# Who Decided That Judaism Would No Longer Have High Priests? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 9, 2011, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-decided-that-judaism-would-no-longer-have-high-priests/592131 "2011-08-09T21:56:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2011, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-decided-that-judaism-would-no-longer-have-high-priests/592131/1 "2011-08-09T21:56:52Z")
As I understand it, Judaism ceased to have priests when the Temple of Herod was destroyed, in the Roman invasion of Titus ( ca. AD 100). Now, since there is no temple, there can be no sacrifices, and hence, no priests. How was this decided? Did the Jews at the time not think that another temple would eventually be built? Surely they thought it might be wise to keep the traditions going? As I understand it, Judaism has no governing council, or titular head (unlike Roman Catholicism)-so how was this decision made an arrived at? Suppose (through some unimaginable chain of events), the modern state of Israel builds a new temple (on the Herodian site)-who would choose the new priests? ---
**Author:** ![Punoqllads](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/d2c977/32.png) [@Punoqllads](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Punoqllads)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2011, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-decided-that-judaism-would-no-longer-have-high-priests/592131/2 "2011-08-09T22:00:49Z")
We still have high priests: [Kohen - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kohen) ---
**Author:** ![Shmendrik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Shmendrik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shmendrik)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2011, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-decided-that-judaism-would-no-longer-have-high-priests/592131/3 "2011-08-09T22:17:37Z")
> [@Punoqllads](#): > > We still have high priests: [Kohen - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kohen) Those are priests, not high priests. ---
**Author:** ![Punoqllads](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/d2c977/32.png) [@Punoqllads](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Punoqllads)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2011, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-decided-that-judaism-would-no-longer-have-high-priests/592131/4 "2011-08-09T22:19:30Z")
Levites are priests, kohanim are high priests. ---
**Author:** ![Shmendrik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Shmendrik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shmendrik)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2011, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-decided-that-judaism-would-no-longer-have-high-priests/592131/5 "2011-08-09T22:24:24Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > As I understand it, Judaism ceased to have priests when the Temple of Herod was destroyed, in the Roman invasion of Titus ( ca. AD 100). > Now, since there is no temple, there can be no sacrifices, and hence, no priests. > How was this decided? > Did the Jews at the time not think that another temple would eventually be built? > Surely they thought it might be wise to keep the traditions going? > **As I understand it, Judaism has no governing council, or titular head (unlike Roman Catholicism)-so how was this decision made an arrived at?** > Suppose (through some unimaginable chain of events), the modern state of Israel builds a new temple (on the Herodian site)-who would choose the new priests? Judaism did have a governing council, the [Sanhedrin](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanhedrin). As Punoqllads said, Judaism still has priests. They fill a few functions in the synagogue service and elsewhere. However, we don’t have a [high priest](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Priest_of_Israel), probably because the office became irrelevant after the Temple’s destruction. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2011, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-decided-that-judaism-would-no-longer-have-high-priests/592131/6 "2011-08-09T22:26:30Z")
Part of the dispute between the ancient kingdoms of Judah and Israel was on the location at which sacrifices could be made. As Judah prevailed, it became deeply entrenched in Jewish belief that the Temple could stand in once place and once place only, namely the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. The Jews lost control of the Temple Mount for nearly two thousand years, and by the we got it back, the belief that the Temple had to await the return of the Messiah had become an essential part of Jewish belief. Plus, the lot is occupied. In the meantime, an alternate approach to Judaism - decentralized, “rabbinical” Judaism - began to develop after the destruction of the first Temple; it continued to exist after the Temple was restored, particularly in the diaspora, and became dominant after its fall. By the time the Talmud was sealed a century later, the Temple was pretty much an anachronism in practical terms, although the belief in its restoration remained an essential part of Jewish faith. > [@ralph124c](#): > > Surely they thought it might be wise to keep the traditions going? The thing about Judaism is, everything’s written down. They could restart the sacrifices tomorrow, and they’d have all the rituals down to the flavor of the incense. ---
**Author:** ![Shmendrik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Shmendrik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shmendrik)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2011, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-decided-that-judaism-would-no-longer-have-high-priests/592131/7 "2011-08-09T22:26:47Z")
> [@Punoqllads](#): > > Levites are priests, kohanim are high priests. I don’t think that’s right. I assume the English term “high priest” is equivalent to the Hebrew “kohen gadol”. [Wikipedia:](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Priest_of_Israel) > [@](#): > > Kohen Gadol or ha-Kohen ha-Gadol (Heb. כהן גדול “Great Priest”) is the title of High Priest of early Israelite religion and of classical Judaism from the rise of the Israelite nation until the destruction of the Second Temple of Jerusalem. The high priests belonged to the Kohen group that traced its paternal line back to Aaron, the first Kohen Gadol and brother of Moses. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2011, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-decided-that-judaism-would-no-longer-have-high-priests/592131/8 "2011-08-09T22:27:49Z")
> [@Punoqllads](#): > > Levites are priests, kohanim are high priests. Levites are Levites - of the tribe of Levi - while Kohanim are priests. There can only be one High Priest at a time, and the office is non-hereditory. ---
