A Blaze of Light

[HelenOE]

A nice blog entry about the role of good literature in general, and "Hallelujah" in particular, on one's inner life: A Blaze of Light.

[seadove]

It's not by chance that Leonard Cohen mentions "Blaze of Light".

In accordance to the Kaballah it is believed that every letter of the Hebrew language has a
huge importance to the use of it. Care must be taken to compose names, for example, because these letters have a powerful impact on life for good or for bad. It's not coincidence that Jewish people frequently consult with Rabbis as to how to name children when they come to the world. These names are usually composed in accordance with Numerology and the 4 elements of life (wind, fire, etc).

And all this because it is believed that the Hebrew letters cause blazes of light when used. When someone, for example, becomes terribly sick another name is added to how he is called, and it is done in order to "mend" his name.

It seems that Lenny is not just an ordinary composer of songs. He certainly knows his material very well.

Cohen, for example, is a very powerful combination of Hebrew letters to compose a name which means "Head of Congrigation". If you look up the Google you will find that a Cohen has a unique chromosone that only male Cohens have and is passed from a male Cohen to another.

Look it up.

[HelenOE]

I didn't know that about the Kabbalah blaze of light. Fascinating. I did know about the genetic marker (something on the Y chromosome I believe). It's not just Cohens (Cohans, Kohns, etc.) who have it, but also Levis, Levines, Levins, etc, and it lends genetic support to the idea that these names truly do reflect descent from the Biblical tribe of Levi. All the Levites were originally tasked to work in the Tabernacle (the movable Temple in a tent)-- set-up, tear-down, transportation, maintenance (yup, the tribe of Levi were the roadies of ancient Israel) but within the tribe of Levi only Aaron, the brother of Moses, and his male descendants were Kohans, the priests. From what I remember reading, something like two-thirds of the Jewish males with Levitical surnames who were genetically tested had the chromosomal marker, which by the way also suggests an impressive degree of marital fidelity over the years, since only one out-cross over the last three thousand years or so would be enough to lose the marker in that line.

[seadove]

The unique Y chromosomes are that of the Cohens only. The Levis don't have it.

Read here: http://www.cousinsplus.com/families/CousinsPlus/Devout/

[HelenOE]

I sit corrected. Here's waaaay more information on the subject, but effectively it says what you did. It seems that at some point the rabbinic rules for determining who was a Levite were loosened.

[seadove]

I sit corrected. Here's waaaay more information on the subject, but effectively it says what you did. It seems that at some point the rabbinic rules for determining who was a Levite were loosened.

Yet it is important to determine who is a Levite. You see, in Synagogues the Levites have certain duties to attend to. One of them is to be called up to read the 2nd verse of the relevant Torah that is read on it's own week. It's done as follows:

1. First comes the Cohen who opens with the first verse. The Cohens also bless the attendants with his famous Cohen blessing.

2. The Levite, reading the 2nd verse.

3. From here on the regular Israelites.

[HelenOE]

I'm just glad that it's the rabbis' problem, not mine, to determine that!