Levite - wikipedia Levite Levites לויים Total population Around 500 -- 600 thousand worldwide Regions with significant populations Israel 240,000 United States 200,000 France 16,000 Canada 12,000 Languages Vernacular : Hebrew, English Historical : Biblical Hebrew, Aramaic Religion Judaism, Samaritanism Related ethnic groups Jews, Samaritans Levites are the descendants of the Tribe of Levi, one of the twelve tribes. In addition to Levites, the Kohens ( priests ) are also descended from Levi. Both are integrated in Jewish and Samaritan communities, but keep a distinct status. A Levite or Levi ( / ˈliːvaɪt /, Hebrew : לֵוִי ‎, Modern Levi Tiberian Lēwî ) is a Jewish male whose descent is traced by tradition to Levi. In Jewish tradition, a Levite is a member of the Israelite Tribe of Levi, descended from Levi, the third son of Jacob and Leah. As a surname, Levite status may be indicated by the term HaLevi, which consists of the Hebrew prefix `` ה '' Ha - ( `` the '' ) plus Levi ( Levite ). The daughter of a Levite is a `` Bat Levi '' ( Bat being Hebrew for `` daughter '' ). The Tribe of Levi served particular religious duties for the Israelites and had political responsibilities as well. In return, the landed tribes were expected to give tithe to support the Levites, particularly the tithe known as the ' Maaser Rishon '. The Kohanim were the priests, who performed the work of holiness in the Temple. The Levites, who were not Kohanim, were specifically assigned to singing and / or playing music in the Temple serving as guards carrying When Joshua led the Israelites into the land of Canaan ( Joshua 13 : 33 ), the Sons of Levi were the only Israelite tribe that received cities but were not allowed to be landowners `` because the Lord the God of Israel Himself is their inheritance '' ( Deuteronomy 18 : 2 ). Contents 1 In contemporary Jewish practice 1.1 Relationship with Kohanim 1.2 Bat Levi 1.3 The Levites and the Holocaust 2 Levite population 2.1 Levite Y - chromosome studies 2.2 Lineage 2.3 Notable descendants 2.3. 1 In tradition 2.3. 2 Levite surnames 2.3. 3 Modern Levites 3 See also 4 Footnotes 5 References 6 Further reading 7 External links In contemporary Jewish practice This section does not cite any sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. ( December 2009 ) Today, Levites in Orthodox Judaism continue to have additional rights and obligations compared to lay people, although these responsibilities have diminished with the destruction of the Temple. For instance, Kohanim are eligible to be called to the Torah first, followed by the Levites. Levites also provide assistance to the Kohanim, particularly washing their hands, before the Kohanim recite the Priestly Blessing. They also do not participate in the Pidyon HaBen ( redemption of the firstborn ) ceremony, because they are traditionally pledged to Divine service. Conservative Judaism recognizes Levites as having special status, but not all Conservative congregations call Kohanim and Levites to the first and second reading of the Torah, and many no longer perform rituals such as the Priestly Blessing and Pidyon HaBen in which Kohanim and Levites have a special role. Reconstructionist and Reform Judaism do not observe the distinctions between Kohanim, Levites, and other Jews. Orthodox Judaism believes in the eventual rebuilding of a Temple in Jerusalem and a resumption of the Levitical role. There are a small number of schools, primarily in Israel, to train priests and Levites in their respective roles. Conservative Judaism believes in a restoration of the Temple as a house of worship and in some special role for Levites, although not the ancient sacrificial system as previously practiced. Relationship with Kohanim Main articles : Kohen and Priesthood ( Ancient Israel ) The Kohanim are traditionally believed and halachically required to be of direct patrilineal descent from the Biblical Aaron