitter water is "מֵי הַמָּרִים" mei ha-marim . In Rabbinic Judaism , the woman undergoing this ritual was called a sotah ( Hebrew : שוטה / סוטה, "strayer"). The term sotah itself is not found in the Hebrew Bible but is Mishnaic Hebrew based on the verse "if she has strayed" (verb: שטה satah ) in Numbers 5:12 . The ordeal is discussed in the Sotah tractate of the Talmud . According to Tikva Frymer-Kensky ,

256-603: A Procurator at Caesarea and a Jewish Patriarch. A former leading Pharisee, Yohanan ben Zakkai , was appointed the first Patriarch (the Hebrew word, Nasi , also means prince , or president ), and he reestablished the Sanhedrin at Javneh under Pharisee control. Instead of giving tithes to the priests and sacrificing offerings at the Temple, the rabbis instructed Jews to give money to charities and study in local synagogues , as well as to pay

384-647: A messiah . Up until this time, a number of Christians were still part of the Jewish community. However, they did not support or take part in the revolt. Whether because they had no wish to fight, or because they could not support a second messiah in addition to Jesus, or because of their harsh treatment by Bar Kokhba during his brief reign, these Christians also left the Jewish community around this time. This revolt ended in 135 when Bar Kokhba and his army were defeated. The Romans then barred Jews from Jerusalem, until Constantine allowed Jews to enter for one day each year, during

512-618: A (male) kohen. As a result, some Conservative synagogues permit a kohen's daughter to perform the Priestly Blessing and the Pidyon HaBen ceremony, and to receive the first aliyah during the Torah reading. Because most Reform and Reconstructionist temples have abolished traditional tribal distinctions, roles, and identities on grounds of egalitarianism, a special status for a bat kohen has very little significance in these movements. Since

640-417: A corpse (within the same room, at a cemetery, and elsewhere), except when the deceased is his immediate family member. Some Jewish cemeteries have special facilities to permit kohanim to participate in funerals or visit graves without becoming impure. The presumption of priestly descent is used to help identify kohanim. Other Jews are commanded to respect the priesthood in certain ways. One of these ways

768-463: A direct decision by a deity, about the guilt or innocence of the party/parties undertaking the ordeal; typically divine intervention was believed to prevent the innocent from being harmed, or to ensure that the guilty were. The naturalist Alfred Grandidier presented similar practices among the Malagasy to argue for ancient Israelite migrations to Madagascar . According to Helena Zlotnick, even though

896-420: A display of Moses' appointing elders as judges to govern with him and judge disputes, imparting to them details and guidance of how to interpret the laws of God while carrying out their duties. The Oral Torah includes rules intended to prevent violations of the laws of the Torah and Talmud, sometimes referred to as "a fence around the Torah" . For example, the written Torah prohibits certain types of travelling on

1024-559: A kohen and a divorced woman. 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 Israeli state. ) Conservative Judaism has issued an emergency takanah (rabbinical edict) temporarily suspending

1152-405: 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. Rape poses an especially poignant problem. The pain experienced by the families of kohanim who were required to divorce their wives as

1280-413: 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. Orthodox Judaism recognizes these rules as still binding, and Orthodox rabbis will not perform a marriage between

1408-407: A male. According to Mishnah, the practice was abolished some time during the first century CE under the leadership of Yohanan ben Zakkai . If it had not been abolished then according to Jewish Law the ritual would have ceased with the fall of the Temple (in approximately the year 70 CE), as it should not have been performed elsewhere. Explanations in rabbinical literature vary concerning cessation of

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1536-563: A pair ( zugot ) which led the Sanhedrin . The Hasmonean Kingdom ended in 37 BCE but it is believed that the "two-man rule of the Sanhedrin" lasted until the early part of the 1st century CE during the period of the Roman province of Judea . The last pair, Hillel and Shammai, was the most influential of the Sanhedrin zugot . Both were Pharisees , but the Sadducees were actually the dominant party while

1664-505: A radical repudiation of certain elements of Pharisaism, elements that were basic to Second Temple Judaism . The Pharisees had been partisan. Members of different sects argued with one another over the correctness of their respective interpretations. After the destruction of the Second Temple, these sectarian divisions ended. The term Pharisee was no longer used, perhaps because it was a term more often used by non-Pharisees, but also because

1792-511: A setback with its being explicitly outlawed in the 80s CE by Domitian as a "Jewish superstition ", while Judaism retained its privileges as long as members paid the Fiscus Judaicus . However, from a historical perspective, persecution of Christians seemed only to increase the number of Christian converts, leading eventually to the adoption of Christianity by the Roman emperor Constantine . On

1920-400: Is a grain offering of jealousy, a grain offering of remembrance, a reminder of iniquity. ‘Then the priest shall bring her near and have her stand before Yahweh, and the priest shall take holy water in an earthenware vessel; and the priest shall take some of the dust that is on the floor of the tabernacle and put it into the water. The priest shall then have the woman stand before Yahweh and let

2048-571: Is attributed to Rabbi Yohanan ben Zakkai , the founder of the Yeshiva (religious school) in Yavne . Yavneh replaced Jerusalem as the new seat of a reconstituted Sanhedrin, which reestablished its authority and became a means of reuniting Jewry. The destruction of the Second Temple brought about a dramatic change in Judaism. Rabbinic Judaism built upon Jewish tradition while adjusting to new realities. Temple ritual

