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JKOHENET (Priestess)
The 20th Century saw a visible reemergence of the Jewish or Hebrew priestess, kohenet in Hebrew. While women have fulfilled the functions of this office since ancient times, recognition of the role was one of the most exciting developments in Jewish and feminist conversation and practice of the 1980s and ‘90s. The word kohenet is a feminized form of the word kohen, a member of the priestly class headed by Moses’ brother Aaron, the High Priest in the ancient Temple in Jerusalem. From Aaron a lineage is traced, in which the sons of a kohen inherited—and continue to inherit—the role of priest. Though the role of kohenet during the Temple period is usually described as one fulfilled only by the wife or daughter of a priest, a number of scholars and practitioners believe that women who were not affiliated with Temple priests also performed priestessing functions before, during, and after this period (Torjesen, 1995; Dever, 2008). This idea emerged from a religious tradition that in contemporary times, has no priests and in ancient times, rarely officially acknowledged the existence of independent priestesses. While the Hebrew Bible does refer to women’s roles as diviners and oracles, prophetesses, healers, magicians and sorceresses, these roles are rarely described as priestly functions; instead, at least in many later interpretations, they are viewed with suspicion or as threatening the status quo. There is literary documentation in the Hebrew Bible and New Testament, for example, of prophetesses such as Huldah being consulted and signs of rituals being done on hilltops and elsewhere; of women serving as priestesses, making offerings and pouring libations for a female deity, often Asherah, at various sacred sites of worship (Dever, 2008).

Rebirth of the Role in Public Spaces
An active conversation about the possibility of Jewish priestesses in both ancient and contemporary times occurred online in virtual spaces such as the Asherah listserv started in the late 1990’s by Jenny Kien in Israel (Reinstating the Divine Woman in Judaism, 2000) and Judith Laura (She Lives! The Return of our Great Mother, 1989, 2010, 2018; Goddess Matters, 2011) in the United States. This concept, which many call a remembering, was supported by the earlier research of scholars including Asphodel Long (In A Chariot Drawn by Lions: the Search for the Female in Deity, 1992); Savina Teubal (Sarah the Priestess, 1984; Ancient Sisterhood, 1997) and Bernadette Brooten, whose Women Leaders in the Ancient Synagogue (1982) provided evidence of women’s religious leadership in ancient Israel/Palestine and Greece during and after the period of Solomon’s Temple. Of equal importance to this discussion were the experiences shared by contemporary women who were already functioning as priestesses in their communities. The impetus to identify the role of a kohenet was born out of:
 * a need to define spiritual leadership roles in addition to rabbi, in a tradition where male clergy still often held the dominant voice despite the fact that Sally Priesand, Lynn Gottlieb and other women started being ordained as rabbis in the early 1970s;
 * the desire to name what some women were already doing;
 * the longing many women felt for stronger connection to G’d and to Judaism, for those alienated by androcentric texts;
 * women’s search for rituals and liturgy which could enfold earth-based practices (both ancient and modern), a feminist spirituality and Jewish practices grounded in the Sacred Feminine.

