Cohen, Levi, Yisroel
Stew Driller
groups? I've tried 'class', 'tribe', 'caste', 'clan', etc.,
but they all sound wrong.
Also, since being a Jew is transmitted through the mother, is
the son of a Jewish mother and non-Jewish father considered a
Jew, and if so, which of the 'categories' does he belong to.
Does he automatically become a Yisroel or is it transmitted
from his mother's father?
Stew Driller
NYC
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Moshe & Joyce Dreyfuss
Stew Driller wrote:
> Is there an accepted term for the Cohen, Levi, Yisroel
> groups? I've tried 'class', 'tribe', 'caste', 'clan', etc.,
> but they all sound wrong.
> Also, since being a Jew is transmitted through the mother, is
> the son of a Jewish mother and non-Jewish father considered a
> Jew, and if so, which of the 'categories' does he belong to.
> Does he automatically become a Yisroel or is it transmitted
> from his mother's father?
Cohen, and Levi are descendency lines from Aaron, Moses brother
and serve as a religious status in regards to the original Temple
service. Each member of the Kohen or Levi group had particular
repsonsibilities with regard to sacrifices and worship responsibilities.
Although we do not have the Temple today, the status is retained when,
in orthodox services, a Kohen is called to the Torah reading first,
a levi is called second, and Yisroels are called to fill out the
reading. Kohen's also "duchen" or bless the congregations today
during UYom Tov (holyday) services. There are still restrictions on
marriage for Kohens. So to group them and give a "class" name is not
really correct. It is a descendency line. As for Yisroel, since the
descendency lines of the twelve tribes is lost, every one who is not
a Kohen or Levi is simply a Jew or Yisroel.
This "Class" is only passed through the father. If the father of a
Child born to a Jewish mother is not Jewish, then the child is simply
a Jew, or a Yisroel.
Moshe Dreyfuss
mailto:mjdre...@hotmail.com
Barbara
Below you'll find answers to the questions raised in your Email.
The Hebrews had 12 tribes. Cohen and Levi were the Priest tribes.
The other 10 tribes were called Israel (not Yisroel), among them
the warrier tribe called Yehuda (the tribe king David and Solomon
came from) and this tribe is the only surviving tribe we know of
known today as Jews( they're the ones who fought and won against
the Greek Empire, fought and lost against the Roman Empire (the
movie Massada depicts the war against the Romans). The other nine
tribes including Cohen ( which makes 10) vanished throughout the
years (assimilated with gentiles, were killed or exiled and
forgotten). Therefore the only tribes left are the Levi (which
incorporate some of the Cohens) and Yehuda (or Juda as the Romans
called them), and that's the origin of the kingdom of Judea during
the Romans era.
According to the Jewish law: the son of a Jewish mother is considered
a Jew regardless who the father is and he automatically belongs to the
tribe the mother belongs to - whether Yehuda or Levi.
When historians refer to Israel as a whole, they refer to all Jewish
people except for the Levi tribe, who was always a separate tribe.
Hope the above answers your questions.
Best regards to all,
Naomi and Henry Ben-Dov
Stew Driller wrote:
>
> Is there an accepted term for the Cohen, Levi, Yisroel
> groups? I've tried 'class', 'tribe', 'caste', 'clan', etc.,
> but they all sound wrong.
>
> Also, since being a Jew is transmitted through the mother, is
> the son of a Jewish mother and non-Jewish father considered a
> Jew, and if so, which of the 'categories' does he belong to.
> Does he automatically become a Yisroel or is it transmitted
> from his mother's father?
>
> Stew Driller
> NYC
mailto:
Robyn Perlin
with important information about Jewish history and how it
impacts Jewish genealogy.
I do, however, have just a few corrections on this email.
> The Hebrews had 12 tribes. Cohen and Levi were the Priest tribes.