2176-584: Is called the Jerusalem Talmud . It was compiled sometime during the 4th century in Palestine. Judaism at this time was divided into antagonistic factions. The main camps were the Pharisees , Saducees , and Zealots , but also included other less influential sects. This led to further unrest, and the 1st century BCE and 1st century CE saw a number of charismatic religious leaders, contributing to what would become

2304-566: Is during this period that rabbinic discourse began to be recorded in writing. The theory that the destruction of the Temple and subsequent upheaval led to the committing of Oral Law into writing was first explained in the Epistle of Sherira Gaon and often repeated. The Oral Law was subsequently codified in the Mishnah and Gemarah , and is interpreted in rabbinic literature detailing subsequent rabbinic decisions and writings. Rabbinic Jewish literature

2432-736: Is never permanently disqualified from service, but may return to his normal duties once the disqualification ceases. Since the destruction of the Second Temple , Jewish priests have not performed sacrificial services. However, they retain a formal and public ceremonial role in synagogue prayer services, as well as some other unique religious duties and privileges. These special roles have been maintained in Orthodox Judaism , and sometimes in Conservative Judaism . Reform Judaism does not afford any special status or recognition to kohanim. When

2560-451: Is not to be confused with Deuteronomy 22:13–19 , in which a man accuses his newlywed bride of pre-marital sex with someone else. The account of the ordeal of bitter water is given in the Book of Numbers: Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘If any man’s wife goes astray and is unfaithful to him, and a man lies sexually with her, and it is hidden from

2688-836: Is obscure. It may be that it was marginalized by, absorbed into or became Early Christianity (see the Gospel according to the Hebrews ). The Acts of the Apostles at least report how Paul the Apostle preferredly evangelized communities of proselytes and Godfearers , or circles sympathetic to Judaism : the Apostolic Decree allowing converts to forgo circumcision made Christianity a more attractive option for interested pagans than Judaism . See also Circumcision controversy in early Christianity . The attractiveness of Christianity may, however, have suffered

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2816-468: Is often used in the Bible as a euphemism for various reproductive organs, in this case it may mean the uterus, the placenta, or an embryo, with the implicit threat of death resulting from possible fatal childbirth complications . Several commentaries on the Bible maintain that the ordeal is to be applied in the case of a woman who has become pregnant, allegedly by her extramarital lover. In this interpretation,

2944-621: Is predicated on the belief that the Written Law cannot be properly understood without recourse to the Oral Law (the Mishnah ). Much rabbinic Jewish literature concerns specifying what behavior is sanctioned by the law; this body of interpretations is called halakha ( the way ). The Talmud contains discussions and opinions regarding details of many oral laws believed to have originally been transmitted to Moses. Some see Exodus 18 and Numbers 11 as

3072-582: Is sanctioned by the law; this body of interpretations is called halakha ( the way ). Originally, Jewish scholarship was oral. Rabbis expounded and debated the law (the written law expressed in the Hebrew Bible) and discussed the Tanakh without the benefit of written works (other than the biblical books themselves), though some may have made private notes ( megillot setarim ), for example of court decisions. This situation changed drastically, however, mainly as

3200-409: Is that priests (and in their absence, occasionally Levites) are the first offered the opportunity to lead Birkat Hamazon . Unlike the general rule for aliyot, this offer - which is only a requirement according to some Rabbinic opinions - may be declined. There are other rules regarding the honoring of kohanim, even in the absence of the Temple, but generally these are waived (if they are even offered) by

3328-446: Is that the present Mishnah was based on an earlier collection by Rabbi Meir. There are also references to the "Mishnah of Rabbi Akiva", although this may simply mean his teachings in general. It is possible that Rabbi Akiva and Rabbi Meir established the divisions and order of subjects in the Mishnah, but this would make them the authors of a school curriculum rather than of a book. Authorities are divided on whether Judah haNasi recorded

3456-522: Is the five shekels of the pidyon haben ceremony. 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 Exodus 28 , Exodus 39 and Leviticus 8 . The high priest wore eight holy garments ( bigdei kodesh ). Of these, four were of

3584-410: Is the man's offering, concerning the ordeal of his wife, and that her holding of it is merely symbolic of this. The offering specified is one-tenth of an Omer of barley meal, unaccompanied by oil or frankincense; this is the cheaper type of flour , unlike the flour specified for all other biblical sacrifices. The specification is now thought to be a rare survival of an earlier period, in which there

3712-414: Is the view of Rabbi Meir" represent cases where the author intended to present Rabbi Meir's view as a "minority opinion" not representing the accepted law. Judah haNasi is credited with publishing the Mishnah, although there have been a few edits since his time (for example, those passages that cite him or his grandson, Rabbi Yehuda Nesi'ah ; in addition, the Mishnah at the end of Tractate Sotah refers to

3840-471: The makshan (questioner) and tartzan (answerer). Another important function of Gemara is to identify the correct biblical basis for a given law presented in the Mishnah and the logical process connecting one with the other: this activity was known as talmud long before the existence of the Talmud as a text. Orthodox Judaism does not accept the scholarly view that Rabbinic Judaism came into being in

