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Twenty-four Priestly Gifts
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", relating to a Jewish priest. The Kohanim were compensated for their service in the Temple in Jerusalem – 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, four were to be consumed by the priests in Jerusalem, 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, ten 'gifts' which were to be given to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gemara
The Gemara (also transliterated Gemarah, or in Yiddish Gemo(r)re; from Aramaic , from the Semitic root ג-מ-ר ''gamar'', to finish or complete) is the component of the Talmud comprising rabbinical analysis of and commentary on the Mishnah written in 63 books. At first, Gemara was only transmitted orally and was forbidden to be written down, however after the Mishnah was published by Judah the Prince (c. 200 CE), the work was studied exhaustively by generation after generation of rabbis in Babylonia and the Land of Israel. Their discussions were written down in a series of books that became the Gemara, which when combined with the Mishnah constituted the Talmud. There are two versions of the Gemara. The Jerusalem Talmud (Talmud Yerushalmi), also known as the Palestinian Talmud, was compiled by Jewish scholars of the Land of Israel, primarily of the academies of Tiberias and Caesarea, and was published between about 350–400 CE. The Talmud Bavli (Babylonian Talmud) was pu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 similarly given as a donation or offering serving as a primary source of income to maintain the religious leaders and facilities. In some Christian texts, Jesus Christ, through his resurrection, is referred to as the first fruits of the dead. Beginning in 1966 a unique "First Fruits" celebration brought the Ancient African harvest festivals that became the African American holiday, Kwanzaa. Ancient historical In ancient Greece In Classical Athens the First Fruits were called an offering of ''aparche''. Except during times of war, this would be a major source of funds for the temples of the Eleusinian goddesses, Demeter and Kore. Much of the agricultural offering was sold by the temple with the proceeds being used to pay for the daily upkeep of the te ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Presumption Of Priestly Descent
The presumption of priestly descent (or presumed kohen or status-quo kohen) in Judaism is the attribution to a kohen of equivalent position as if there was proven descent from the priestly family of Aaron. This is evidenced not by genealogical records but by ''de facto'' priestly behavior as defined in rabbinical halakhic texts. In the Land of Israel it was the raising up of hands in the priestly benediction, and sharing heave offering at the threshing floor, whereas in Syria and Babylonia the raising up of hands constituted adequate grounds, but not sharing heave offering at the threshing floor as stated in the Jerusalem Talmud Ketubot 2:7 and other texts. The "presumed kohen" (''kohen mukhzaq'') ( he, כהן מוחזק, from חזק) is a rabbinic title which legitimates kohen status to a kohen who—among multiple criteria—exhibits conduct exemplary of and is recognized by his peers and community as such. The tannaitic rabbi Jose ben Halafta extolled the soundness of the s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bat-Kohen
A bat-kohen or bat kohen ( he, בת כהן) is the daughter of a kohen (Jewish priest), who holds a special status which is governed by special regulations in the Hebrew Bible and rabbinical texts. In rabbinical literature the bat kohen is considered unique in comparison to the general population of the daughters of Israel. This uniqueness is believed to be displayed—among other attributes—by her inherent ability to cope with above average and even intense levels of spirituality ( Kedusha). The Mishnah and Talmud instruct that the ''bat kohen'' is to be scrupulous in matters of ''tzniut'' ("modesty"), thereby portraying the values of maintaining a life dedicated to holiness and her father's life-work, and also that the ''bat kohen'' marry a kohen. The ''bat kohen'' is entitled to a number of rights and is encouraged to abide by specified requirements, for example, entitlement to consumption of the holy parts of sacrifices, lenient specifications in her preparations for immers ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jubilee (biblical)
The Jubilee ( he, יובל ''yōḇel;'' Yiddish: ''yoyvl'') is the year at the end of seven cycles of ''shmita'' (Sabbatical years) and, according to biblical regulations, had a special impact on the ownership and management of land in the Land of Israel. According to the Book of Leviticus, Hebrew slaves and prisoners would be freed, debts would be forgiven, and the mercies of God would be particularly manifest. Rabbinic literature mentions a dispute between the Sages and Rabbi Yehuda over whether it was the 49th year (the last year of seven sabbatical cycles, referred to as the Sabbath's Sabbath), or whether it was the following (50th) year. The Jubilee ("Year of Release") deals largely with land, property, and property rights. The biblical rules concerning Sabbatical years are still observed by many religious Jews in Israel, but the regulations for the Jubilee year have not been observed for many centuries. According to the post-exile rabbinic interpretation of Torah, observa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Herem (priestly Gift)
