Tradition of Judaism's "sacraments"

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aball1035

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I have a few questions about traditional Judaism. It’s 3 main foundations were the temple, priesthood and sacrifices right?

Would the Rabbis today be considered priests?
 
it is my understanding that rabbis today would be more analagous to scribes and pharisees of Jesus’ day, the teachers of the law, as the priesthood revolved around the temple sacrifice, and when that was obliterated along with the destruction of the Temple, the sacrificial priesthood ceased to exist, except in their descendents of the tribe of Levi.
 
it is my understanding that rabbis today would be more analagous to scribes and pharisees of Jesus’ day, the teachers of the law, as the priesthood revolved around the temple sacrifice, and when that was obliterated along with the destruction of the Temple, the sacrificial priesthood ceased to exist, except in their descendents of the tribe of Levi. Rabbis have told me their role is actually not so much to preach and lead worship (which can be done by any Jewish male) but to interpret and apply the Law to daily life in today’s world for Jews, and at times even to act as arbiter or judge of the law in the case of disputes between Jews.
 
puzzleannie said:
it is my understanding that rabbis today would be more analagous to scribes and pharisees of Jesus’ day, the teachers of the law, as the priesthood revolved around the temple sacrifice, and when that was obliterated along with the destruction of the Temple, the sacrificial priesthood ceased to exist, except in their descendents of the tribe of Levi. Rabbis have told me their role is actually not so much to preach and lead worship (which can be done by any Jewish male) but to interpret and apply the Law to daily life in today’s world for Jews, and at times even to act as arbiter or judge of the law in the case of disputes between Jews.
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Are there any Jewish priests left today who’ve descended from OT times? If not, how do we know?
 
aball1035 said:
Are there any Jewish priests left today who’ve descended from OT times? If not, how do we know?
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It’s likely there are. The surname Cohen (and its variants) refers to the Jewish priestly office. Those who are born into these families are likely descendants of Aaron (there are interesting genetic studies on this). Of course, they cannot resume the priestly office since there is no temple at present.
 
SonCatcher said:
It’s likely there are. The surname Cohen (and its variants) refers to the Jewish priestly office. Those who are born into these families are likely descendants of Aaron (there are interesting genetic studies on this). Of course, they cannot resume the priestly office since there is no temple at present.
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Kohanes and Levites are still around and considered to be descended from the priestly class. There are a few specirfic rules that apply to them (for example, a Kohane can not touch a dead body and for that reason never goes into cemetaries).
 
Remember, the Mosaic law (comprised of 613 commandments) was designed to structure life. The commandments cover every aspect of life and range from compensation for damanging another’s property, to food preparation to sexual activity within marriage. There was a daily rhythm to expectations… as well as seasonal. For example, there were three festivals were an observant male was required to go to the Temple (Sukkot or the Harvest festival, Pessach or passover and Shavuot which is the anniversary of the giving of the law and is 7 weeks after Passover).

Modern traditional Jewish observance flows around the calendar (the six days of the work week vs Shabat, and the holidays (Starting with Rosh Hashana, Yom Kippur, Sukkot, Simchat Torah, Chanukkah, Tu Bishvat, Purim, Passover, Shavuot and Tisha B’av)

It is accepted practice to believe a person if they claim to be descended from a specific tribe. In particular, the Cohanim (the priests or descendents of Aaron) and the Levites require a positive knowledge of family descent. In traditional Judaism, a Cohen (priest) is allowed (after age 13) to give out the priestly blessing in public during certain holidays. Also, a priest and levite will be given precedence for honors (being called for an alyiah or to introduce certain prayers like grace after eating). There are several prohibitions on priests besides not touching a corpse: for example they cannot marry a divorced woman or a convert.

The term Rabbi (technically translated as “my greater”) is a recognition of having attained a certain level of knowledge in Jewish Law. A Rabbi is not required for prayer… or technically for a Jewish Marriage (the husband technically marries the wife and that is witnessed by two adult male Jews in good standing) or any other ceremony.

There is ONE ceremony where a Cohen (priest) is required: the pidyon HaBen (or redemption of the first born if Male).
 
It really depends on the opinions of each branch of Judaism. I am uncomfortable discussing Judaism on this forum. There are a number of online Jewish fora where one can discuss Judaism with rabbis representing the various standpoints. I think that these would be more appropriate venues.
 
bigquests said:
It really depends on the opinions of each branch of Judaism. I am uncomfortable discussing Judaism on this forum. There are a number of online Jewish fora where one can discuss Judaism with rabbis representing the various standpoints. I think that these would be more appropriate venues.
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I second this recommendation as anything offered by participants on a Catholic forum is likely to be second, third or fourth hand
 
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