3968-515: The Fiscus Iudaicus . In 132, the Emperor Hadrian threatened to rebuild Jerusalem as a pagan city dedicated to Jupiter , called Aelia Capitolina . Some of the leading sages of the Sanhedrin supported a rebellion (and, for a short time, an independent state) led by Simon bar Kozeba (also called Simon bar Kokhba , or "son of a star"); some, such as Rabbi Akiva , believed Bar Kokhba to be

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4096-399: The 613 commandments , it is only the sotah law that requires God's specific co-operation to make it work. The bitter waters can only be effective miraculously. Maimonides wrote: "When she dies, the adulterer because of whom she was compelled to drink will also die, wherever he is located. The same phenomena, the swelling of the belly and the rupture of the thigh, will also occur to him. All

4224-478: The Mishnah of Rabbinic Judaism, including Yochanan ben Zakai and Hanina Ben Dosa . Following the destruction of the Temple in 70 CE and the expulsion of the Jews from the Roman province of Judea , Jewish worship stopped being centrally organized around the Temple, prayer took the place of sacrifice, and worship was rebuilt around rabbis who acted as teachers and leaders of individual communities. The destruction of

4352-457: The Mishnah , it was the practice for the woman to first be brought to the Sanhedrin , before being subjected to the ordeal. Repeated attempts would be made to persuade the woman to confess, including multiple suggestions to her of possible mitigating factors; if she confessed, the ordeal was not required. The Mishnah reports that, in the time of the Second Temple , she was taken to the East Gate of

4480-509: The New Testament . Of all the major Second Temple sects, only the Pharisees remained. Their vision of Jewish law as a means by which ordinary people could engage with the sacred in their daily lives, provided them with a position from which to respond to all four challenges, in a way meaningful to the vast majority of Jews. Following the destruction of the Temple, Rome governed Judea through

4608-568: The Synagogal Jewish movement before adopting gradually Rabbinic Judaism or Christianity . 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

4736-459: The Torah reading is performed in synagogue, it is divided into a number of sections. Traditionally, a kohen (if one is present) is called for the first section ( aliyah ), a Levite for the second reading, and an "Israelite" (non-kohen, non-levite) for all succeeding portions. If no Levite is present, the kohen is called for the second aliyah as well. The Maftir portion may be given to someone from any of

4864-402: 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 chromosomes . Since 1997, a number of genetic studies have been done on this topic, using testing data from across sectors of

4992-657: The apocalyptic literature of the 2nd to 1st centuries BCE, promising a future "anointed" leader or Messiah to resurrect the Israelite " Kingdom of God ", in place of the foreign rulers of the time. This corresponded with the Maccabean Revolt directed against the Seleucids . Following the fall of the Hasmonean kingdom, it was directed against the Roman administration of Iudaea Province , which, according to Josephus , began with

5120-457: The era of the Judges , and the prophets (most of whom are seen as the "rabbis" of their time), through the sages of the late Second Temple period, and continuing until today. Kohen Kohen ( Hebrew : כֹּהֵן ‎ , kōhēn , [koˈ(h)en] , "priest", pl. כֹּהֲנִים ‎, kōhănīm , [koˈ(h)anim] , "priests") is the Hebrew word for " priest ", used in reference to

5248-459: The midrashic form, in which halakhic discussion is structured as exegetical commentary on the Pentateuch (Torah). But an alternative form, organized by subject matter instead of by biblical verse, became dominant about the year 200 CE, when Rabbi Judah haNasi redacted the Mishnah ( משנה ). The Oral Law was far from monolithic; rather, it varied among various schools. The most famous two were

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5376-427: The rabbis were required to face a new reality, that of Judaism without a Temple (to serve as the location for sacrifice and study) and Judea without autonomy, there was a flurry of legal discourse, and the old system of oral scholarship could not be maintained. It is during this period that rabbinic discourse began to be recorded in writing. The theory that the destruction of the Temple and subsequent upheaval led to

5504-635: The 3rd century BCE, notably among the Jewish diaspora in Alexandria , culminating in a Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible known as the Septuagint . An important advocate of the symbiosis of Jewish theology and Hellenistic thought is Philo . Hellenistic culture had a profound impact on the customs and practices of Jews, both in Judea and in the diaspora. These inroads into Judaism gave rise to Hellenistic Judaism in

5632-722: 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 (also Aharon ), brother of Moses , and thus belong to the Tribe of Levi . During the existence of the Temple in Jerusalem (and previously the Tabernacle ), 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

5760-460: 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 Exodus 19 . Here God offered

5888-435: 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. As both kohen status and (in many societies) last names are patrilineal, there is often a relationship between the two. But this is not always the case: although descendants of kohanim often bear surnames that reflect their genealogy, many families with

6016-515: The Jewish diaspora which sought to establish a Hebraic-Jewish religious tradition within the culture and language of Hellenism . There was a general deterioration in relations between Hellenized Jews and other Jews, leading the Seleucid king Antiochus IV Epiphanes to ban certain Jewish religious rites and traditions . Consequently, the Jews who rejected Hellenism revolted against the Greek ruler leading to

6144-632: The Jews increased and the details were in danger of being forgotten, these oral laws were recorded by rabbi Judah ha-Nasi ("Judah the Prince") in the Mishnah , redacted c.  200 CE . The Talmud was a compilation of both the Mishnah and the Gemara , rabbinic commentaries redacted over the next three centuries. The Gemara originated in two major centers of Jewish scholarship, Palestine and Babylonia . Correspondingly, two bodies of analysis developed, and two works of Talmud were created. The older compilation