> The other 10 tribes were called Israel (not Yisroel),
In fact, Cohen and Levi were not two separate tribes. The
Cohanim (plural) were the High Priests, descended from
Aaron, within the tribe of Levi. All other descendants of
the Levi tribe were known as Levites, and were the
assistants in the Temple. In addition to the tribe of Levi
were still 12 other tribes (the Levites were taken census of
separately from the 12 tribes) (Judah, Gad, Asher, Dan,
Naphtali, Zebulun, Simeon, Rueben, Issachar, Benjamin,
Menashe, Ephraim) Once the Hebrews settled in the Land of
Canaan, two tribes settled in the south: Judah and Benjamin
(as well as the Levites, who assisted in the Temple in
Jerusalem, located also in the South). The 10 "lost tribes"
were the northern 10, exiled by the Assyrians in 722-721
BCE.
So, Judah & Benjamin are the forebearer tribes of today's
Jews, most of whom are known now collectively in the
class/tribe "Yisrael" or "Israel." ("Yisroel is, in fact, an
okay pronunciation -- it's an Ashkenazic pronunciation of
the "kamatz" vowel in YisrAel) People today who identify as
Kohanim or Levi'im (Kohens or Levites) are descendants
(theoretically) of the original Kohens (High Priests,
descendants of Aaron, a sub-group of the Levite tribe) or of
the original Levites. Judah, Benjamin and the Levites were,
for the most part, exiled to Babylonia in 586 BCE
(destruction of the First Temple) and after returning to the
Land of Israel, exiled again by the Romans in 70 CE
(destruction of the Second Temple).
>
> According to the Jewish law: the son of a Jewish mother is considered
> a Jew regardless who the father is and he automatically belongs to the
> tribe the mother belongs to - whether Yehuda or Levi.
This is actually not true halachically. According to Jewish
law, while a child's religion is passed on through the
mother (if born to a Jewish mother but a non-Jewish father,
the child is still Jewish), the child's "tribe" is passed on
through the father. If the father is a Kohen but the mother
is a Yisrael, the child is a Kohen. If the mother is a
Levi, but the father is not Jewish, then the child is
considered a Yisrael
If I had a better Jewish library at home, I'd give you a
source to check for yourself, such as the Encyclopedia
Judaica. However, since I am at home, with the resources I
do have, you could check the source that I did find at
www.jewish.com/askarabbi/askarabbi/askr435.htm
as well as various other questions under
http://www.jewish.com/askarabbi/Jews_and_Judaism/Who_is_a_Jew/Jewish_descent/
--Robyn Perlin
mailto:trek...@home.com
Morris Stillman
One example of this is "The other 10 tribes were called Israel (not
Yisroel)". This is false, since "Israel" is an English word.
Another example is: "Therefore the only tribes left are the Levi (which
incorporate some of the Cohens) " - Leviim incorporate all Cohanim,
since Cohanim are descended from Aharon (Aaron), who was a
member of the tribe of Levy. There was no tribe of Cohen, as you
state.
I'm at a loss as to how you came up with "When historians refer
to Israel as a whole, they refer to all Jewish people except for
the Levi tribe, who was always a separate tribe."
Your statement "According to the Jewish law: the son of a Jewish
mother is considered a Jew regardless who the father is and he
automatically belongs to the tribe the mother belongs to - whether
Yehuda or Levi" is also not correct. The son of a Jewish woman
is never regarded as a member of his mother's tribe - it always
follows the father's tribe. You can only become a Cohen or Levy if
you were born to a father who was one. If the father is not Jewish,
the son would be lumped together with what we today call "Yisrael".
I suggest you consult the Torah and The Jewish Encyclopedia.
Stew Driller's question has no real answer (as there is no
commonly accepted term to describe the three groups into
which the nation of Israel is today divided).
Morris Stillman
At 05:00 PM 06/07/2000 -0400, you wrote:
>The Hebrews had 12 tribes. Cohen and Levi were the Priest tribes.
>The other 10 tribes were called Israel (not Yisroel), among them
>the warrier tribe called Yehuda (the tribe king David and Solomon
>came from) and this tribe is the only surviving tribe we know of
>known today as Jews( they're the ones who fought and won against
>the Greek Empire, fought and lost against the Roman Empire (the
>movie Massada depicts the war against the Romans). The other nine
>tribes including Cohen ( which makes 10) vanished throughout the
>years (assimilated with gentiles, were killed or exiled and
>forgotten). Therefore the only tribes left are the Levi (which
>incorporate some of the Cohens) and Yehuda (or Juda as the
>Romans called them), and that's the origin of the kingdom of
>Judea during the Romans era.
