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Jewish Genealogical Society of Great Britain |
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Jewish Genealogical Society of Great Britain |
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A Cohen (pl. Cohanim) is the son of a Cohen, son of a Cohen . . . . . . . son of Aaron (brother of Moses). The lineage is NEVER transmitted through the daughter of a Cohen.
Cohanim are a subset of the tribe of Levi. Commonly, the gravestone of a Cohen is marked with two hands, thumbs touching, spread two fingers, space, two fingers, space, thumbs . . . to mark the Cohen's only surviving religious function, raising his hands to bless ("dukhaning"). If these symbols appear on a tombstone, the word Cohen might have been considered superfluous. It is also superfluous if the name Katz appears, or they are designated with the letters Kaf-Tzade.
A Cohen who is physically deformed in certain ways, by birth, disease or accident, or one who marries a divorced woman or a proselyte, may no longer assume his functions.
Cohen, Kahan, Kagan(ovitch), Kahn are the better known last names for
Cohanim. Rappaport
and Kaplan are also usually Cohanim, as are Aaronson/Aaronowitz, and
there are many others. If it would be obvious to everyone from the
name that they were Cohanim, the designation may also have been left out
on the stone.
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