In the Tanakh, the term ''herem'' (Hebrew חֵרֶם ''ḥêrem'') is used, among other meanings, for an object or real property to be devoted to God, with God authorizing a ''kohen'' (Jewish priest) to be its receiving agent. This law is one of the twenty-four kohanic gifts and, of those twenty-four, as one of ten gifts given to the priest even outside the land of Israel. According to Abba Jose ben Hanan, the nuances of the ''herem'' laws (as well as laws of ''hekdesh'' and arakhin, and five other categories of laws) are considered "eight pillars of Torah law" that are "principles of Halakha". Etymology In Hebrew the adjective ''herem'' (Hebrew חֵרֶם) means "devoted thing" or "thing devoted to destruction". The term is used 29 times in the Masoretic Text of the Tanakh. An unrelated homonym, the noun ''herem'' meaning "fisherman's net" (also חֵרֶם), is used a further 9 times. The adjective ''herem'' and the associate verb ''haram'' ("devote") come from the Semitic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 of ancient Egypt, dated to about 1200 BCE. According to the modern archaeological account, the Israelites and their culture branched out of the Canaanite peoples and their cultures through the development of a distinct monolatristic—and later monotheistic—religion centred on the national god Yahweh.Mark Smith in "The Early History of God: Yahweh and Other Deities of Ancient Israel" states "Despite the long regnant model that the Canaanites and Israelites were people of fundamentally different culture, archaeological data now casts doubt on this view. The material culture of the region exhibits numerous common points between Israelites and Canaanites in the Iron I period (c. 1200–1000 BCE). The record would suggest that the Isra ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 currency in ancient Tyre and ancient Carthage and then in ancient Israel under the Maccabees. Name The word is based on the Semitic verbal root for "weighing" (''Š-Q-L''), cognate to the Akkadian or , a unit of weight equivalent to the Sumerian . Use of the word was first attested in during the Akkadian Empire under the reign of Naram-Sin, and later in in the Code of Hammurabi. The ''Š-Q-L'' root is found in the Hebrew words for "to weigh" (), "weight" () and "consideration" (). It is cognate to the Aramaic root ''T-Q-L'' and the Arabic ''root Θ-Q-L'' ''ثقل'', in words such as (the weight), (heavy) or (unit of weight). The famous writing on the wall in the Biblical Book of Daniel includes a cryptic use of the word in Aram ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 slaughter of animal by a '' shochet'' (kosher slaughterer), the ''shochet'' is required to separate the cuts of the foreleg, cheek and maw and give them to a ''kohen'' freely, without the ''kohen'' paying or performing any service. Hebrew Bible The source of the gift to the priest (Hebrew: ''kohen'') is found in Deuteronomy: Rabbinic interpretation In rabbinical interpretation this is a positive commandment requiring the shochet (ritual slaughterer) to give the aforementioned parts of a kosher-slaughtered animal to a ''kohen'' (excluding sacrificial animals such as Korban Olah or the Pascal lamb). This giving is required to be free of both monetary and servicial compensation. These gifts are entirely mundane ("chullin"), and are no ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 kohen (Jewish priest). The obligation to separate the dough offering (henceforth: challah) from the dough begins the moment the dough is kneaded, but may also be separated after the loaves are baked. This commandment is one of the twenty-four kohanic gifts, and, by a biblical injunction, is only obligatory in the Land of Israel, but from a rabbinic injunction applies also to breadstuffs made outside the Land of Israel. The common modern practice in Orthodox Judaism is to burn (although simply throwing away the dough in a double-wrapped container is allowed) the portion to be given the Kohen, although giving the ''challah'' to a Kohen for consumption is permitted—even encouraged—outside Israel (permitted with restrictions, see article b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 recently via online giving, whereas historically tithes were required and paid in kind, such as agricultural produce. After the separation of church and state, church tax linked to the tax system are instead used in many countries to support their national church. Donations to the church beyond what is owed in the tithe, or by those attending a congregation who are not members or adherents, are known as offerings, and often are designated for specific purposes such as a building program, debt retirement, or mission work. Many Christian denominations hold Jesus taught that tithing must be done in conjunction with a deep concern for "justice, mercy and faithfulness" (cf. Matthew 23:23). Tithing was taught at early Christian church councils, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