of the Levi tribe. The noun kohen is used in the Torah to refer to priests, both Israelite and non-Israelite, such as the Israelite nation as a whole, as well as the priests ( Hebrew kohanim ) of Baal. During the existence of the Temple in Jerusalem, Kohanim performed the daily and holiday ( Yom Tov ) duties of sacrificial offerings. Today kohanim retain a lesser though somewhat distinct status within Judaism, and are bound by additional restrictions according to Orthodox Judaism. During the Priestly Blessing, the Levites traditionally wash the hands of the Kohanim prior to the blessing of the House of Israel. Bat Levi A Bat Levi ( daughter of a Levite ) is no longer recognized by many rishonim as having lineal sanctity in both Orthodox and Conservative Judaism, stemming from her traditional eligibility to receive proceeds of the Levitical tithe ( Maaser Rishon ). In both Orthodox Judaism and Conservative Judaism, children of a Bat Levi, regardless of her marital status or husband 's tribe, retain the traditional exemption for their children from the requirement of being redeemed through the Pidyon HaBen. Contrary to popular belief, this is not due to any sort of lineal sanctity, but rather, it is a mitzvah similar to all other mitzvahs. Conservative Judaism permits a Bat Levi to perform essentially all the rituals a male Levi would perform, including being called to the Torah for the Levite aliyah in those Conservative synagogues which have both retained traditional tribal roles and modified traditional gender roles. In Israel, Conservative / Masorti Judaism has not extended Torah honors to either a bat Kohen or a bat Levi. The Levites and the Holocaust Main article : Holocaust theology In 1938, with the outbreak of violence that would come to be known as Kristallnacht, American Orthodox rabbi Menachem HaKohen Risikoff wrote about the central role he saw for Priests and Levites in terms of Jewish and world responses, in worship, liturgy, and teshuva, repentance. In The Priests and the Levites, he stressed that members of these groups exist in the realm between history ( below ) and redemption ( above ), and must act in a unique way to help move others to prayer and action, and help bring an end to suffering. He wrote, `` Today, we also are living through a time of flood, Not of water, but of a bright fire, which burns and turns Jewish life into ruin. We are now drowning in a flood of blood... Through the Kohanim and Levi'im help will come to all Israel. '' Levite population Levite Y - chromosome studies A 2003 study of the Y - chromosome by Behar et al. pointed to multiple origins for Ashkenazi Levites, a priestly class who comprise approximately 4 % among the Ashkenazi Jews. It found that Haplogroup R1a1a ( R - M17 ), uncommon in the Middle East or among Sephardi Jews, is present in over 50 % of Ashkenazi Levites, while the rest of Ashkenazi Levites ' paternal lineage is of certain Middle Eastern origin. Haplogroup R1a1a is found at the highest levels among people of Eastern European descent, with 50 to 65 % among Sorbs, Poles, Russians, and Ukrainians. In South Asia, R1a1a has often been observed with high frequency in a number of demographic groups, reaching over 70 % in West Bengal Brahmins in India and among the Mohani tribe in Sindh province in Pakistan. Behar suggested a founding event, probably involving one or very few European men, occurring at a time close to the initial formation and settlement of the Ashkenazi community as a possible explanation. As Nebel, Behar and Goldstein speculate, `` although neither the NRY haplogroup composition of the majority of Ashkenazi Jews nor the microsatellite haplotype composition of the R1a1 haplogroup within Ashkenazi Levites is consistent with a major Khazar or other European origin, as has been speculated by some authors ( Baron 1957 ; Dunlop 1967 ; Ben - Sasson 1976 ; Keys 1999 ), one can not rule out the