{"id":12055,"date":"2026-07-07T00:07:51","date_gmt":"2026-07-06T21:07:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/?p=12055"},"modified":"2026-08-03T16:49:21","modified_gmt":"2026-08-03T13:49:21","slug":"17-07-07","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/17-07-07\/","title":{"rendered":"07. The Difference Between Kohanim and Levi\u2019im"},"content":{"rendered":"
For most of the year, the kohanim and levi\u2019im lived in their designated cities throughout the Land. When their family\u2019s turn to serve in the Temple arrived, they would go up to Jerusalem. The main Temple service and the offering of the sacrifices were entrusted to the kohanim, while the levi\u2019im assisted them in two ways: guarding the Temple gates and accompanying the public sacrifices with song and music. To that end, the levi\u2019im formed choirs and musical ensembles.<\/p>\n
When the kohanim and levi\u2019im were in the Temple, the kohanim were sustained by the portions of sacrificial meat designated for them, as well as by the mena\u1e25ot<\/em> and bikurim<\/em>. The levi\u2019im, by contrast, were sustained from the produce of ma\u2019aser sheni<\/em> that Jews brought up to Jerusalem, as it says: \u201cYou shall eat there before the Lord your God and rejoice, you and your household. And do not abandon the Levite within your gates, for he has no portion or inheritance with you\u201d (Devarim 14:26\u201327). They also shared in the meat of the shelamim<\/em> offerings and ma\u2019aser behema<\/em> that the people brought, as it says: \u201cBefore the Lord your God you shall eat it, in the place that the Lord your God will choose \u2013 you, your son, your daughter, your male servant, your maidservant, and the Levite within your gates \u2013 and you shall rejoice before the Lord your God in all your endeavors. Guard yourself, lest you abandon the Levite all your days upon your land\u201d (ibid. 12:18\u201319).<\/p>\n For most of the year, when they lived at home, the kohanim were sustained by terumot<\/em>, and the levi\u2019im by ma\u2019aser rishon<\/em>. The Torah commands the levi\u2019im to separate terumat ma\u2019aser<\/em> from the ma\u2019asrot<\/em> they receive and give it to the kohen, thereby strengthening the bond between levi\u2019im and kohanim.<\/p>\n A basic difference between kohanim and levi\u2019im shapes their daily lives. Teruma<\/em> is sacred and may be eaten only in purity, whereas the ma\u2019aser<\/em> given to a levi is non-sacred produce and may be eaten even in impurity. Kohanim and their families must therefore guard themselves from impurity at all times. Levi\u2019im, like other Jews, need to be pure when they go up to the Temple, but during the rest of the year they do not have to live with that same constant vigilance.<\/p>\n Since the role of the kohanim is to extend the sanctity of the Temple throughout the Land, they must live with a higher degree of separation and purity. From within that atmosphere, they teach Torah to Israel. The levi\u2019im, by contrast, come into closer contact with the people and, presumably, are therefore more involved in teaching and educating children. Since the levi\u2019im do not need to guard themselves constantly from impurity, they can, when necessary, work in other occupations.<\/p>\n The kohanim, by contrast, receive many gifts. Some come through their service in the Temple, allowing them to remain in Jerusalem for longer periods. They also receive important gifts throughout the Land that have no sanctity attached to them, such as the foreleg, cheeks, and stomach from every slaughtered animal. These gifts help sustain the kohanim when they are impure and cannot partake of teruma<\/em>. For example, a kohen may become impure when one of his close relatives dies. Women have days of impurity, men may become zavim<\/em>, and one who has marital relations or experiences a seminal emission may not eat teruma<\/em> until he immerses and the day ends.<\/p>\n In any case, relative to their numbers in the early days of the nation, the kohanim received far more gifts than the levi\u2019im. It seems that this led the kohanim to increase in numbers at a faster rate than the levi\u2019im. Perhaps this was the Torah\u2019s intention: to strengthen the priesthood, whose way of life inclined more toward piety and purity, in comparison with the levi\u2019im. By the beginning of the Second Temple period, the kohanim who returned to the Land already numbered ten times as many as the levi\u2019im.[4]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n