Year of the Priests

Thousands of Roman Catholic clergy are in Rome to mark the end of the church-designated "Year for Priests." But the celebrations are overshadowed by the worldwide clerical sex abuse scandal.

In the Torah the priests who worked in the Temple in Jerusalem were called Cohanim–an inherited post dating back to Aaron brother of Moshe who brought the Jewish People out of slavery to become a free nation. Aaron was the first priest and his brother Moshe was the first and only celibate.

Fifty days after leaving Egypt the Jewish People arrived at Har Sinai/Mount Hatred and there received the Torah/Teaching. A few days before the giving of the Torah all the people were commanded to separate man from woman–a prohibition removed afterwards from everyone with the exception of Moshe, to his wife’s dismay.

According to the Torah Moshe was closer to God than human had achieved, therefore Moshe was forbidden any other preoccupation or connection. The Cohanim until today trace back to Aaron whose purity was unequaled, yet the law of the priest is they must marry if they wish to work in the Temple.

Christianity has exploited the Torah and her ways to give birth to religion which arrogantly demands respect for their dogma which has no basis in Torah or any other tradition. Who dares to celebrates the Year of the Priest?