Kohanim Puns

What exactly are the halachic expectations and responsibilities of a Levite? I understand that kohanim are held to certain standards (e.g. not marrying converts or divorcees, taking the first aliyah, leading the pidyon haben, etc.). All I really know about the Levites is that they take the second aliyah and that their daughters are distinguished, just as daughters of kohanim are. Do Levites have similar halachic restrictions to the kohanim, or any halachic restrictions at all?

I would prefer to hear from Levites themselves, but anyone who knows is okay too.

I hope everyone had an easy, meaningful fast on Yom Kippur.

Frame of reference: converting Conservative, 20F, raised non-denominational Christian, researching Judaism for 4+ years before taking the plunge into giyur.

Mostly asking out of curiosity. I know that sons of a kohen are also kohanim and have "HaKohen" tacked onto their Hebrew name, but do daughters of kohanim ("bnot kohen"?) have the same thing, to denote them as the daughter of a kohen for marriage purposes, etc.?

Toda raba in advance, and I hope all those observing have a meaningful Yom Kippur. G'mar chatima tova and l'shana tova!

Hello people so I am ofc a Kohen, which is the Jewish priestly line that goes all the way back to Aaron though a patrilineal line so for example, my fathers, fathers, father.

But I got question because the things I found did not quite answer my question I’m under the impression any Jew with the J1 or J2 or J-p58 haplotypes are Kohen’s. But is that true? Or is it just one of them?

(For reference I have not got my kit back yet)

(Also for reference I’m a Kohen from both sides of my fathers fam)

(Also for reference my last name is not Cohen I have an oral tradition. For example on my great grandfathers Katuba I think it’s called or basically the tombstone it says “The Kohen” and it shows as such the hand symbol and in my Hebrew name has “Hakohen” at the end of it)

Shalom

1. Were there both Sadducee and Pharisee kohanim?

2. If there were both, were all the kohanim who served at the Temple members of the Sadducees, and aligned with Sadducee ideology? Or were there Pharisee kohanim who served at the Temple, too? (If both served at the Temple at the same time, what was that like? There were significant ideological differences: did kohanim from each fraction serve differently, did they argue?)

3. As the Sadducee movement died out, was the kohen line carried on by those who had previously joined the Pharisee movement? Or did kohanim who used to be Sadducee switch, and become Pharisee? Or both...

Todah!

Please share any jokes you have about Kohanim in this thread!

These are the only two I know:

Joke 1:

Manny Schwartz approached the rabbi of his synagogue and said to him, "Rabbi, please make me a Cohen." The rabbi, taken aback, tells Manny that it is impossible! Manny offers the Rabbi $1,000 but the Rabbi won’t budge. He offers $5,000 and the Rabbi says, “Sorry, I can’t do it”. Manny offers $10,00 and the Rabbi asks, “Manny, why do you want to be a Cohen so badly?” Manny answers, "Rabbi, my father was a Cohen; my grandfather was a Cohen. I want to be a Cohen, too!"

Joke 2:

A man tells his rabbi that despite not being a Cohen he has always wanted to get the first Aliyah just to see what it's like. The rabbi suggests he go a few towns over where they don't know him and say he's a Cohen. The next Monday the man comes to shul in the distant town. The gabbai approaches him and asks “are you a Cohen or Lavi?” The man excitedly tells him “Yes, I am a Cohen!” To which the gabbai says, "listen I have two yarhtzeits and a bar mitzvah boy, would you mind stepping out?

This question stems from my reading a great (and, as far as I can tell, thoroughly researched) historical novel about a Jewish family in Switzerland; ["Melnitz" by Charles Lewinsky] (http://www.worldcat.org/title/melnitz/oclc/904268308), now available in English as I just discovered - highly recommendable!

In it, one character converts to Protestant Christianity in an attempt to be better accepted in the notoriously anti-Semitic business community while telling himself he just finds the Christian practices more "reasonable"; one of the issues being the fact that Christian priesthood is more like a job in which one can be trained, as opposed to the hereditary priesthood of the Jewish Kohanim. (He thinks of his father-in-law, Mr. Kahn [!], who strikes him as utterly un-priestly…)

This is indeed a striking difference, so I was wondering whether there were ever - be it in late antiquity, the middle ages, the 19th century, or whenever - instances of, for example, Christians using the hereditary priesthood as an example of Jewish "backwardness", or of Jews pointing to Christians' abandonment of that idea as a sign for the wrongness of their religion etc.?

I know aside from a funeral for a direct relative Kohanim are not supposed to go to cemeteries, so would that forbid them from paying their respects at a camp? I asked my local Orthodox Rabbi and he didn't have an answer.

Hello, all. It is my understanding that, traditionally, a kohen cannot marry a giyores, ge'rusha, chalalah, zonah, or chalutzah. I'm specifically interested in why a kohen is not permitted to marry a female convert, and I have seen varying opinions on the matter (some say the marriage would be essentially void and any of their children would be of defective kohen status, while others say that in some streams of Judaism it is frowned upon but not prohibited). How much weight do these restrictions have on marriage prospects for kohanim? Are they fully relevant in Orthodox circles, but not as applicable in more left-leaning streams? Would certain marriages be in greater violation of a man's status as a kohen (i.e., would it be worse to marry a ge'rusha than a giyores, or are they equally as bad? ...just an example). If you are a kohen, would you ever consider marrying any of the aforementioned "forbidden" marriage candidates? Why or why not? Any input would be greatly appreciated!

I remember reading somewhere that the only time we can pronounce the Ineffable is during the Priestly Blessing. Is that true or am I just making this up?

What do Kohanim do about dead bodies in the army? Clearly they can go into combat roles given who persues those routes in the IDF, but what do they do about the dead bodies? Is there some kind of exception? I don't really know Hilchot Kohanim very well, so maybe there is something I am missing.

I don't know that this matters at all, but I am curious.

Edit: Thank you all for the answers. Some of these I should have known.

Tekkis selline uitavastus, algul oli niisama veider ja siis otsisime kell kaks öösel sõpradega kas tõesti on see võimalik. Googeldamine ei andnud põhjust, ehk on kellegil hea seletus sellele.

Edit: pealkirjas on vimka, aga parandada enam ei saa. Vabandused.