6272-448: The Mishnah in writing or established it as an oral text for memorisation. The most important early account of its composition, the Iggeret of Rabbi Sherira Gaon of Sherira Gaon, is ambiguous on the point, although the "Spanish" recension leans to the theory that the Mishnah was written. The Gemara is the part of the Talmud that contains rabbinical commentaries and analysis of the Mishnah. In

6400-400: The Mishnah was assembled spanned about 130 years, and five generations. Most of the Mishnah is related without attribution ( stam ). This usually indicates that many sages taught so, or that Judah haNasi who redacted the Mishnah together with his academy/court ruled so. The halakhic ruling usually follows that view. Sometimes, however, it appears to be the opinion of a single sage, and

6528-558: The Oral Torah, but after the destruction of the Second Temple , it was decided to write it down in the form of the Talmud and other rabbinic texts for the sake of preservation. Rabbinic Judaism contrasts with the Sadducees , Karaite Judaism , and Samaritanism , which do not recognize the Oral Torah as a divine authority nor the rabbinic procedures used to interpret Jewish scripture. Although there are now profound differences among Jewish denominations of Rabbinic Judaism with respect to

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6656-583: The Oral Torah. It states that many commandments and stipulations contained in the Written Torah would be difficult, if not impossible, to keep without the Oral Torah to define them. For example, the prohibition to do any "creative work" ( melakha ) on the Sabbath, which is given no definition in the Torah, is given a practical meaning in the Oral Torah, which provides definition of what constitutes melakha . Numerous examples exist of this general prohibitive language in

6784-490: The Romans, and had little credibility (the last Zealots died at Masada in 73). The Sadducees, whose teachings were so closely connected to the Temple cult , disappeared. The Essenes also vanished (or developed into Christians), perhaps because their teachings so diverged from the issues of the times that the destruction of the Second Temple was of no consequence to them; precisely for this reason, they were of little consequence to

6912-410: The Sabbath; consequently, the Oral Torah prohibits walking great distances on the Sabbath to ensure that one does not accidentally engage in a type of travelling prohibited by the written Torah. Similarly, the written Torah prohibits plowing on the Sabbath; the Oral Torah prohibits carrying a stick on the Sabbath to ensure that one does not drag the stick and accidentally engage in prohibited plowing. As

7040-460: The School of Shammai and the School of Hillel . In general, all valid opinions, even the non-normative ones, were recorded in the Talmud. The Talmud has two components: the Mishnah (c. 200 CE ), the first written compendium of Judaism's Oral Law; and the Gemara (c. 500 CE), a discussion of the Mishnah and related Tannaitic writings that often ventures onto other subjects and expounds broadly on

7168-453: The Second Temple was a profoundly traumatic experience for the Jews, who were now confronted with difficult and far-reaching questions: How people answered these questions depended largely on their position prior to the revolt. But the destruction of the Second Temple by the Romans not only put an end to the revolt, it marked the end of an era. Revolutionaries like the Zealots had been crushed by

7296-590: The Tanakh. The rabbis of the Mishnah are known as Tannaim (sing. Tanna תנא). The rabbis of the Gemara are referred to as Amoraim (sing. Amora אמורא). The Mishnah does not claim to be the development of new laws, but merely the collection of existing oral laws, traditions and traditional wisdom. The rabbis who contributed to the Mishnah are known as the Tannaim , of whom approximately 120 are known. The period during which

7424-531: The Temple stood. Since the Sadducees did not survive the First Jewish–Roman War , their version of events has perished. In addition, Hillel's views have been seen as superior to Shammai's by Rabbinic Judaism. The development of an oral tradition of teaching called the tanna would be the means by which the faith of Judaism would sustain the fall of the Second Temple . Jewish messianism has its root in

7552-525: The Temple was standing, one kohen would be singled out to perform the functions of the High Priest (Hebrew kohen gadol ). 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

7680-496: The Temple, in front of the Nikanor gate. The Mishnah also states that the garment she was wearing was ripped to expose her heart. A rope was tied above her breasts so that her clothes did not completely fall off. The Mishnah mentions that while a guilty woman would normally die immediately from the trial, her death could also be delayed by one, two or three years, if she possessed offsetting merits. Nachmanides points out that of all

7808-480: The Torah (such as, "don't steal", without defining what is considered theft, or ownership and property laws), requiring—according to rabbinic thought—a subsequent definition through the Oral Torah. Thus Rabbinic Judaism claims that almost all directives, both positive and negative, in the Torah are non-specific in nature and require the existence of either an Oral Torah or some other method to explain them. Much rabbinic Jewish literature concerns specifying what behavior

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7936-439: The above applies provided her husband never engaged in forbidden sexual relations in his life. If, however, her husband ever engaged in forbidden relations, the [bitter] waters do not check [the fidelity of] his wife." The rabbinical interpretation of Numbers 5:28 is that when a woman accused of adultery who was innocent drinks the bitter water, even if she was previously unable to conceive, she will now conceive and give birth to

8064-461: The absence of the Temple in Jerusalem, there is no High Priest in Judaism today. According to 1 Chronicles 24:3–5 , 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. Following

