Letter & Spirit: Is the Hereditary Kehunah Undemocratic?
In this week’s edition of Letter & Spirit, in honor of Parshas Tetzaveh, we present a letter from the Rebbe in which he comments on an article which discusses the seeming inconsistency between “the otherwise democratic orientation of Judaism” and the fact that there exists a hereditary aristocracy in the persons of the Kohanim and Levyim. The letter was written through the Rebbe’s trusted secretary Rabbi Nissan Mindel, and was made available by the latter’s son-in-law, Rabbi Sholom Ber Shapiro.