important contribution of a single or a few founders among contemporary Ashkenazi Levites. '' A 2013 paper by Siiri Rootsi et al. confirmed a Near or Middle Eastern origin for all Ashkenazi Levites, including the R1a Y - chromosome carriers, and refuted the Khazar origin : Previous Y - chromosome studies have demonstrated that Ashkenazi Levites, members of a paternally inherited Jewish priestly caste, display a distinctive founder event within R1a, the most prevalent Y - chromosome haplogroup in Eastern Europe. Here we report the analysis of 16 whole R1 sequences and show that a set of 19 unique nucleotide substitutions defines the Ashkenazi R1a lineage. While our survey of one of these, M582, in 2,834 R1a samples reveals its absence in 922 Eastern Europeans, we show it is present in all sampled R1a Ashkenazi Levites, as well as in 33.8 % of other R1a Ashkenazi Jewish males and 5.9 % of 303 R1a Near Eastern males, where it shows considerably higher diversity. Moreover, the M582 lineage also occurs at low frequencies in non-Ashkenazi Jewish populations. In contrast to the previously suggested Eastern European origin for Ashkenazi Levites, the current data are indicative of a geographic source of the Levite founder lineage in the Near East and its likely presence among pre-Diaspora Hebrews. Lineage Having a last name of Levi or a related term does not necessarily mean a person is a Levite, and some Levites do not have such last names. Levitical status is passed down in families from parent to child, as part of a family 's genealogical tradition. Tribal status of Levite is determined by patrilineal descent, so a child whose biological father is a Levite ( in cases of adoption or artificial insemination, status is determined by the genetic father ), is also considered a Levite. Jewish status is determined by matrilineal descent, thus conferring levitical status onto children requires both biological parents to be Israelites and the biological father to be a Levite. Currently the only branches of Judaism which regard Jewish status as being conferable by both parents have largely abolished tribal statuses and distinctions, due to a view in both cases that egalitarian principles override halakha ( traditional Jewish law ). Accordingly, there is currently no branch of Judaism that regards levitical status as conferable by matrilineal descent. It is either conferable patrilineally, in the traditional manner, or it does not exist and is not conferred at all. Notable descendants In tradition Moses Aaron Ezekiel Isaiah Jeremiah Samuel Habakkuk Malachi Miriam Ezra Korah John the Baptist Levite surnames This section does not cite any sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. ( April 2014 ) Some Levites have adopted a related last name to signify their priestly status. Because of diverse geographical locations, the names have several variations : Alouwi, Arabic variant, of Sephardic origin Aguiló - surname to the Jews from Mallorca ( Xuetes ). Bazes -- a Levite Surname. Benveniste - a Sephardic Levite surname. Epstein - one of the European lineages descended from Zerahiah Ha - Levi of Sepharad HaLevi, Halevi and Halevy - Hebrew language and all translate to `` the Levi '' or `` the Levite ''. Horowitz HaLevi, or simply Horowitz / Hurwitz / Gurvich / Gurevich - a European Levite surname, tracing to Isaiah Horowitz HaLevi - a descendant of Zerahiah Ha - Levi of Sepharad Lavi - a common Levite surname Leevi - Finnish variation. Lev - simplified Russian variation of Levi Levai and Levay - a Levitic surname, originally meaning `` a person from Levice '' but today it is used by Jews who were forced to change their name during the Holocaust. Leven - Swedish variation. Lévi, Levi, Lévy or Levy - Hebrew for `` Levite '', equally common in Ashkenasic and Sephardic groups. Levian / Livian / Benlevi / Liviem - Persian - Jewish variations. Lević, - also Levinić, Prelević, Croatian