A bat-kohen or bat kohen () is the daughter of a

kohen Kohen (, ; , ، Arabic كاهن , Kahen) is the Hebrew word for "priest", used in reference to the Aaronic Priest#Judaism, priesthood, also called Aaronites or Aaronides. They are traditionally believed, and halakha, halakhically required, to ...

(Jewish priest), who holds a special status in the

Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
. '' 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 A ketubah (; ) is a Jewish marriage contract. It is considered an integral part of a Jewish views on marriage, traditional Jewish marriage, and outlines the rights and responsibilities of the groom, in relation to the bride. In modern practice, ...

Hebrew Bible

In the Bible, both Joseph and

Moses In Abrahamic religions, Moses was the Hebrews, Hebrew prophet who led the Israelites out of slavery in the The Exodus, Exodus from ancient Egypt, Egypt. He is considered the most important Prophets in Judaism, prophet in Judaism and Samaritani ...

married daughters of non-Jewish (Egyptian and Midianite) priests. However, in

rabbinic literature Rabbinic literature, in its broadest sense, is the entire corpus of works authored by rabbis throughout Jewish history. The term typically refers to literature from the Talmudic era (70–640 CE), as opposed to medieval and modern rabbinic ...

the term ''bat kohen'' refers exclusively to daughters of Jewish priests, the descendants of

Aaron According to the Old Testament of the Bible, Aaron ( or ) was an Israelite prophet, a high priest, and the elder brother of Moses. Information about Aaron comes exclusively from religious texts, such as the Hebrew Bible, the New Testament ...

. If the daughter of a priest engaged in illicit sexual relations, her penalty was to be burned; in contrast to the usual penalty which was strangulation. 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. Rabbinic sources describe Tamar as the daughter of

Shem Shem (; ''Šēm''; ) is one of the sons of Noah in the Bible ( Genesis 5–11 and 1 Chronicles 1:4). The children of Shem are Elam, Ashur, Arphaxad, Lud and Aram, in addition to unnamed daughters. Abraham, the patriarch of Jews, Christ ...

, and consider Shem have been a priest before the priestly covenant was given to

. This explains why Judah suggested she be burned to death for her alleged sexual affair, as burning is a form of punishment which the Torah generally reserves for daughters of priests.

New Testament

The term "daughter of Aaron" is given to several women in the

New Testament The New Testament (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus, as well as events relating to Christianity in the 1st century, first-century Christianit ...

, among them Elizabeth, mother of

John the Baptist John the Baptist ( – ) was a Jewish preacher active in the area of the Jordan River in the early first century AD. He is also known as Saint John the Forerunner in Eastern Orthodoxy and Oriental Orthodoxy, John the Immerser in some Baptist ...

, and it was not considered unusual for "daughters of Aaron" to marry someone of the priestly tribe.

In rabbinic literature

Marriage preferences

Although basic Torah law allows for the ''bat kohen'' to marry a challal, convert and freed slave (Hebrew ''eved me shukhrar''), the Midrash and Talmud cite Rabbi Yochanan's view that a daughter of a priest is best off marrying a priest. Rabbi Yochanan maintains that in the event a ''bat kohen'' marries a non-Kohen, undesired results for the groom are likely to surface, such as poverty or the demise of the groom. An exception to this taboo is if the groom is a '' Talmid Chacham''. The Talmud narrates how the Tanna Rabbi Yehoshua married a non-kohen wife and then complained that it weakened him.

Rashi Shlomo Yitzchaki (; ; ; 13 July 1105) was a French rabbi who authored comprehensive commentaries on the Talmud and Hebrew Bible. He is commonly known by the List of rabbis known by acronyms, Rabbinic acronym Rashi (). Born in Troyes, Rashi stud ...

explains that the marriage of a bat kohen to a man who is not a kohen, or a '' Talmid Chacham'', is considered a swipe at the honor of

, and Aaron himself is annoyed at the demotion of his progeny, resulting in a negative consequence. British Chief Rabbi Nathan Marcus Adler ruled in 1863 that the daughter of a Cohen may only marry a non-Cohen.

Consumption of priestly gifts

The types of sacrifices the bat-kohen is afforded include the breast and thigh of the peace offering, the four loaves of the thank offering, and the foreleg of the

Nazirite In the Hebrew Bible, a nazirite or a nazarite ( ''Nāzīr'') is an Israelite (i.e. Jewish) man or woman who voluntarily took a vow which is described in . This vow required the nazirite to: * Abstain from wine and strong drink as well as all oth ...

's ram offering. The bat-kohen may offer her employees to partake in her

terumah A ''terumah'' (), the priestly dues or heave offering, is a type of offering in Judaism. The word is generally used for offerings to God, but can also refer to gifts to a human. The word ''terumah'' refers to various types of offerings, but mos ...