**Author:** ![Punoqllads](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/d2c977/32.png) [@Punoqllads](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Punoqllads)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2011, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-decided-that-judaism-would-no-longer-have-high-priests/592131/9 "2011-08-09T22:33:19Z")
Hrm, my memories from Sunday School are flawed, my apologies. ---
**Author:** ![Shmendrik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Shmendrik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shmendrik)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2011, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-decided-that-judaism-would-no-longer-have-high-priests/592131/10 "2011-08-09T22:35:02Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > Levites are Levites - of the tribe of Levi - while Kohanim are priests. There can only be one High Priest at a time, and the office is non-hereditory. Weren’t there actually rival high priests at some point during the Hasmonean monarchy? ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2011, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-decided-that-judaism-would-no-longer-have-high-priests/592131/11 "2011-08-09T22:58:00Z")
Wikipedia articles: [Kohen Gadol](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kohen_Gadol), [List of High Priests](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_High_Priests_of_Israel) ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2011, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-decided-that-judaism-would-no-longer-have-high-priests/592131/12 "2011-08-10T00:37:57Z")
> [@](#): > > The thing about Judaism is, everything’s written down. They could restart the sacrifices tomorrow, and they’d have all the rituals down to the flavor of the incense. Is this entirely true? I certainly seem to recall that there are some cases where knowledge has been lost, as the language has evolved. For instance, IIRC there’s one specific species of insect which is permitted to be eaten, and we know what the ancient Hebrew word for that species is, but nobody any more knows what actual species it is, so all insects remain off-limits. ---
**Author:** ![zev\_steinhardt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/97f17d/32.png) [@zev\_steinhardt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zev_steinhardt)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2011, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-decided-that-judaism-would-no-longer-have-high-priests/592131/13 "2011-08-14T06:04:27Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > There can only be one High Priest at a time, While there was generally only one “active” Kohen Gadol at a time, there were, in fact, times where there was more than one person who had the halachic title of Kohen Gadol. The most basic type of case is when a Kohen Gadol became ineligible to perform the service (such as by becoming tamei) before Yom Kippur. In such cases, another Kohen Gadol was appointed (since the Temple service on Yom Kippur had to be performed by a KG). Once the “old” KG became tahor again, he resumed the role, but the replacement continues to have the halachic status of a KG. Zev Steinhardt ---
**Author:** ![zev\_steinhardt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/97f17d/32.png) [@zev\_steinhardt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zev_steinhardt)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2011, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-decided-that-judaism-would-no-longer-have-high-priests/592131/14 "2011-08-14T06:08:05Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Is this entirely true? I certainly seem to recall that there are some cases where knowledge has been lost, as the language has evolved. For instance, IIRC there’s one specific species of insect which is permitted to be eaten, and we know what the ancient Hebrew word for that species is, but nobody any more knows what actual species it is, so all insects remain off-limits. What you state is correct. The classic case of this is with regard to birds. The Torah lists the species of non-kosher birds, with the remainder being kosher. However, since we’re not 100% sure of the translations of some of the names, we only eat birds for which we have a tradition that they are kosher. In addition, there are several details that are not (to the best of my knowledge) written down. To address Alessan’s point, I don’t believe that the _exact_ location of the Altar (which is necessary to begin sacrifices) is known today. Zev Steinhardt ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2011, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-decided-that-judaism-would-no-longer-have-high-priests/592131/15 "2011-08-14T14:07:13Z")
I’ll take a stab from a different angle. Priestly Judaism was the realm of the Sadduces who were, with the presence of The Temple, were ascendent over the less powerful Pharisees sect. The Sadducees believed that written Torah was, well “gospel” :), to be read literally.The Pharisees were believers in Oral Law, which was supposed to have been given to Moses along Torah and was a set of oral traditions and interpretations passed down between generations. When the Temple was destroyed the Saducees lost their hold on power and the Pharisees became the voice of Judaism. High Priests were out and the age of the great Rabbis, from the ranks of the Pharisees, was in. The Oral Law gradually got written down to later become Mishnah, Talmud and Midrash. There are no High Priests because the sect of the High Priests lost power with The Temple’s destruction and the competition won. Modern Judaism owes little to the beliefs of the Sadducees and the age of High Priests and much to the beliefs of the Pharissees and the interpretive and dynamic flexibility of the Oral Law as the Diaspora spread a people among many cultures. ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2011, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-decided-that-judaism-would-no-longer-have-high-priests/592131/16 "2011-08-16T19:28:14Z")
Another factor in the demise of the High Preisthood was no doubt the fact that at the time the Romans were dictating to the Jews who would serve as high priest, and once they destroyed the Temple, they probably formally abolished the office, and attempting to re-instate it probably would have been seen as an act of rebellion. Very likely the Jewish authorities probably felt that maintaining the office in the absence of Temple Service was not something worth open rebellion against the Romans. Bear in mind that the traditions and laws have still been maintained in writing, just not in practice, so not that much was lost (given that the Temple no longer stood).