8192-400: 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. The takanah declares that the offspring of such marriages are to be regarded as kohanim. To this day, kohanim keep the prohibition ( Leviticus 21:1–4 ) against becoming ritually impure through proximity to

8320-466: The authority of your husband, and if you have defiled yourself, and a man other than your husband has lain with you” (then the priest shall have the woman swear with the oath of the curse, and the priest shall say to the woman), “Yahweh make you a curse and an oath among your people by Yahweh making your thigh fall away and your abdomen swell; and this water that brings curses shall go into your stomach and make your abdomen swell and your thigh fall away.” And

8448-440: The awkwardness of the idea that the wife has to drink the potion twice, textual scholars argue that either the first drinking must be a later addition to the text, or that the whole account of the ordeal must be spliced together from two earlier descriptions. Similarly, noting that there are two descriptions of the location for the ritual (in the presence of a priest ( 5:15 ) and before Yahweh ( 5:30 )) and two occasions on which

8576-707: The binding force of halakha (Jewish religious law ) and the willingness to challenge preceding interpretations, all identify themselves as coming from the tradition of the Oral Law and the rabbinic method of analysis. In 332 BCE, the Persians were defeated by Alexander the Great . After his demise, and the division of Alexander's empire among his generals, the Seleucid Kingdom was formed. During this time currents of Judaism were influenced by Hellenistic philosophy developed from

8704-504: The bitter potion could be an abortifacient , inducing a purposeful abortion or miscarriage if the woman is pregnant with a child which her husband alleges is another man's. If the fetus aborts as a result of the ordeal, this presumably confirms her guilt of adultery, otherwise her innocence is presumed if the fetus does not abort. One translation to follow this suggestion is the New International Version , which translates that

8832-620: The codification of the Babylonian Talmud . Rabbinic Judaism has its roots in the Pharisaic school of Second Temple Judaism and is based on the belief that Moses at Mount Sinai received both the Written Torah ( Torah she-be-Khetav ) and the Oral Torah ( Torah she-be-al Peh ) from God. The Oral Torah, transmitted orally, explains the Written Torah. At first, it was forbidden to write down

8960-407: The committing of Oral Torah into writing was first explained in the Epistle of Sherira Gaon and often repeated. The Oral Torah was subsequently codified in the Mishnah and Gemara , and is interpreted in rabbinic literature detailing subsequent rabbinic decisions and writings. Rabbinic Jewish literature is predicated on the belief that the Torah cannot be properly understood without recourse to

9088-522: 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 ,

9216-575: The cultural issues remained unresolved. The main issue separating the Hellenistic and other Jews was the application of biblical laws in a Hellenistic ( melting pot ) culture. Hellenistic Judaism spread to Ptolemaic Egypt from the 3rd century BCE, and became a notable religio licita throughout the Roman Empire , until its decline in the 3rd century concurrent with the rise of Gnosticism and Early Christianity . The decline of Hellenistic Judaism

9344-584: 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

9472-460: The details and interpretation of the Torah (Written Law), which are called the Oral Torah or Oral Law, were originally an unwritten tradition based upon the Law given to Moses on Mount Sinai . All the laws in the Written Torah are recorded only as part of a narrative describing God imparting these laws to Moses and commanding him to transmit them to the Jewish nation. However, as the persecutions of

9600-507: The effect of the bitter water on an adulterous woman will be to make "your womb miscarry and your abdomen swell". Such a translation is effectively reading the Hebrew word yarek (יָרֵך) to mean "loins", a meaning which that word can carry. However, Tikva Frymer-Kensky rejected this interpretation on the grounds that the Biblical text does not limit the ordeal to pregnant women, and that the phrase venizreah zera ("she shall be sown with seed",

9728-531: 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

9856-544: The eyes of her husband, and she is undetected; but she has defiled herself, and there is no witness against her, and she has not been caught in the act, if a spirit of jealousy comes over him and he is jealous of his wife and she has defiled herself, or if a spirit of jealousy comes over him and he is jealous of his wife but she has not defiled herself, the man shall then bring his wife to the priest and shall bring as an offering for her one-tenth of an ephah of barley meal; he shall not pour oil on it nor put frankincense on it, for it

9984-401: The formation of an independent Jewish kingdom, known as the Hasmonean dynasty , which lasted from 165 BCE to 63 BCE. The Hasmonean dynasty eventually disintegrated in a civil war. The people, who did not want to continue to be governed by a Hellenized dynasty, appealed to Rome for intervention, leading to a total Roman conquest and annexation of the country, see Iudaea province . Nevertheless,

10112-527: The formation of the Zealots during the Census of Quirinius of 6 CE, although full scale open revolt did not occur until the First Jewish–Roman War in 66 CE. Historian H. H. Ben-Sasson has proposed that the "Crisis under Caligula " (37–41) was the "first open break" between Rome and the Jews even though tension already existed during the census in 6 CE and under Sejanus (before 31 CE). Rabbinic tradition holds that

10240-421: The fraternity of kohanim generally would not allow young kohanim to begin service until they reached the age of twenty or thirty. There was no mandatory retirement age. Only when a kohen became physically infirm could he no longer serve. A kohen may become disqualified from performing his service for a host of reasons, including ritual impurity , prohibited marriages, and certain physical blemishes. The kohen

10368-466: 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. 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