. Technically, she may bypass her father (or husband) and initially give her tithe offering and

dough offering In Judaism, the dough offering (or separation of ''challah'', ) is an positive commandment requiring the owner of bread dough to give a part of the kneaded dough to a kohen (Jewish priest). The obligation to separate the dough offering (hencefort ...

, but Menachem Meiri forbids this of concern that one may give these gifts in error to the wife of a Kohen who was initially the daughter of an Israelite post her divorce, such giving the gifts to a person who is no longer entitled to the gifts. The daughter of a priest is likewise permitted to consume the firstborn animal. Regarding the foreleg, cheeks and maw, there is a

Tannaitic ''Tannaim'' ( Amoraic Hebrew: תנאים "repeaters", "teachers", singular ''tanna'' , borrowed from Aramaic) were the rabbinic sages whose views are recorded in the Mishnah, from approximately 10–220 CE. The period of the Tannaim, also refe ...

dispute (between the schools of Rabbi Yishmael and Rabbi Eliezer Ben Yaakov) as to whether an Israelite performs his

mitzvah In its primary meaning, the Hebrew language, Hebrew word (; , ''mīṣvā'' , plural ''mīṣvōt'' ; "commandment") refers to a commandment Divine law, from God to be performed as a religious duty. Jewish law () in large part consists of disc ...

by giving them to the bat-kohen.

Ketubah

The priestly court (prior to 70 CE) established that a virgin bat-kohen would receive a

of 400 Zuz (rather than the standard 200 Zuz for a Jewish virgin).Mishnah Ketubot 1:2; J. Ketuboth 1.5; B.Ketuboth 12b (However, the

Talmud Yerushalmi The Jerusalem Talmud (, often for short) or Palestinian Talmud, also known as the Talmud of the Land of Israel, is a collection of rabbinic notes on the second-century Jewish oral tradition known as the Mishnah. Naming this version of the Talm ...

opines that the bat-kohen who marries a non-Kohen receives that standard 200 Zuz, as a penalty for not marrying within the priesthood.) A widowed bat-kohen would receive the standard 100 Zuz for widows, though at one point this sum had been raised to 200 Zuz.

Rabbeinu Tam Jacob ben Meir (1100 – 9 June 1171 (4 Tammuz)), best known as Rabbeinu Tam (), was one of the most renowned Ashkenazi Jewish rabbis and leading French Tosafists, a leading '' halakhic'' authority in his generation, and a grandson of Rashi. K ...

clarifies that the words in Ketuboth "that which is due you" (Aramaic ''d'chazi l'chi'') are to portray that the excess amount is not considered a bonus (Aramaic ''tosefet kethuba'') but the base amount (Aramaic ''ikkar kethuba''). Likewise, Asher ben Jehiel explain that the full amount of 400 Zuz is collectible even in the even the original ketubah document is lost, and even if the larger 400 Zuz amount was not written in the ketubah, all this with the intent to publicize the importance of the daughters of Kohanim. 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. 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.

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). 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.

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 sanctity afforded priests. The bat-kohen receive lenient specifications in her preparations for immersion. 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.

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 ''Halakha'' ( ; , ), also Romanization of Hebrew, transliterated as ''halacha'', ''halakhah'', and ''halocho'' ( ), is the collective body of Judaism, Jewish religious laws that are derived from the Torah, Written and Oral Torah. ''Halakha'' is ...

committee in Israel has ruled that women do not receive such ''aliyot'' and cannot validly perform such functions, and many traditionalist Conservative synagogues have retained traditional gender roles and do not permit women to perform these roles at all. Other Conservative rabbis, along with some

Reform Reform refers to the improvement or amendment of what is wrong, corrupt, unsatisfactory, etc. The modern usage of the word emerged in the late 18th century and is believed to have originated from Christopher Wyvill's Association movement, which ...

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). 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''). Most

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.

In Kabbalah

Isaac Luria explains the negative aspect of a ''bat kohen'' not marrying a kohen from the Kabbalistic view, using

gematria In numerology, gematria (; or , plural or ) is the practice of assigning a numerical value to a name, word, or phrase by reading it as a number, or sometimes by using an alphanumeric cipher. The letters of the alphabets involved have standar ...

; 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. The formula, explains Luria, portrays that the such marriage between Kohanic families works nicely.

In literature

The expectations upon the daughter of a Kohen feature in Julian Stryjkowski's ''Voices in the Darkness.''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 ..."

References

{{Women in Judaism, state=expanded Judaism and women Jewish law and rituals Jewish marital law Priesthood (Judaism)