# A new Jewish High Priest?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-jewish-high-priest/109217
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [May 15, 2002, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-jewish-high-priest/109217 "2002-05-15T17:33:57Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)
#### Post date: [May 15, 2002, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-jewish-high-priest/109217/1 "2002-05-15T17:33:57Z")
I hope this hasn’t been covered here before – I’ve done searches to no avail – but my old college Poli Sci professor told us once that there are currently boys (from the line of Aaron) being trained(?) to serve as the high priest of the new Temple, if and when it is ever built.
My questions are these:
1- is this true?
2- besides being a male Levite, what are the qualifications for becoming a high priest?
3- what sort of training/preparations are needed to make a high priest? what age were the younguns plucked from their mother’s teat to begin preparation?
4 - who was the last high priest before the last temple was destroyed?
thanks,
stv``
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### Author:  [@toadspittle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toadspittle)
#### Post date: [May 15, 2002, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-jewish-high-priest/109217/2 "2002-05-15T18:57:14Z")
It has been covered before. Zev and others will likely provide details, but basically it’s not possible, since, IIRC, no one now living is “qualified” to enter the holy of holies. The only way this will happen now is with a little Help From Above.
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### Author:  [@zev\_steinhardt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zev_steinhardt)
#### Post date: [May 15, 2002, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-jewish-high-priest/109217/3 "2002-05-15T19:22:41Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by stv \*
> \*\*I hope this hasn’t been covered here before – I’ve done searches to no avail – but my old college Poli Sci professor told us once that there are currently boys (from the line of Aaron) being trained(?) to serve as the high priest of the new Temple, if and when it is ever built.
>
> My questions are these:
> 1- is this true?
\*\*
Don’t know. I know that there is a place in Jerusalem making vessels to be used in the next Temple, but I don’t know if there is a “training center” for _kohanim_. In any event, the study of sacrifical law and temple service is something that is common in _yeshivos_ today, where all students (not just _kohanim_) study them.
> [@](#):
>
> \*\*
> 2- besides being a male Levite, what are the qualifications for becoming a high priest?
\*\*
Any _kohen_ is eligible to become the _kohen gadol_ (high priest). A _kohen_ must be a straight male-line descendant from Aaron. While there are (to my knowledge) no formal requirements for a _kohen_ to become the _kohen gadol_, there are some precedents. Usually, the son of the previous _kohen gadol_ became the next one. Secondly, the _kohen gadol_ was usually someone who was wiser, more respected, a greater Torah-scholar than other _kohanim_.
As a side note, it should be pointed out that there were times when there was more than one _kohen gadol_. There were a number of circumstances that could result in multiple _kohanim gedolim_.
> [@](#):
>
> \*\*
> 3- what sort of training/preparations are needed to make a high priest? what age were the younguns plucked from their mother’s teat to begin preparation?
\*\*
As mentioned above, all Jewish students recieve a thourough education in Jewish law, including the laws of temple service, consecrated items, etc. Young _kohanim_ (I’m not sure from what age, but definitely not before _bar mitzvah_(13)) would be trained in the Temple service. They weren’t "plucked from their mother’s teat"s. And, in addition, anyone who was a _kohen_ had relatives who were _kohanim_ as well (since his father, paternal uncles and paternal brothers were all _kohanim_ too.
> [@](#):
>
> \*\*
> 4 - who was the last high priest before the last temple was destroyed?
\*\*
Don’t know.
> [@](#):
>
> \*\*
> thanks,
\*\*
You’re welcome.
Zev Steinhardt
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### Author:  [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)
#### Post date: [May 15, 2002, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-jewish-high-priest/109217/4 "2002-05-15T19:23:51Z")
Well, you can’t just be a male Levite. You have to be a male Kohen (priest). You also have to be in good health, not blind, deaf, or crippled.
As for who the last High Priest was, the last person Josephus mentions as High Priest is someone named Joseph, the son of Cantos, but I don’t know if he’s the last High Priest, or if he’s just the last High Priest mentioned by Josephus.
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### Author:  [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)
#### Post date: [May 15, 2002, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-jewish-high-priest/109217/5 "2002-05-15T19:30:41Z")
Very interesting. Thanks again Zev and Capt.
And sorry if I’m making you repeat yourselves with a re-hashed question. 🙂
stv
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### Author:  [@toadspittle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toadspittle)
#### Post date: [May 15, 2002, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-jewish-high-priest/109217/6 "2002-05-15T21:11:48Z")
Never mind my ramblings–looking back through old threads, I think I was confusing this topic with the related topic of rebuilding the temple/sacrifice of the red heifer/and the fact that no one now living is ritually clean (except Elijah).
