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Hereditary priest in Judaism
2=the Hawaiian religious practitioner

Kohen (, kōhēn, , "priest", pl. כֹּהֲנִים, kōhănīm, , "priests") is the Hebrew word for "priest", used in reference to the Aaronic priesthood, also called Aaronites or Aaronides. They are traditionally believed and halakhically required to be of direct patrilineal descent from the biblical Aaron (also Aharon), brother of Moses, and thus belong to the Tribe of Levi. During the existence of the Temple in Jerusalem (and previously the Tabernacle), kohanim performed the Temple sacrificial offerings, which were only permitted to be offered by them. Following its destruction, it seems that most of them joined the Synagogal Jewish movement before adopting gradually Rabbinic Judaism or Christianity. Today, kohanim retain a lesser though distinct status within Rabbinic and Karaite Judaism, including certain honors and restrictions. In the Samaritan community, the kohanim have remained the primary religious leaders. Ethiopian Jewish religious leaders are sometimes called kahen, a form of the same word, but the position is not hereditary and their duties are more like those of rabbis than kohanim in most Jewish communities.

The word kohen originally derives from a Semitic root common at least to the Central Semitic languages. In the ancient polytheistic religion of Phoenicia, the word for priest was khn The cognate Arabic word كاهن (kāhin) means "priest". The noun kohen is used in the Bible to refer to priests, whether Jewish or pagan (such as the kohanim of Baal or Dagon), although Christian priests are referred to in modern Hebrew by the term komer (כומר). Kohanim can also refer to the Jewish nation as a whole, as in , where the whole of Israel is addressed as a "priestly kingdom (or: kingdom of priests) and a holy nation". In Targum Yonatan, interpretive translations of the word kohen include "friend", "master", and "servant". Other interpretations include "minister" (Mechilta to Parshah Jethro, Exodus 18:1–20:23).

Priestly duties involved offering the Temple sacrifices, and delivering the Priestly Blessing. When the Temple existed, most sacrifices and offerings could only be conducted by priests. Non priest Levites (i. e. those who descended from Levi but not from Aaron) performed a variety of other Temple roles, including ritual slaughter of sacrificial animals, song service by use of voice and musical instruments, and various tasks in assisting the priests in performing their service. The kohanim were not granted any ancestral land to own. Instead, they were compensated for their service to the nation and in the Temple through the twenty four kohanic gifts. Most of these gifts are related to Temple sacrifices, or else the agricultural produce of the Land of Israel (such as terumah). A notable gift which is given even in the Jewish diaspora is the five shekels of the pidyon haben ceremony.

Numerous Biblical passages attest to the role of the priests in teaching Torah to the people and in issuing judgment. Later rabbinic statements elaborate on these roles. However, the priest's religious authority is not automatic: even a bastard who is a scholar takes precedence over an ignorant high priest.

In every generation when the Temple was standing, one kohen would be singled out to perform the functions of the High Priest (Hebrew kohen gadol). His primary task was the Day of Atonement service. Another unique task of the high priest was the offering of a daily meal sacrifice; he also held the prerogative to supersede any priest and offer any offering he chose. Although the Torah retains a procedure to select a High Priest when needed, in the absence of the Temple in Jerusalem, there is no High Priest in Judaism today.

According to Chronicles 24:3–5 (HE), King David divided the priests into 24 priestly divisions (Heb. משמרות, mishmarot). Each division would perform the Temple service for one week in a 24 week cycle, with all divisions eligible to serve on holidays. According to the Talmud, this was an expansion of a previous division, by Moses, into 8 (or 16) divisions. Following the destruction of the Second Temple, and the displacement to the Galilee of the bulk of the remaining Jewish population after the Bar Kokhba revolt, Jewish tradition in the Talmud and poems from the period record that the descendants of each priestly watch established a separate residential seat in towns and villages of the Galilee, and maintained this residential pattern for at least several centuries in anticipation of the reconstruction of the Temple and reinstitution of the cycle of priestly courses. In subsequent years, there was a custom of publicly recalling every Shabbat in the synagogues the courses of the priests, a practice that reinforced the prestige of the priests' lineage. Following this destruction, it seems that most of them joined the Synagogal Jewish movement ; before being gradually converted towards Rabbinic Judaism and Christianity. or thirty. There was no mandatory retirement age. Only when a kohen became physically infirm could he no longer serve. A kohen may become disqualified from performing his service for a host of reasons, including ritual impurity, prohibited marriages, and certain physical blemishes. The kohen is never permanently disqualified from service, but may return to his normal duties once the disqualification ceases.

Since the destruction of the Second Temple, Jewish priests have not performed sacrificial services. However, they retain a formal and public ceremonial role in synagogue prayer services, as well as some other unique religious duties and privileges. These special roles have been maintained in Orthodox Judaism, and sometimes in Conservative Judaism. Reform Judaism does not afford any special status or recognition to kohanim.

When the Torah reading is performed in synagogue, it is divided into a number of sections. Traditionally, a kohen (if one is present) is called for the first section (aliyah), a Levite for the second reading, and an "Israelite" (non kohen, non levite) for all succeeding portions. If no Levite is present, the kohen is called for the second aliyah as well. The Maftir portion may be given to someone from any of the three groups.

