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High Priests
Who says who the high priest of a religion is? What are the requirements? Must there be some sort of genetic linkage, or an apostolic succession given by the Holy Spirit speaking for God, or even a sign of reincarnation?
 We curiously watch the Buddhist exiles seeking the new Buddha in propitiously born children from all parts of the world and wonder if we are loco or do they really have a sense of reincarnation. When I was in Tibet, I visited an 8-year-old Buddha prospect who was already in constant training for his future, really cut off from normal life, no playmates, no parents, but a wise guardian who taught him the ropes. I was horrified that he had no toys, and so sent him boxes of Legos, for which I got approval. He would never have the life of a normal child. I wonder if Jesus did.
For most in the Christian faith, the Catholic Pope is the highest priest of the apostolic catholic church. He has been the link to heaven, to God since Jesus gave the keys to Peter. He has more authority over his domain than the highly respected Archbishop of Canterbury, who, sadly, has no say-so (he cannot obligate) how the various Anglican-Episcopal provinces run their affairs. The Archbishop is named by the Queen of England, herself one of the only historically successive royal families still occupying the throne (in spite of some of “The Crown” ’s drama). At least the Queen traces her lineage back to William the Conqueror (William the Bastard), the first Normal King of England in 1066 and all that. A Pope, on the other hand, is voted on by a world congregation of international Bishops (115 or of them) all who feel they are inspired by the wishes of the Holy Spirit. The most votes - at least 77 - wins, and the black smoke turns white as it blows into the heavens.
When the Pope declares, people jump. He is more than the Eastern Orthodox high priests, also catholic based, who pray for the poor and hungry while adorned in elaborate dress in icon-stuffed basilicas that take one’s breath away. For centuries, these were emperor-appointed and usually had risen from the numerous povertous monks living in monasteries throughout Slavia. High Bishops were called Patriarchs, and one was situated in each of Rome, Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, Jerusalem, and in Moscow. Russian patriarchs were linked tightly with the tsar selection system, until there were no more Tsars, thanks to the Bolsheviks. More democratically, the people of the Russian church now elect their own patriarch.
I remember as a little girl, I thought the Roman Catholics were so lucky because they just had to talk to a priest called “Father and not get punished. He was dressed in black with what seemed (from a child’s view) a purple necktie untied and hanging around his neck. Once they had “confessed” everything they had ever done to upset their parents, they were pardoned. And they would get no more spankings for it. Punishment was to say a few Hail Mary’s and the Lord’s prayer. The priest had been given the okay by the Pope, who was closest to Jesus Christ, to grant forgiveness on his behalf for our bad behavior.
Episcopalians or Anglicans in those years didn’t call our priests “Father.” Now we have sort of swung onto the catholic bandwagon, which has posed a problem now that women ordained to the priesthood don’t know what they should be called. Many have asked me if I should be called “father” or “mother”. I just say, called me Audrey. But I call any Bishop “Bishop” since it is such a high honor.
In the forties and fifties, I never knew much more than that I was Episcopalian and that we had a nice jolly man who was our minister. We all loved him. His name was Tom Roberts, but we didn’t have to crawl secretly into a wooden box like an elevator to get special pardon for when we misbehaved. I don’t remember having any idea how we got the bad things off God’s list. So, in a way, I envied my cousin and best friend who was a Roman Catholic. She had no doubt about who was the highest priest of all who could set things right and tell her when she was no longer in the bad graces of her parents. The Pope was positioned right next to God.
Watching the TV news commentary Sixty Minutes, years ago, I saw a fascinating program on the Jewish high priests who trace back to Aaron. Not all do, but there was still some surviving today. Like all Jewish Rabbis, and priests (there is a difference), they pray at the Western Wall, wear the white shawls and little boxes that look like the ones brides put wedding cakes in to give to their guests. Most of the men have beards. Gray ones. Black ones. And they were peculiar hats, sometimes with mink borders and finger curl their long hair. The Orthodox Jews in Jerusalem are fascinating, holy, dedicated and passed by without a glimpse at us. Regular Jews, like those working in the markets, were hysterically funny and great salesmen. But to be a high priest is something about which there is no argument because it passes through families. The son has the same privilege as the father. And they all trace back to Aaron and even to Abraham, through the male Y chromosomes. (I too, have discovered in my genealogical research, that my family trace back to various Jewish lines, the family of Jesus, and Abraham; probably you do too.)
A geneticist, using the DNA discoveries, has made extensive tests on Jewish high priests. All of them in Israel who are true high priests from the Aaron line, which is directly descended from Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, have the same DNA makeup of genes. There is something special about them that separates them from all other Jews. The high priests offer sacrifices in temples. Rabbis, not priests, teach the Torah and preach in synagogues
Jews are united by one thing - they all call Abraham their patriarch. Two hundred generations and two and a half thousands of years later, they still claim that a person is Jewish if he or she has a Jewish mother. Biological descent, rather than religious conviction, is the crucial criterion. It’s pure genetics, and not necessarily conversion from one faith to the Jewish faith. Genes are similar where people are neighbors and less so when they live further apart. Basically the genetic family tree of Jews from Europe show they are not a unique group, biologically distant from others around them. There is little evidence of common ancestry that gives Jews at least a partial identity of their own. Since the Diaspora, the exile from Palestine, there has been too much interchange and intermarriage and movements within various faiths, so that today, there are various shades of Jewishness.
Now Jewish identity has spread as far as tribes of Pathans, Afghans, Burmese, American Indians, Mormons and even Japanese. The Shinto Temples are said to be copies of the Second Temple of Jerusalem and the Star of David or something similar is on the Ise Shrine. It is even said the Japanese Royal Regalia, never seen by the outside world, includes a mirror upon which is engraved the word Jehovah. (I found that information on the internet in an article by Steve Jones.) But what really tickled my fancy was the discovery of a very rare and special tribe of Bantus, the Lemba, of Southern Africa, who also claim Jewish heritage. Well, Simon who had come to Jerusalem, and was called to carry the cross for Jesus, was from Ethiopia and probably black.
We must remember that Jews have been trying to find their twelve Lost Tribes since the fall of Megiddo in 722 BC. After that tragedy, the tribes of Judah and Benjamin in the Southern Kingdom survived for a while. Judah was soon conquered by the Babylonians and Solomon’s Temple destroyed. Cyrus of Persia conquered the Babylonians, but most Jews chose not to return to Palestine, but rather to scatter across the world. Today there are more than 14 million Jews claiming descent from the ancient wandering Jews. Only the Samaritans stayed in their native land but the Jews have rejected them as being kinfolks of their faith. The scattering, however, is the principle Jewish people hope for the future. Biblical prophecy says that the Jews must scatter to the ends of the earth before the Messiah can appear. So we are waiting, because they have certainly scattered.
~ Rev
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audrey@audreytaylorgonzalez.com
www.audreytaylorgonzalez.com
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