I found out an interesting fact from Jonathan Keren-Black the other day: there is no Kohanim line at the Progressive Judaism Cemetery.
I'm liking the Progressives more and more...
Just one question, why do we still have the Kohenim songs and prayers in our Siddur and Machzor?
Rabbi Jonathan responds:
With regard to a cemetery: There is an ancient belief that being in touch with the dead makes one ritually unclean. This is why there is a tradition to wash after the funeral. At many cemeteries you'll find special taps etc and people going to do so after the funeral. Most Progressive Jews do not worry about such things, either being ignorant of them (as we don't teach them as an important part of Jewish life) or considering them superstition. Common sense would suggest that they are to do with hygiene (and consequently superseded by much more effective modern health regulations) - if a person has died, it may have been from a contagious disease, and washing after any contact would have been a very good idea!).
However, there are special restrictions for Kohanim - the priests could not do their ceremonial work (running the Tabernacle and later the First and Second Temples) if they were impure. Therefore they were not allowed to be in touch with the dead (except very close relatives like parents, unmarried sister etc).
This has been perpetuated even to this day - so a Cohen (a male believed to be descended from the priestly family) is not allowed to come close to the dead. Thus there will be a path or boundary beyond which they should not go at a cemetery. In the Brown's Road Jewish cemetery chapel in Melbourne, the coffin is actually in a separate building, though visible through large matching windows in that building and the chapel. In Kazimierz, the old Jewish part of Krakow in Poland, there is still a sign that says 'COHANIM BEWARE!!! Only the opposite sidewalk can be used for walking on this street!!! The sidewalk on this side and part of the roadway have been paved over graves'. Similarly, El Al adjusts some flight paths to try to avoid flying over cemeteries (!), and there have been stories of Cohanim wrapping themselves in plastic to safeguard themselves (plastic is not listed in the bible as one of the many materials that 'conducts impurity'!).
In the Progressive Jewish world, which has no wish to return to the centralisation of the Temple in Jerusalem, or the daily animal sacrifices, or the sole authority of the priesthood, we therefore have no need or interest to perpetuate the division of the Jewish people into castes: Kohanim (1st class), Levi'im (2nd class) and Yisraelim (the rest, third class)!
So we do not ignore the fact that Kohanim are a part of the ancient Israelite past - but when the Temple was no more, they really had no specific role remaining. Since we see all Jews (and all people) as equals, we do not favour a special responsibility simply by accident of birth into a particular tribe (Levites) or family (Kohanim)- or for that matter of gender (male)! But there are many things to cherish and use, or re-use or recycle from our past, and the 'Priestly blessing 'y'varechecha' is one - May God bless you and keep you; May God enlighten you and be gracious to you; May you feel God's Presence within you, and may it bring you peace' (page 99, Mishkan T'filah, World Union Edition). There is just no reason why this beautiful blessing should be said exclusively by Kohanim, and you'll often find Rabbis using it, for example at a Baby Naming or at a Bat or Bar Mitzvah!