The kohanim participating in an Orthodox and some other styles of traditional Jewish prayer service also deliver the priestly blessing during the repetition of the Amidah prayer. They perform this service by standing and facing the crowd in the front of the congregation, with their arms held outwards and their hands and fingers in a specific formation, with a Jewish prayer shawl or Talit covering their heads and outstretched hands so that their fingers cannot be seen. Kohanim living in Israel and many Sephardic Jews living in areas outside Israel deliver the priestly blessing daily; Ashkenazi Jews living outside Israel deliver it only on major Jewish holidays.

Outside the synagogue, the kohen leads the pidyon haben ceremony. This redemption of the first born son is based on the Torah commandment, "all the first born of man among thy sons shalt thou redeem".

prohibits marriage between a kohen and certain classes of women. According to rabbinic law, these classes include divorcees, non Jews, converts (who were previously non Jews), and women who have previously engaged in certain forbidden sexual relationships (even if involuntary, i. e., rape). If a kohen did have relations with any of these women, the offspring are described as "profaned" (male: challal, female: challalah); their status is nearly identical to a normal Jew, while the challalah herself is one of the categories which a kohen may not marry. Rape poses an especially poignant problem. The pain experienced by the families of kohanim who were required to divorce their wives as the result of the rapes accompanying the capture of Jerusalem is alluded to in this Mishnah:
If a woman were imprisoned by non Jews concerning money affairs, she is permitted to her husband, but if for some capital offense, she is forbidden to her husband. If a town were overcome by besieging troops, all women of priestly stock found in it are ineligible [to be married to priests or to remain married to priests], but if they had witnesses, even a male or female slave, these may be believed. But no man may be believed for himself. Rabbi Zechariah ben Hakatsab said, "By this Temple, her hand did not stir from my hand from the time the non Jews entered Jerusalem until they went out." They said to him: No man may give evidence of himself. Orthodox Judaism recognizes these rules as still binding, and Orthodox rabbis will not perform a marriage between a kohen and a divorced woman.) Conservative Judaism has issued an emergency takanah (rabbinical edict) temporarily suspending the application of the rules in their entirety, on the grounds that the high intermarriage rate threatens the survival of Judaism, and, hence, that any marriage between Jews is welcomed.

To this day, kohanim keep the prohibition against becoming ritually impure through proximity to a corpse (within the same room, at a cemetery, and elsewhere), except when the deceased is his immediate family member. Some Jewish cemeteries have special facilities to permit kohanim to participate in funerals or visit graves without becoming impure. The presumption of priestly descent is used to help identify kohanim. Other Jews are commanded to respect the priesthood in certain ways. One of these ways is that priests (and in their absence, occasionally Levites) are the first offered the opportunity to lead Birkat Hamazon. Unlike the general rule for aliyot, this offer which is only a requirement according to some Rabbinic opinions may be declined. There are other rules regarding the honoring of kohanim, even in the absence of the Temple, but generally these are waived (if they are even offered) by the kohen.

Kohen is a status that traditionally refers to men, passed from father to son. However, a bat kohen (the daughter of a priest) holds a special status in the Hebrew Bible and rabbinical texts. She is entitled to a number of rights and is encouraged to abide by specified requirements, for example, entitlement to consume some of the priestly gifts, and an increased value for her ketubah. In modern times, Orthodox and many Conservative rabbis maintain the position that only a man can act as a kohen, and that a daughter of a kohen is recognized as a bat kohen only in those limited ways that have been identified in the past. Accordingly, in Orthodox Judaism only men can perform the Priestly Blessing and receive the first aliyah during the public Torah reading. However, some Conservative rabbis give the kohen's daughter equal priestly status to a (male) kohen. As a result, some Conservative synagogues permit a kohen's daughter to perform the Priestly Blessing and the Pidyon HaBen ceremony, and to receive the first aliyah during the Torah reading. Because most Reform and Reconstructionist temples have abolished traditional tribal distinctions, roles, and identities on grounds of egalitarianism, a special status for a bat kohen has very little significance in these movements.

Since the Y chromosome is inherited only from one's father (biological females have no Y chromosome), all direct male lineages share a common haplotype. Thus, if kohanim share a direct male lineage to Aaron, one would expect to see a high level of commonality among their Y chromosomes. Since 1997, a number of genetic studies have been done on this topic, using testing data from across sectors of the Jewish and non Jewish populations. The results of these studies have been interpreted by various parties as either confirming or disproving the traditions of uniform descent.

According to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints, either "literal descendants of Aaron", or worthy Melchizedek priesthood holders have the legal right to constitute the Presiding Bishopric under the authority of the First Presidency To date, all men who have served on the Presiding Bishopric have been Melchizedek priesthood holders, and none have been publicly identified as descendants of Aaron. See also Mormonism and Judaism.

The positioning of the kohen's hands during the Priestly Blessing was Leonard Nimoy's inspiration for Mr. Spock's Vulcan salute in the original Star Trek television series. Nimoy, raised an Orthodox Jew (but not a kohen), used the salute when saying, "Live long and prosper." The Priestly Blessing was used by Leonard Cohen in his farewell blessing during "Whither Thou Goest", the closing song on his concerts. Leonard Cohen himself was from a kohen family. He also used the drawing of the Priestly Blessing as one of his logos.