BTW–how does one become high priest, anyway?
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### Author:  [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)
#### Post date: [May 15, 2002, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-jewish-high-priest/109217/7 "2002-05-15T21:22:45Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by toadspittle \*
> \*\*
> BTW–how does one become high priest, anyway? \*\*
I think, traditionally, you’re voted in by the rest of the Kohanim. Most of the time, though, the new high priest was either a relative of the old one (son, nephew, son-in-law), or a political appointee (like some of the horrid high priests just before the Maccabean rebellion…Jason and Menelaus come to mind.)
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### Author:  [@curwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/curwin)
#### Post date: [May 16, 2002, 7:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-jewish-high-priest/109217/8 "2002-05-16T07:02:59Z")
I would look at these websites:
[http://www.templeinstitute.org/main.html](http://www.templeinstitute.org/main.html)
[http://www.cohen-levi.org/](http://www.cohen-levi.org/)
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### Author:  [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)
#### Post date: [May 16, 2002, 8:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-jewish-high-priest/109217/9 "2002-05-16T08:05:56Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by stv \*
>
> 4 - who was the last high priest before the last temple was destroyed?
Shortly before the destruction of the Temple by the Romans the zealots chose by lot a mere rustic named Phannias as the last high-priest: thus the high-priesthood, the city and the Temple passed away together ( Josephus, “Bell. Jud.”, IV, iii, 8 ).
From this site: [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12407b.htm](http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12407b.htm)
- Tamerlane
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### Author:  [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)
#### Post date: [May 16, 2002, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-jewish-high-priest/109217/10 "2002-05-16T15:13:17Z")
Yep…guess I should have read Josephus more closely.
> [@](#):
>
> Hereupon they sent for one of the pontifical tribes, which is called Eniachim, and cast lots which of it should be the high priest. By fortune the lot so fell as to demonstrate their iniquity after the plainest manner, for it fell upon one whose name was Phannias, the son of Samuel, of the village Aphtha. He was a man not only unworthy of the high priesthood, but that did not well know what the high priesthood was, such a mere rustic was he ! yet did they hail this man, without his own consent, out of the country, as if they were acting a play upon the stage, and adorned him with a counterfeit thee; they also put upon him the sacred garments, and upon every occasion instructed him what he was to do. This horrid piece of wickedness was sport and pastime with them, but occasioned the other priests, who at a distance saw their law made a jest of, to shed tears, and sorely lament the dissolution of such a sacred dignity.
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### Author:  [@Milton\_De\_La\_Warre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Milton_De_La_Warre)
#### Post date: [May 17, 2002, 11:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-jewish-high-priest/109217/11 "2002-05-17T11:39:04Z")
Forgive the goy question, but if I or Zev or Cecil or whomever somehow became High Priest, what exactly would this let us do? Would the HP then be like a pope, or a theocratic monarch, or what?
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### Author:  [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)
#### Post date: [May 17, 2002, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-jewish-high-priest/109217/12 "2002-05-17T14:04:40Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by JCHeckler \*
> \*\*Forgive the goy question, but if I or Zev or Cecil or whomever somehow became High Priest, what exactly would this let us do? Would the HP then be like a pope, or a theocratic monarch, or what? \*\*
Assuming the temple existed, and you were the high priest, there would be certain sacrifices only you could perform, you’d be in charge of and perform a pretty elaborate ritual on Yom Kippur, you’d be president of the Sanhedrin (I believe), and also in charge of the temple’s treasury. Also, in addition to not being able to marry a divorcee (which no priest can do), you also wouldn’t be allowed to marry a widow. You also get a pretty cool set of clothing.
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### Author:  [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)
#### Post date: [May 18, 2002, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-jewish-high-priest/109217/13 "2002-05-18T02:44:53Z")
So what makes every living Jew ineligible to become high priest?
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### Author:  [@zev\_steinhardt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zev_steinhardt)
#### Post date: [May 19, 2002, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-jewish-high-priest/109217/14 "2002-05-19T05:06:50Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Lumpy \*
> \*\*So what makes every living Jew ineligible to become high priest? \*\*
Nothing.
Most Jews living today (as with most Jews living in the Temple days) are ineligible to be the _kohein gadol_ (High Priest) simply becuase they are not a _kohein_. However, any adult _kohen_ is eligible to become a _kohein gadol_. However, since the Temple does not exist at the present time, there is no need for the office.