Early conversations on the subject moved investigation of the work of ancient Jewish priestesses forward, and stimulated the further development of modern priestesses’ practice and training. The early movement was filled with voices of practitioners including activist and spiritual leader Rabbi Leah Novick, a “pathfinder of the Jewish Renewal Movement” (On the Wings of Shekhinah, 2008); the late Savina Teubal, ritualist and biblical scholar; Rabbi Lynn Gottlieb, peace activist and Founder, Shomeret Shalom (She Who Dwells Within, 1995); Rabbi Geela Rayzel Raphael (Rabbinic Director, Jewish Creativity Project; ceremonialist, songwriter) and Susie Kisber, co-leader of Jewitch Collective (http://www.jewitch.org/), a community of Jews, pagans and allies which “draws on earth-based magick to pursue Tikkun Olam, Repair of the World”. Kisber also co-founded Pardes Rimonim, a Jewish feminist, earth-centered, multicultural ritual community in the San Francisco Bay Area in 1995. D’vorah K’lilah, kohenet and founder, Banot ha-Aretz (https://dvrkllh.wordpress.com/) and Shuv Tamid, is a liturgist and creator of new Jewish ceremonies who has been priestessing since 1984. She describes her recent book Flowers of Torah as a “groundbreaking, earth-loving, woman-honoring, historically-inclusive Jewish siddur for personal prayer practice and home use.” It is a book of prayers for the Queen of Heaven “based on millennia of Ancient Near East cultural wisdom.” D’vorah J. Grenn, Ph.D., Founder, The Lilith Institute, 1997, Founding Kohenet of Mishkan Shekhinah and educator, thealogian and ritualist, edited a multi-faith anthology of 72 women's prayers, blessings and meditations (Talking to Goddess, 2009). She first identified herself publicly as kohenet at a Summer Solstice ritual she led in 2000. In 2017, to more accurately reflect her teachings, Dr. Grenn started exploring the title of “en-kohenet”, to indicate that the roots of her class/ritual content often pre-date the Temple and biblical periods, reaching back to the Ishtar literature and beyond. Ketzirah ha'Ma'agelet (Ketzirah the Circle Maker), another kohenet, has pioneered in leading online Sabbath, New Moon (Rosh Chodesh) and other holiday services; she is Director of OneShul, an “online, independent, progressive virtual Jewish community open to anyone”. (http://oneshul.org/) Ketzirah founded Devotaj Sacred Arts Academy, which is “not about learning a specific medium or spiritual path, but rather fully embodying the role of the sacred artist through four portals of practice.” Keshira haLev Fife of Sydney, Australia describes herself as a kohenet, and founded a spiritual community called Kesher (Hebrew for connection), where "she observes Kabbalat Shabbat services, which mark the Jewish day of rest. While Shabbat is a ritual rooted in Judaism, Ms. Fife says her Kesher, which involves music, spoken word, meditation and food, is open to all faiths." (http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-10-01/hebrew-priestess-reclaims-ancient-womens-role/8990590)

Other women who may not identify as kohanot but are doing the work of creating new concepts and liturgies in their communities include: Marcia Falk, who did groundbreaking work in Jewish feminist liturgy with her Book of Blessings (1996), and leads congregations in services and rituals using that prayerbook. Ruth Barrett, a feminist Goddess priestess since the 1970s, applies the Reconstructionist Jewish philosophy she learned as a child to a Dianic wiccan spiritual practice. A dulcimer recording artist and singer-songwriter, Barrett leads ceremonies, teaches and has authored Women's Rites, Women's Mysteries: Intuitive Ritual Creation (2007) and Female Erasure (2016).

Other sacred spaces formed by women which brought in new female-centered liturgies and rituals over the last 30 to 40 years included Sarah’s Tent in Los Angeles, of which Savina Teubal was founding president; in the San Francisco Bay Area, priestess/educator DeAnna L’am led Solstice and Equinox rituals and created a “Red Tents in Every Neighborhood” program. Early inspiration also came from historian, activist and scholar Max Dashu, Founder, Suppressed Histories Archives (1970) and Starhawk, a Jewish pagan and activist whose priestessing began in the 1980s (Dreaming the Dark: Magic, Sex, and Politics, 1982, 1988, 1997; Truth or Dare: Encounters with Power, Authority, and Mystery, 1989; Webs of Power: Notes from the Global Uprising, 2008).

While the office of kohenet is still not regarded as an “authentic” Jewish role by some, the landscape is changing. This change comes out of the efforts of those mentioned here and many others, both practitioners and allies; acceptance may also be expanding because of the development of a formal ordination program offered by the Kohenet Hebrew Priestess Training Institute, founded by Rabbi Jill Hammer and Holly Taya Shere. The Institute held its first session in 2006, and has ordained 40 women as kohanot to date (http://www.kohenet.com/).

Differing Opinions
There are different schools of thought about what it means to be a kohenet. For some practitioners, there is an emphasis on mooring one’s activities primarily to the Hebrew Bible (Torah) and the later Talmud, the primary source of Jewish legal and ethical writings. For others holding the office, while the Torah and Talmud may be among the sacred texts serving as spiritual maps, there is also a great reliance on intuition, weaving in ancient practices to address contemporary needs, drawing on one’s own knowledge, wisdom, creativity and imagination. For all, there is a desire to be of service to one’s community, to perform sacred work in ways which honor the legacy of the past.

Most modern Jewish priestesses work to model an earth-based, embodied, feminist Judaism that includes female divinity/ies. They are usually working towards making positive social, cultural, political and/or ecological change. This activism may be combined with officiating at lifecycle events; creating interfaith ceremonies; serving as consultants for those facing major life crises or transitions; creating blessings and rituals for specific occasions, teaching and writing.(http://www.tabletmag.com/jewish-life-and-religion/43164/priestly-caste; https://forward.com/news/352905/finding-god-whos-a-she-at-the-kohenet-institute/)

Contributed by D’vorah J. Grenn, Ph.D., Kohenet

January 7, 2018