or Serbian variations. Levin - Russian variation, also Levine, Lavin or Lavine ( / ləˈviːn /, rhyming with `` ravine '', or in some cases further anglicised to / ləˈvaɪn /, rhyming with `` divine '' ) and Lewin a Polish variation. Sometimes supplemented with German `` thal '' ( valley ) to Levinthal or Leventhal and - sohn and - son to Levinson or Levinsohn as a patronymic, and with Slavic - ski and - sky suffixes Levinski, Levinsky, Lewinski and Lewinsky ( the `` e '' often replaced with `` a '' in German areas ). Levit, - also Levitt, typically from the Bessarabia region of Romania, Moldova and southern Ukraine. Levita - Elia Levita, an ancestor of David Cameron Leviyev - the Russified surname ( adding the yev / ev ) that many Bukharian Jews of Central Asia have. Sometimes spelled Leviev or even Levaev. Lewi or Lewj ( Polish, Levi and Levy ) Lewicki - Polish `` of the Levites '', also Lewicka, Lewycka, Lewycki, Lewycky, Lewicky, Levicki, Levicky ( can also originate from placenames in Poland ). Lewita : - Polish Levite or Levita Latinized, with Slavic suffix - an / in Lewitan, Levitan, Levitin, Lewitin, Lewitinn, and with additional suffix - ski / sky Levitanski, Lewitanski, Levitansky, also Lewitas, Levitas, Lithuanian, Belorussian, also but rare Lefite, Lafite, Lafitte, of French Sephardic origin. Variants from Yiddish Leyvik, a pet form of Leyvi : Levitch Ukrainian variant, also Levicz, Levis, Levitz, Lewicz, Lewitz, Lewis, and with - ski and - sky suffixes Leviczky, Levitski, Levitsky, Lewitski and Lewitsky ( `` e '' and `` s '' often replaced with `` a '' and `` z '' in German areas ). Loewy, Löwi, Löwy and Loewe German or Swiss variations ( although the usual origin for these names is Löwe, the German word for `` lion '' ). Segal - shortened `` Segen Levi '' ( secondary Levite ) Urfali or Levi Urfali ( also Levi Abud, Levi Aslan, Levi Hamami - an Urfalim community surname, which was mostly Levite in origin Zemmel - shortened `` Zecher mi - Shevet Levi '' ( descendant of the Levite tribe ) Modern Levites The following is a list of Levites in modern times : Frank Gehry Yaakov Yitzchak Horowitz ( HaLevi ) Efraim Halevy Saadia Kobashi Norman Lear Primo Levi Claude Lévi - Strauss Chaim Herzog See also bat - Kohen Samaritans Urfalim Footnotes ^ Levites comprise a subgroup of about 4 % of world Jewry. Combined with Kohanim, who are also Levites, the subgroup forms roughly 8 % of the Jewish population worldwide, or about 1 -- 1.1 million. Levites also comprise one of the four surviving families of Samaritans, where they serve the role of High Priests due to the fact that the last Samaritan High Priest Cohanic family went extinct in the 17th century. References Jump up ^ `` Medical Definition of Levite ''. Retrieved 2017 - 02 - 19. Jump up ^ Numbers 18 : 21 - 25 Jump up ^ Joshua 13 : 33, cited in Herbermann, Charles, ed. ( 1913 ). `` Levites ''. Catholic Encyclopedia. New York : Robert Appleton Company. Jump up ^ Deuteronomy 18 : 2 Jump up ^ `` The general procedure of the Priestly Blessing is : After * Kedushah the priests prepare themselves, removing their shoes and washing their hands with the assistance of the levites, whereafter they ascend the platform before the Ark. '' `` Priestly Blessing. '' Jewish Virtual Library. Jump up ^ Rivash '' 15 ; `` Divrei Yatziv '' by R ' Y. Halberstam, E.H. 6 ; `` Yechaveh Da'at '' by R ' O. Yosef, V 61 ) Jump up ^ `` Rivash '' 15 ; `` Divrei Yatziv '' by R ' Y. Halberstam Jump up ^ Joel Roth, The Status of Daughters of Kohanim and Leviyim for Aliyot, Rabbinical Assembly Jump up ^ See : Robert A. ( Rafael ) Harris, Rabbinical Assembly of Israel 's Law Committee Teshuvah : `` The First Two Aliyot for a Bat Kohen and a Bat Levi. '' Pages 31 -- 33 in Responsa of the Va'ad Halacha of the Rabbinical Assembly of Israel 5748 -- 5749 ( 1989 ). Volume 3. Jerusalem : The Rabbinical Assembly of Israel and the Masorti Movement ( Hebrew ; English Summary, vii -- viii ). Jump up ^ הכהנים והלוים HaKohanim vHaLeviim ( 1940 ) Jump up ^ Gershon Greenberg, `` Kristallnacht : The American Ultra-Orthodox Jewish Theology of Response, '' in Maria Mazzenga ( editor ), American Religious Responses to Kristallnacht, Palgrave MacMillan : 2009, pp158 - 172. Jump up ^ Underhill, PA ; Myres, NM ; Rootsi, S ; Metspalu, M ; Zhivotovsky, LA ; King, RJ ; Lin, AA ; Chow, CE ; Semino, O ; Battaglia, V ; Kutuev, I ; Järve, M ; Chaubey, G ; Ayub, Q ; Mohyuddin, A ; Mehdi, SQ ; Sengupta, S ; Rogaev, EI ; Khusnutdinova, EK ; Pshenichnov, A ; Balanovsky, O ; Balanovska, E ; Jeran, N ; Augustin, DH ; Baldovic, M ; Herrera, RJ ; Thangaraj, K ; Singh, V ; Singh, L ; Majumder, P ; Rudan, P ; Primorac, D ; Villems, R ; Kivisild, T ( 2010 ). `` Separating the post-Glacial coancestry of European and Asian Y chromosomes within haplogroup R1a ''. Eur. J. Hum. Genet. 18 : 479 -- 84. doi : 10.1038 / ejhg. 2009.194. PMC 2987245. PMID 19888303. Jump up ^ Balanovsky 2008. Jump up ^ Sengupta 2006. Jump up ^ Behar DM, Thomas MG, Skorecki K, et al. ( October 2003 ). `` Multiple origins of Ashkenazi Levites : Y chromosome evidence for both Near Eastern and European ancestries ''. American Journal of Human Genetics. 73 ( 4 ) : 768 -- 779. doi : 10.1086 / 378506. PMC 1180600. PMID 13680527. Jump up ^ Goldstein, David B. ( 2008 ). `` 3 ''. Jacob 's legacy : A genetic view of Jewish history. Yale University Press. pp. location 873 ( Kindle for PC ). ISBN 978 - 0 - 300 - 12583 - 2. Jump up ^ Siiri Rootsi ; Doron M. Behar ; Mari Järve ; Alice A. Lin ; et al. ( 2013 ). `` Phylogenetic applications of whole Y - chromosome sequences and the Near Eastern origin of Ashkenazi Levites ''. Nature Communications. 4 : 1. doi : 10.1038 / ncomms3928. PMC 3905698. PMID 24346185. Jump up ^ Luke 1 : 5 - 6 Jump up ^ `` David Cameron ' may be directly descended from Moses ' ''. Mail Online. 20 July 2009. Retrieved 18 December 2013. Jump up ^ PBS Show Finding Your Roots broadcast February 2, 2016 Jump up ^ PBS Show Finding Your Roots broadcast January 26, 2016 ^ Jump up to : Bradman et al. 1999. Jump up ^ Sean Ireton ( 2003 ). `` The Samaritans - A Jewish Sect in Israel : Strategies for Survival of an Ethno - religious Minority in the Twenty First Century ''. Anthrobase. Retrieved 2007 - 11 - 29. Further reading Grena, G.M. ( 2004 ). LMLK : A Mystery Belonging to the King vol. 1. Redondo Beach, California : 4000 Years of Writing History. ISBN 0 - 9748786 - 0 - X. External links Twenty - four places in tanach where the Kohanim are called Levi'im - Kehuna.org The Cohen - Levi Family Heritage LeviteDNA.org - website on R1a Ashkenazi Levites Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Levite&oldid=814019501 '' Categories : Levites Torah people Hebrew Bible words and phrases Jewish religious occupations Hidden categories : Pages with numeric Bible version references Articles incorporating a citation from the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia with Wikisource reference All articles with dead external links Articles with dead external links from December 2017 Articles with permanently dead external links Articles containing Hebrew - language text `` Related ethnic groups '' needing confirmation Articles needing additional references from December 2009 All articles needing additional references Articles needing additional references from April 2014 Talk Contents About Wikipedia Languages Беларуская Български Brezhoneg Čeština Dansk Deutsch Esperanto Euskara فارسی 한국어 Bahasa Indonesia Italiano עברית Magyar Nederlands Norsk Polski Русский සිංහල Suomi Svenska Tagalog தமிழ் ไทย Türkçe Українська 中文 Edit links This page was last edited on 6 December 2017, at 13 : 15. 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Question: what is a levite according to the bible
Answer: a Jewish male whose descent is traced by tradition to Levi