Zev Steinhardt
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### Author:  [@zev\_steinhardt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zev_steinhardt)
#### Post date: [May 19, 2002, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-jewish-high-priest/109217/15 "2002-05-19T05:09:07Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Captain Amazing \*
> \*\*
>
> Assuming the temple existed, and you were the high priest, there would be certain sacrifices only you could perform, you’d be in charge of and perform a pretty elaborate ritual on Yom Kippur, you’d be president of the Sanhedrin (I believe), and also in charge of the temple’s treasury. Also, in addition to not being able to marry a divorcee (which no priest can do), you also wouldn’t be allowed to marry a widow. You also get a pretty cool set of clothing. \*\*
Pretty close. The _kohein gadol_ was not, however, in charge of the Sanhedrin.
Zev Steinhardt
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### Author:  [@zev\_steinhardt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zev_steinhardt)
#### Post date: [May 19, 2002, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-jewish-high-priest/109217/16 "2002-05-19T05:17:38Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by JCHeckler \*
> \*\*Forgive the goy question, but if I or Zev or Cecil or whomever somehow became High Priest, what exactly would this let us do? Would the HP then be like a pope, or a theocratic monarch, or what? \*\*
Not quite. As **Captain Amazing** pointed out, the _kohein gadol_’s duties pretty much centered around the temple service. There was, in the days that the Temple stood, a king, who was not a _kohein_. In fact, the king (not being a _kohein_ was ineligible to be a _kohein gadol_. Likewise, a KG was ineligible to be king (not being descended from David). The monarchy and the high priesthood were separate entities with different spheres of influence.
(BTW, if you’re not Jewish, you’re not eligible. I’m not eligible [I’m not a \*kohein\*] and I doubt Cecil is eligible for the same reasons.)
Zev Steinhardt
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### Author:  [@heptapod](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/heptapod)
#### Post date: [May 19, 2002, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-jewish-high-priest/109217/17 "2002-05-19T05:35:15Z")
So is this high priest stuff akin to a Jewish pope?
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### Author:  [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)
#### Post date: [May 19, 2002, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-jewish-high-priest/109217/18 "2002-05-19T05:51:27Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by zev\_steinhardt \*
> \*\*
> Likewise, a KG was ineligible to be king (not being descended from David). \*\*
Well, didn’t stop the Maccabees, but…
I knew they were Levite, but weren’t they also Kohanim? I thought there was a Maccabee high priest or two. I thought that was the big political reason (putting aside their religious beliefs) the Sadducees formed. They were opponents of the Hasmonean high priesthood and supported the older family.
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### Author:  [@zev\_steinhardt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zev_steinhardt)
#### Post date: [May 19, 2002, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-jewish-high-priest/109217/19 "2002-05-19T05:51:44Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by heptapod \*
> \*\*So is this high priest stuff akin to a Jewish pope? \*\*
No.
Your misconception may be coming from a misunderstanding of the Jewish priesthood.
In Judaism, the priesthood is hereditary. A _kohein_ (priest) is someone who is descended from Aaron. Such a person was eligible to perform the service in the Temple. In addition, certain tithes were given to him by the people and certain restrictions were placed on him as well.
Any adult _kohein_ was eligible to become the _kohein gadol_. Usually the _kohanim_ appointed the _kohein gadol_. In most cases, the son of the previous one took office, but there is no requirement to follow this (i.e., if the son was not worthy). In addition, the king could appoint a _kohein gadol_. Sometimes, there were multiple _kohanim gedolim_ at the same time. A _kohein gadol_ was different from a standard _kohein_ in a few ways: only he could perform the service on Yom Kippur, he could not marry a widow, when he performed the service, he had to wear the eight garments of the _kohein gadol_ (as opposed to the four of a standard _kohein_). His sphere of influence was pretty much strictly confined to the Temple service.
The _kohein gadol_ was not (like the Catholic pope) the head of the religion. That position belonged to the Sanhedrin. The Sanhedrin was the body that would legislate religious laws as necessary and were the final arbiters in matters of _halacha_ (Jewish law).
Zev Steinhardt
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### Author:  [@zev\_steinhardt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zev_steinhardt)
#### Post date: [May 19, 2002, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-jewish-high-priest/109217/20 "2002-05-19T05:54:38Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Captain Amazing \*
> \*\*
>
> Well, didn’t stop the Maccabees, but…
>
> I knew they were Levite, but weren’t they also Kohanim? I thought there was a Maccabee high priest or two. I thought that was the big political reason (putting aside their religious beliefs) the Sadducees formed. They were opponents of the Hasmonean high priesthood and supported the older family. \*\*
Yes, the Maccabes were _kohanim_. And Jewish literature roundly criticizes them for taking the throne and not being content with the _kehunah_ (priesthood).
I don’t know if the Hasmonean kings/priests contributed to the founding of the Saudecces, but some of the later Hasmonean Kings (such as Alexander Jannai) were Sauducee supporters themselves.
Zev Steinhardt
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