10496-400: The good pleasure of God towards them ( Exodus 28:38 ). 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 . In every generation when

10624-500: The grain offering before Yahweh and bring it near to the altar; and the priest shall take a handful of the grain offering as its memorial offering and offer it up in smoke on the altar, and afterward he shall make the woman drink the water. So he will have her drink the water, and it will be that, if she has defiled herself and has been unfaithful to her husband, that the water which brings curses will go into her to cause bitterness, and her abdomen will swell and her thigh will fall away, and

10752-529: The hair of the woman’s head go loose, and he shall place the grain offering of remembrance in her hands, which is the grain offering of jealousy; and in the hand of the priest is to be the water of bitterness that brings curses. Then the priest shall have her swear an oath and shall say to the woman, “If no man has lain with you, and if you have not gone astray into defilement, being under the authority of your husband, be free from this water of bitterness that brings curses; if you, however, have gone astray, being under

10880-421: The holiday of Tisha B'Av . After the suppression of the revolt the vast majority of Jews were sent into exile; shortly thereafter (around 200), Judah haNasi edited together judgments and traditions into an authoritative code, the Mishnah . This marks the transformation of Pharisaic Judaism into Rabbinic Judaism. Although the rabbis traced their origins to the Pharisees, Rabbinic Judaism nevertheless involved

11008-594: The kohanim. 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 ( 𐤊𐤄𐤍 ‎). The cognate Arabic word كاهن ( kāhin ) means "priest". The noun kohen is used in the Bible to refer to priests , whether Jewish or pagan (such as the kohanim of Baal or Dagon ), although Christian priests are referred to in modern Hebrew by

11136-532: The kohen. Kohen is a status that traditionally refers to men, passed from father to son. However, a bat kohen (the daughter of a priest) holds a special status in the Hebrew Bible and rabbinical texts . She is entitled to a number of rights and is encouraged to abide by specified requirements, for example, entitlement to consume some of the priestly gifts , and an increased value for her ketubah . In modern times, Orthodox and many Conservative rabbis maintain

11264-708: The legal right to constitute the Presiding Bishopric under the authority of the First Presidency ( Section 68:16–20 ). To date, all men who have served on the Presiding Bishopric have been Melchizedek priesthood holders, and none have been publicly identified as descendants of Aaron. See also Mormonism and Judaism . The positioning of the kohen's hands during the Priestly Blessing was Leonard Nimoy 's inspiration for Mr. Spock's Vulcan salute in

11392-457: The life of Mary, mother of Jesus with accounts including Mary and even Joseph undergoing a version of the ordeal. Biblical critics from the 19th and early 20th centuries argued, based on certain textual features in the passage, that it was formed by the combination of two earlier texts. For example, the text appears to suggest first that the offering should occur before the ordeal ( 5:24–25 ), and then that it should occur after it ( 5:26 ). Due to

11520-406: The man shall be free from blame . In cases of guilt, the text does not specify the amount of time needed for the potion to take effect; 19th century scholars suspected it was probably intended to have a fairly immediate effect. Maimonides records the traditional rabbinical view: "Her belly swells first and then her thigh ruptures and she dies". Other scholars maintain that since the word "thigh"

11648-419: The man will be free from guilt, but that woman shall bear her guilt.’” When a man suspects his wife of having sex with another man but has no witnesses, the woman is brought to a kohen (priest), or before God . The woman is required by the biblical passage to have loosened hair during the ritual ( Numbers 5:18 ). This is often taken to be a symbol of the woman's supposed shame, but according to Josephus , it

11776-584: The opinions of the Tannaim. The rabbis of the Gemara are known as Amoraim (sing. Amora אמורא ). Much of the Gemara consists of legal analysis. The starting point for the analysis is usually a legal statement found in a Mishnah. The statement is then analyzed and compared with other statements used in different approaches to biblical exegesis in rabbinic Judaism (or—simpler— interpretation of text in Torah study ) exchanges between two (frequently anonymous and sometimes metaphorical) disputants, termed

11904-400: The ordeal of bitter water is no longer practiced, it remains a reference point in the search for replacements for the test of adultery. Rabbinic Judaism Rabbinic Judaism ( Hebrew : יהדות רבנית ‎ , romanized :  Yahadut Rabanit ), also called Rabbinism , Rabbinicism , or Rabbanite Judaism , has been an orthodox form of Judaism since the 6th century CE , after

12032-596: The other hand, mainstream Judaism began to reject Hellenistic currents, outlawing use of the Septuagint (see also the Council of Jamnia ). Remaining currents of Hellenistic Judaism may have merged into Gnostic movements in the early centuries CE. In the later part of the Second Temple period (2nd century BCE), the Second Commonwealth of Judea ( Hasmonean Kingdom ) was established and religious matters were determined by

12160-538: The period after Judah haNasi's death, which could not have been written by Judah haNasi himself). According to the Iggeret of Sherira Gaon , after the tremendous upheaval caused by the destruction of the Temple and the Bar Kokhba revolt, the Oral Torah was in danger of being forgotten. It was for this reason that Judah haNasi chose to redact the Mishnah. In addition to redacting the Mishnah, Judah haNasi and his court also ruled on which opinions should be followed, although

12288-556: 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: Moses , too, performed sacrificial services before