>
>According to the Jewish law: the son of a Jewish mother is considered
>a Jew regardless who the father is and he automatically belongs to the
>tribe the mother belongs to - whether Yehuda or Levi.
>
>When historians refer to Israel as a whole, they refer to all Jewish
>people except for the Levi tribe, who was always a separate tribe.
mailto:sti...@peoplepc.com
Udi Cain
Dear JewishGenners,
With regard to Stew Driller's question:
Being a child to a Jewish mother, makes you Jewish but not Levi.
To become Levi you should have a Levi father.
So, if you are son of Miriam Levi and St. Petrus, your surname is Petrus
but you are Jewish, and not a Levi.
The same as if your father is a Jewish person like Moshe Zuchmir, and
again your mother, Miriam Levi, you are Zuchmir!
Yours, Udi Cain, Jerusalem.
mailto:vn1...@netvision.net.il
David Colman
should be corrected:
>...Cohen and Levi were the Priest tribes.
Cohen was not a tribe. Rather the Cohanim (pl.) are a subset of the
Leviim, the offspring of Aharon and function as the priests of the
Jewish people. Please note that all of the tribal names are simply
names of the sons of Yitzchak (Isaac) or 2 of Yosef's (Joseph) sons,
while Cohen is a word which has the meaning of "Priest".
>...The other 10 tribes were called Israel (not Yisroel)...
In fact, based upon one of the most common traditions of Hebrew
pronunciation, "Yisroel" is absolutely correct. "Israel" is simply an
English adaptation of the name Yisroel which is originally a special
name given to our father Ya'akov (Jacob) by G-d. The name came to be
applied to the entire Jewish nation, including the Cohanim and the
Leviim. However, when speaking of Jews in terms of tribal affiliation,
it is correct that the balance of the Jews, minus the Cohanim and
Leviim, are then distinguished as Yisroel.
> the...tribe called Yehuda...is the only surviving tribe we know of
> today as Jews...
Certainly, the Kingdom of Yehuda (Judah), which formally comprised the
tribes of both Yehuda and Binyamin (Benjamin) is the source the vast
majority of today's known Jews, while the other are referred to as the
Lost Tribes. However, we must keep in mind that at the time of the
dispersion, the population of the Kingdom of Yehuda included members of
all of the 12 tribes. As well, the Leviim (including the Cohanim who
are not a separate tribe) always lived throughout the land of Israel as
the only land "reserved" for them were several cities spread through the
land of Israel.
>...they're the ones who fought and won against...the Greek Empire...
Actually, the Maccabees were Cohanim.
>...The other nine tribes including Cohen...vanished throughout the
> years (assimilated with gentiles, were killed or exiled and
> forgotten).
Again, Cohen is not a tribe. Presumably, this is a reference to the 10
Lost Tribes of Israel. As we have been seeing since the last century,
it is not entirely clear that the 10 lost tribes were lost forever. The
Jews of Ethiopia are a prime example. Other isolated groups exist in
the world who appear to have practices stemming from Judaism and they
may well be from the 10 Lost Tribes. Some of them are very active and
intent in trying to assert their claims as such.
> According to the Jewish law: the son of a Jewish mother...
> automatically belongs to the tribe the mother belongs to -
> whether Yehuda or Levi.
Absolutely not so. Aside from halachic conversion, a person can only
be a Jew if born to a Jewish mother. Tribal affiliation, however, is
based solely upon the father's affiliation.
> When historians refer to Israel as a whole, they refer to all Jewish
> people except for the Levi tribe, who was always a separate tribe.
See above information regarding the term Yisroel.
Regards,
David Colman
Toronto, Canada
mailto:dy...@home.com
Stew Driller
opened a 'can of worms', but I appeciate the historical
background of the three groups.
I quess if I want to know if someone is a Cohen, Levi, or
Yisroel I just have to say "Are you a Cohen, Levi, or
Yisroel"!
Stew Driller
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