Kohen is a status that traditionally refers to men, passed from father to son. However, a bat kohen (the daughter of a priest) holds a special status in the Hebrew Bible and rabbinical texts. In Hebrew a Kohen (plural Kohanim) is a priest, leader, or ruler.
In Judaism, Kohanim are the priestly clan, who are honored with certain tasks, responsibilities and privileges. kohen (also spelled cohen or kohan) is a descendant of the sons of Aaron who served as priests in the Temple in Jerusalem. Traditionally, kohanim (the plural of kohen) get special honors in synagogue, but also are subject to certain restrictions. Today in many synagogues, the first two aliyot (people called up to the Torah) are given to a Kohen and a Levi.
kohen brown 247, Yisraelim, the majority of Jews, are called to the Torah only after the second aliyah. Who is a Kohen, a Jewish priest? Technically speaking, of course, the Kohen is a member of the priestly tribe of Israel descended from Moses’s brother Aaron and Aaron’s sons—the first Kohanim. Today, scientists claim to be able to detect the “Kohen gene” in those descendants’ DNA. A kohen (or cohen, Hebrew: כּהן, "priest;" pl: kohanim) is a Jewish priest, a direct male descendant of the Biblical Aaron, brother of Moses.
kohen brown 247, Kohanim are distinct from but related to Levites, who also served in a priestly capacity, or as the assistants to the kohanim. Many halachic authorities recommend not reciting this prayer at all, but, at most, to merely contemplate its words. Rabbi Daniel Korobkin, rabbi of Beth Avraham Yoseph Congregation (BAYT) of Toronto, himself a kohen, sums up these considerations very well. For Jews, these aristocrats are the kohanim, the priests who once served in the Temple of Jerusalem. A kohen (singular form of kohanim) is just like any baron, marquis or duke—but not quite. And then there are their assistants, the Levites.