12416-464: 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. However, some Conservative rabbis give the kohen's daughter equal priestly status to

12544-575: The post-Second Temple era. Rather, it sees the Judaism of this period as continuing organically from the religious and cultural heritage of the Israelites, stemming from the Law given to Moses at Sinai onwards. According to this view, while the title rabbi was not used earlier, Moses was the first rabbi (and is commonly referred to by Orthodox Jews as "Moses our Rabbi"), with the knowledge and laws received at Sinai being passed down from teachers to students through

12672-415: The potion was regarded as impure , and therefore also made the vessel impure, necessitating its subsequent destruction (see Leviticus 11:33 ). However, the Talmud and Rashi explain that this vessel is chosen to contrast the woman's predicament with her behavior. If the woman was unharmed by the bitter water, the rules regard her as innocent of the accusation. The account in the Book of Numbers states that

12800-415: The practice. Yohanan Ben Zakkai stated: When adulterers became many, the ordeal of the bitter water stopped, for the ordeal of bitter water is performed only in a case of doubt. But now there are many who see their lovers in public. Rav Hanina of Sura said: Nowadays a man should not say to his wife, "Do not be secluded with so-and-so", ... If she then secluded herself with the man, since we have not now

12928-630: The priestly blessing daily; Ashkenazi Jews living outside Israel deliver it only on major Jewish holidays. Outside the synagogue, the kohen leads the pidyon haben ceremony. This redemption of the first born son is based on the Torah commandment, "all the first-born of man among thy sons shalt thou redeem". Leviticus 21:7 prohibits marriage between a kohen and certain classes of women. According to 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). If

13056-459: 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 (such as terumah ). A notable gift which is given even in the Jewish diaspora

13184-525: The priests performed their priestly service in the portable Tabernacle . 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 (i.e. those who descended from Levi but not from Aaron) 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

13312-473: The punishment for the woman is mentioned ( 5:21 and 5:27 ), the division into two earlier documents, first suggested by Bernhard Stade is typically as follows: Other early biblical scholars thought that the ordeal is itself a fusion of two earlier rituals (pre-dating the original priestly text), one using water, and the other dust. The use of dust might be connected to necromancy . In other historic Semitic cultures there are many instances in which holy water

13440-536: 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. Following this destruction, it seems that most of them joined the Synagogal Jewish movement  ; before being gradually converted towards Rabbinic Judaism and Christianity . Although kohanim may assume their duties once they reached physical maturity,

13568-528: The result of the destruction of the Jewish commonwealth in the year 70 CE and the consequent upheaval of Jewish social and legal norms. As the rabbis were required to face a new reality—mainly Judaism without a Temple (to serve as the center of teaching and study) and Judea without autonomy—there was a flurry of legal discourse and the old system of oral scholarship could not be maintained. It is during this period that rabbinic discourse began to be recorded in writing. The earliest recorded oral law may have been of

13696-450: The result of the rapes accompanying the capture of Jerusalem is alluded to in this Mishnah: 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

13824-433: The reward given to an innocent woman after the trial) refers to conception rather than delivery. Instead, Frymer-Kensky argues that the punishment "your belly will swell and your thigh will fall" most likely refers to a uterine prolapse . H.C. Brichto argued that the damaged reproductive system (as in some other interpretations), along with the swollen belly, indicate that the punishment is a false pregnancy . According to

13952-411: The ritual is not actually an "ordeal" which provides a verdict on the woman's guilt for use by human judges for the issuance of the penalty for adultery on the woman (which would be execution by stoning), but rather takes the form of a "purgatory oath, in which the individual swearing the oath puts himself under divine jurisdiction, expecting to be punished by God if the oath-taker is guilty". This ritual

14080-645: The rulings do not always appear in the text. As he went through the tractates, the Mishnah was set forth, but throughout his life some parts were updated as new information came to light. Because of the proliferation of earlier versions, it was deemed too hard to retract anything already released, and therefore a second version of certain laws were released. The Talmud refers to these differing versions as Mishnah Rishonah ("First Mishnah") and Mishnah Acharonah ("Last Mishnah"). David Zvi Hoffmann suggests that Mishnah Rishonah actually refers to texts from earlier sages upon which Judah haNasi based his Mishnah. One theory

14208-490: The same type worn by all priests and four were unique to the high priest. Those vestments which were common to all priests were: The vestments that were unique to the high priest were: In addition to the above "golden garments", the high priest also had a set of white "linen garments" ( bigdei ha-bad ) which he wore only for the Yom Kippur Temple service . The linen garments were only four in number, corresponding to

14336-586: The surname Cohen (or a variation) are not kohanim, nor even Jewish. Conversely, many kohanim do not have Cohen as a surname. Names often associated with kohanim include: In contemporary Israel, "Moshe Cohen" is the equivalent of "John Smith" in English-speaking countries – i.e., proverbially the most common of names. According to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints , either "literal descendants of Aaron", or worthy Melchizedek priesthood holders have

14464-452: The term komer ( כומר ‎). Kohanim can also refer to the Jewish nation as a whole, as in Exodus 19:6 , where the whole of Israel is addressed as a "priestly kingdom (or: kingdom of priests) and a holy nation". In Targum Yonatan , interpretive translations of the word kohen include "friend", "master", and "servant". Other interpretations include "minister" ( Mechilta to Parshah Jethro , Exodus 18:1–20:23). The early books of

