Why is it that Orthodox Jewish men with the last name "Cohen" cannot attend funerals?
I hope I got the spelling of Cohen right. It might be Kohen or Cohan.
Thank you all for your answers thus far! You've been extremely helpful.
I work for a Jewish Nursing Home. The Rabbi on staff is named Cohen, so can you imagine . . . he is the Rabbi but he cannot preside over any of our patients' funerals! I was too embarrassed to ask him why (did not want to offend), so your answers are much appreciated!
Gratvol, we have a special light too and we put a sign on the door (written in Hebrew) so that Cohens and other Rabbis will know. I smiled when I read your answer.
Because in theory they are Levites, the priestly tribe whose members alone fulfill the role of Aaron, and in the Bible, priests are not to be near dead bodies.
I THINK it is because the lineage of Cohen traces back to Levi which was the priestly line of Yacob. There may be some law regarding this line and being near the dead.
Wow, admiral bob77, how close we got to each other!
A Jew who is a Cohen, a descendant of the priestly class, will only attend the funeral and burial of his immediate family as he is otherwise forbidden to come near a corpse. You may see a close friend or relative who is a Cohen remain outside the funeral parlor or cemetery because of this law. At the cemetery, another custom in traditional funerals is to stop seven times ? as the coffin is carried to the grave--to recite Psalm 91. Once the coffin is lowered into the grave, family and close friends cover the coffin with a few handfuls of dirt. The rabbi then repeats Psalm 91 and El Maleh Rachamim.
They don't mean people named Cohen. They mean Johan. The link below explains somewhat. It's kind of a long story to write here, so I suggest reading the article at Young Israel Org about instances where this occurred.
The Cohen are descended from Aaron- they are the High Priests.
Some Cohens do go to funerals. Since there is no temple, it's a moot point whether or not they are ritually clean. But to be clean, they would need the ashes from the red heifer.
And the spelling does vary- even Kahn is a lot of times a Johanna.
As an orthodox Jew I will tell you Redunicon hit the nail on the head. All paternal (from father to son) descendants of Aaron are members of the Priestly Class of Israel. As such they must take greater care to keep themselves ritually pure the biggest way to become impure is contact with a dead body. In Israel they even have special lights in sections of hospitals that if someone should die it inform all Cohen?s to leave the area. This goes for funerals as well there are only seven exceptions when a Cohen is REQUIRED to go to a funeral. Mother, Father, Sister, Brother, Son, Daughter, and husband/wife.
I second Gratvol's explanation.
And as others have said, it's not just people with the last name Cohen, but anyone who is a Cohen, whatever their last name is. It can be Cohen, Kahanowitz, or Rappaport.
Death defiles in Judaism. Different people have different roles, and Johann have different rules.
Why is it that Orthodox Jewish men with the last name "Cohen" cannot attend funerals?
