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Drash for Shabbat Tzav/Hagadol By Jim Capin - March 30, 2007 In this week's portion, God commands Moses to perform several tasks. The text proceeds with the instructions regarding the laws of sacrifice. The portion further describes how a class of priests is to be anointed. The priests are to be Aaron and his sons. These priests would come be known as the Kohanim. Based on this passage it is traditionally believed that all Kohanim are the direct male descendants of Aaron. Though the rituals described in Tzav are outdated and have been abandoned, some elements of these verses have survived the test of time. During the 1990's, a self identified Kohen, Dr. Karl Skorecki teamed up with a University of Arizona professor, Michael Hammer, to conduct a DNA study to find linkages to the past. The results of this study were first reported in January of 1997, in the British science journal, Nature. Further studies have identified what is now known as the Cohen Modal Haplotype, which is the standard genetic signature of the Jewish priestly family. The signature exists in both the Ashkenazi (European) and Sephardic (North African and Spanish) communities. In fact, these DNA studies have dated the origin of this line and have found it to be 3300 years ago, the approximate time of the Exodus from Egypt. Jewish genetic tests can have some surprising results. As Ashkenazic Jews of European descent, my wife Vicki and I have had our own experience with DNA testing. We are both carriers of the recessive gene which causes Tay-Sachs disease, a devastating disease that afflicts children and is fatal in most cases by age 5. Unfortunately, we did not discover that we were carriers until after Vicki was pregnant with our twins, Erica and Richard. Thankfully, further testing revealed that neither child would develop the disease. As their Mitzvah project Erica and Richard have chosen to raise local awareness of Tay-Sachs and other genetic diseases that effect the Jewish population. As Jews we are all spiritually linked to our ancestors. Through genetics we are learning that these links are not only spiritual but they are also physical, and they do touch us in our daily lives. Shabbat Shalom.
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