The twenty-four kohanic gifts are a description in the Gemara tradition of offerings given to the Jewish priests. The adjective "kohanic" means "of a

kohen Kohen ( he, , ''kōhēn'', , "priest", pl. , ''kōhănīm'', , "priests") is the Hebrew word for " priest", used in reference to the Aaronic priesthood, also called Aaronites or Aaronides. Levitical priests or ''kohanim'' are traditionally ...

", relating to a Jewish priest. The

Kohanim Kohen ( he, , ''kōhēn'', , "priest", pl. , ''kōhănīm'', , "priests") is the Hebrew word for "priest", used in reference to the Aaronic priesthood, also called Aaronites or Aaronides. Levitical priests or ''kohanim'' are traditionally be ...

were compensated for their service in the

Temple in Jerusalem The Temple in Jerusalem, or alternatively the Holy Temple (; , ), refers to the two now-destroyed religious structures that served as the central places of worship for Israelites and Jews on the modern-day Temple Mount in the Old City of Jeru ...

– and to the nation – through twenty-four "priestly gifts." The majority of these gifts were food items. Of these twenty-four gifts, ten gifts were given to the priests in the

Temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a building reserved for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. Religions which erect temples include Christianity (whose temples are typically called churches), Hinduism (whose temples ...

, four were to be consumed by the priests in

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

, and ten were to be given to the priests outside the land of Israel. The gifts are not given today, because there is no Holy Temple in Jerusalem. For example, most practicing Jews today do not give first-born of their animals to modern Kohanim. Other practices may be followed, such as selling the mother animal to a non-Jew before it gives birth to the firstborn, and then buying back both the mother and the firstborn.

Gifts

According to the

Tosefta The Tosefta ( Jewish Babylonian Aramaic: תוספתא "supplement, addition") is a compilation of the Jewish oral law from the late 2nd century, the period of the Mishnah. Overview In many ways, the Tosefta acts as a supplement to the Mishnah ( ...

, ten 'gifts' which were to be given to the Kohanim ''within'' the Temple area were portions of: :1. an animal brought as a

sin offering A sin offering ( he, קָרְבַּן חַטָּאת, ''korban ḥatat'', , lit: "purification offering") is a sacrificial offering described and commanded in the Torah (Lev. 4.1-35); it could be fine flour or a proper animal.Leviticus 5:11 A sin ...

:2. guilt offering :3. sacrifices of the communal

peace offering The peace offering ( he, זֶבַח שְׁלָמִים, zevah shelamim) was one of the sacrifices and offerings in the Hebrew Bible (Leviticus 3; 7.11–34). The term "peace offering" is generally constructed from "slaughter offering" and the pl ...

:4. a bird brought in as a sin offering :5. the suspensive guilt offering :6. the olive oil offering of a metzoraJacob Neusner ''Texts Without Boundaries: Sifra and Sifré to Numbers '' 2002 D. The

, guilt offering, sacrifices of peace offerings of the community, the hide of the burnt offering, the excess of the log of oil presented by the metzora, the excess of the sheaf of first barley, the two loaves and... :7. the two loaves of bread brought on Shavuot (first fruits) :8. the showbread :9. the left-over portion of the

meal offering A meal offering, grain offering, or gift offering ( hbo, מנחה}, ), is a type of Biblical sacrifice, specifically a sacrifice that did not include sacrificial animals. In older English it is sometimes called an oblation, from Latin. The Hebr ...

:10. the left-over portion of grain from the offering of the first sheaf, the

omer Omer may refer to: __NOTOC__ * Omer (unit), an ancient unit of measure used in the era of the ancient Temple in Jerusalem * The Counting of the Omer (''sefirat ha'omer''), a 49 day period in the Jewish calendar * Omer (Book of Mormon), a Jaredite ...

offering Four further gifts to be given (or to be consumed) within the confines of the walls of

were: :11. firstborn of any domestic kosher animal :12.

first fruits First Fruits is a religious offering of the first agricultural produce of the harvest. In classical Greek, Roman, and Hebrew religions, the first fruits were given to priests as an offering to deity. In Christian faiths, the tithe is similarl ...

:13. the inner organs of certain offerings, that which is removed from the Nazirite offering :14. the skins of certain offerings Ten gifts which might be given (or consumed) outside of Jerusalem were: :15.

heave offering A ''terumah'' ( he, תְּרוּמָה) or heave offering is a type of sacrifice in Judaism. The word is generally used for an offering to God, although it is also sometimes used as in ''ish teramot'', a "judge who loves gifts". The word ''teru ...

of a portion of the harvest :16. heave offering of the tithe - a

tithe A tithe (; from Old English: ''teogoþa'' "tenth") is a one-tenth part of something, paid as a contribution to a religious organization or compulsory tax to government. Today, tithes are normally voluntary and paid in cash or cheques or more ...

of the Levite's tithe :17. Challah -

Dough offering In Judaism, the dough offering (or ''mitzvat terumat challah'', "commandment of separating ''challah''" he, מצוות תרומת חלה) is a positive commandment requiring the owner of a bread dough to give a part of the kneaded dough to a koh ...

:18. the first shearing of the sheep :19.

foreleg, cheeks and maw The gift of the foreleg, cheeks and maw ( he, זְּרועַ לְּחָיַיִם וְקֵּיבָה) of a kosher-slaughtered animal to a ''kohen'' is a positive commandment in the Hebrew Bible. The Shulchan Aruch rules that after the slau ...

of all non-sanctified, ritually slaughtered domestic animals :20. money given in exchange for redemption of a first-born son (Hebrew: ''pidyon haben'' פדיון הבן; redemption of the son) - in rabbinical practice five silver

shekel Shekel or sheqel ( akk, 𒅆𒅗𒇻 ''šiqlu'' or ''siqlu,'' he, שקל, plural he, שקלים or shekels, Phoenician: ) is an ancient Mesopotamian coin, usually of silver. A shekel was first a unit of weight—very roughly —and became c ...

s for the redemption of a firstborn

Israelite The Israelites (; , , ) were a group of Semitic-speaking tribes in the ancient Near East who, during the Iron Age, inhabited a part of Canaan. The earliest recorded evidence of a people by the name of Israel appears in the Merneptah Stele o ...

son :21. money (or a sheep or goat) redeemed in place of a firstborn donkey :22. things declared herem, the hromim property or possession dedicated to the Temple without specifying to which use it is to be given :23. inherited fields that were dedicated to the Temple and not reclaimed in the

Jubilee A jubilee is a particular anniversary of an event, usually denoting the 25th, 40th, 50th, 60th, and the 70th anniversary. The term is often now used to denote the celebrations associated with the reign of a monarch after a milestone number of y ...

year :24. that recovered which was stolen from a resident alien who has died, leaving no heirs Females, who did not serve in the Tabernacle or the Temple, were permitted to consume and/or benefit from some of the twenty-four priestly gifts. But if a Kohen's daughter married a man from outside the Kohanic line, she was no longer permitted to benefit from the priestly gifts. Conversely, the daughter of a non-priest who married a priest took on the same rights as an unmarried daughter of a priest.

References

External links

The Cohen-Levi Family Heritage

Modern application of redeeming the firstborn donkey
{{DEFAULTSORT:Twenty-four priestly gifts Oral Torah Priesthood (Judaism) Giving Jewish agrarian laws

Gifts

See also

References

External links