MY SON-IN-LAW IS A LEVY, I have a Brother-In-Law (once removed1) who is a cohan.
(Unlike some places, these two really ARE what their names indicate.)
This morning my Son-In-Law, as he usually does, came out on the balcony where I “slap leather”2 to smoke his first roll-your-own of the day.
I was at the Psalm of the Day where I read
ביום שלישי בשבת
HAVING DONE MY TIME with the U.S. Air Force (back when the Wright Bros. were making bicycles), I had this vision of military housing.
For the levi’im, probably an open barracks, a la’ basic training. That put about 60 guys in one two-story building.
Today, of course, the barracks would have central heat (the Temple is in Jerusalem, after all3) and air conditioning.
Chart from Holiday-Weather.com (https://tinyurl.com/7j3fv9t6)
Perhaps senior levi’im would have, as I did as “permanent party” at Orlando AFB, two-man rooms with a bathroom shared by the entire barracks of about 26 airmen.
Cohanim, like line officers, would have slightly better quarters, equivalent to Bachelor Officers’ Quarters (BOQs); two-man rooms with a shared bathroom between two rooms.
Senior cohanim, like staff officers, might have a small apartment, complete with kitchen. After all, who wants to eat with “lesser” beings?
The COHAN GADOL of course would have appropriate quarters. That means a single-family residence suitable for Israel’s prime minister; plush, grandiose, gold-plated fixtures.
The mess (dining) halls for the “junior” levi’im and cohanim could be open areas, with suitable separation between the classes. Grab a tray and advance down the serving line a’ la cafeteria style.
The “senor” levi’im would have their own dining area; likewise ”senior” cohanim.
Levi’im would have meals brought to their table (by Israel'im?); levi’im would serve the cohanim.
The COHAN GADOL of course will dine in suitable surroundings with a select company. The levi’im will act as waiters.
(Who does the cooking and the dishes? Israel’im, of course. We also get the cleaning tasks: clearing tables, mopping floors, washing out trash cans. Been there, done that.)
It was interesting to think of my Son-In-Law doing a tour of duty in Jerusalem. Akin to the Israeli army, levi’im and cohanim serve until they are 50 years old (then, rather than retire to a condo on the beach, they hang around as mentors).
It’s not as bad as it appears.
Similar to most 24-hour operations, the Temple “crews” work by shifts.
And, similar to the military, levi’im and Israel’im on KP (kitchen duty) rotate that duty with other jobs — as I did in basic and advanced training.
Notes
1. Shlomo actually is my wife’s sister’s husband, ergo “once removed.”
2. I am “trapped” in the apartment, being unable to open the building’s heavy door from either a halikon (walker) or kalnoette (mobility scooter).
3. Typical Jerusalem temperature range: 8oC (46oF) in January to 23oC (73oF) in July
PLAGIARISM is the act of appropriating the literary composition of another, or parts or passages of his writings, or the ideas or language of the same, and passing them off as the product of one’s own mind.
Truth is an absolute defense to defamation. Defamation is a false statement of fact. If the statement was accurate, then by definition it wasn’t defamatory.
Web sites (URLs) beginning https://tinyurl.com/ are generated by the free Tiny URL utility and reduce lengthy URLs to manageable size.