14592-619: The term was explicitly sectarian. The rabbis claimed leadership over all Jews, and added to the Amidah the birkat haMinim , a prayer which in part exclaims, "Praised are You O Lord, who breaks enemies and defeats the arrogant," and which is understood as a rejection of sectarians and sectarianism. This shift by no means resolved conflicts over the interpretation of the Torah; rather, it relocated debates between sects to debates within Rabbinic Judaism. The survival of Pharisaic or Rabbinic Judaism

14720-511: The three centuries following the redaction of the Mishnah by Judah ha-Nasi (c. 200 CE), rabbis throughout Palestine and Babylonia analyzed, debated and discussed that work. These discussions form the Gemara ( גמרא ). Gemara means "completion" (from the Hebrew gamar גמר : "to complete") or "learning" (from the Aramaic : "to study"). The Gemara mainly focuses on elucidating and elaborating

14848-634: The three groups. The kohanim participating in an Orthodox and some other styles of traditional Jewish prayer service also deliver the priestly blessing during the repetition of the Amidah prayer. They perform this service by standing and facing the crowd in the front of the congregation, with their arms held outwards and their hands and fingers in a specific formation, with a Jewish prayer shawl or Talit covering their heads and outstretched hands so that their fingers cannot be seen. Kohanim living in Israel and many Sephardic Jews living in areas outside Israel deliver

14976-482: The vast majority of Jews. Two organized groups remained: the Early Christians , and Pharisees . Some scholars, such as Daniel Boyarin and Paula Fredricksen, suggest that it was at this time, when Christians and Pharisees were competing for leadership of the Jewish people, that accounts of debates between Jesus and the apostles, debates with Pharisees, and anti-Pharisaic passages, were written and incorporated into

15104-500: 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 ( B . Zevachim 88b) 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

15232-405: The view of the sages collectively ( Hebrew : חכמים , hachamim ) is given separately. The Talmud records a tradition that unattributed statements of the law represent the views of Rabbi Meir (Sanhedrin 86a), which supports the theory (recorded by Rav Sherira Gaon in his famous Iggeret ) that he was the author of an earlier collection. For this reason, the few passages that actually say "this

15360-457: The water for the suspected woman to test her, the husband forbids her to himself for all time. Although the actual ordeal was not practiced in Christianity, it was referenced by Christian writers through the ages in relation to both the subject of adultery and also the wider practice of trial by ordeal . Additionally, some early Christian legends, such as the Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew , embroider

15488-604: The water used for the potion must be holy water , and the Targum interprets it as water from the Molten Sea , but the Septuagint instead requires running water . The passage states that the curse was washed into the water; it is thought that this idea derives from a belief that the words of a curse exist in their own right. Others argue that the curse is a euphemism for a miscarriage or infertility. The potion also had to be mixed in an earthenware vessel. This may have been because

15616-402: The woman shall say, “Amen. Amen.” ‘The priest shall then write these curses on a scroll, and he shall wash them off into the water of bitterness. Then he shall make the woman drink the water of bitterness that brings curses, so that the water which brings a curse will go into her to cause bitterness. And the priest shall take the grain offering of jealousy from the woman’s hand, and he shall wave

15744-408: The woman simply took oaths attesting to her innocence, and asking the divinity to cause her to have a miscarriage/abortion, should she be lying. Ordeals involving the risk of harm, including potential injury resulting from the drinking of certain potions, were common in antiquity; in parts of Europe, their judicial use even lasted until the late Middle Ages. Such ordeals were once believed to result in

15872-451: The woman will become a curse among her people. But if the woman has not defiled herself and is clean, she will then be free and conceive a seed. ‘This is the law of jealousy: when a wife, being under the authority of her husband, goes astray and defiles herself, or when a spirit of jealousy comes over a man and he is jealous of his wife, he shall then make the woman stand before Yahweh, and the priest shall apply all this law to her. Moreover,

16000-415: Was merely the standard behaviour for anyone accused of any crime when they appeared before the Sanhedrin. The husband was required to make a sacrifice to Yahweh as part of the ritual, probably due to a general principle that no one should seek answers from God without giving something in return. This offering is placed in the wife's hands, and is described as her offering for her . Scholars think that it

16128-455: Was no restriction on the types of flour which could be used for sacrifices, although the Mishnah argues that it was a reference to the bestial nature of adultery, coarse flour being the food of beasts . The ordeal consisted of the wife having to drink a specific potion administered by the priest. The text specifies that the potion should be made from water and dust. In the Masoretic Text ,

16256-482: Was regarded as taboo, and therefore that contact with it, or its consumption, was dangerous. Trials by ordeal are found in other societies of the ancient Near East such as in the Laws of Hammurabi (§132). Pre-Islamic Arabic culture similarly had an adultery ordeal, although in scientific terms, compared to the Israelite ritual it relied more on nausea, than on directly poisoning the woman. In this pre-Islamic Arabic ritual,

16384-460: Was replaced with prayer service in synagogues which built upon practices of Jews in the diaspora dating back to the Babylonian exile. As the rabbis were required to face two shattering new realities, Judaism without a Temple (to serve as the center of teaching and study) and Judea without autonomy, there was a flurry of legal discourse and the old system of oral scholarship could not be maintained. It

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