Editing Levite

{{Infobox ethnic group
|group      = Levites
|native_name=לויים
|native_name_lang=he
|population = ~500,000–600,000 worldwide{{efn|Levites comprise a subgroup of about 4% of world Jewry.<ref name=bradman>Bradman et al. 1999.</ref> Combined with [[Kohen|Kohanim]], who are also Levites, the subgroup forms roughly 8% of the Jewish population worldwide,<ref name=bradman /> or about 1–1.1 million. Levites also comprise one of the four surviving families of Samaritans, where they serve the role of [[Samaritan High Priest|High Priests]] due to the fact that the last Samaritan High Priest Cohanic family went extinct in the 17th century.<ref name=Ireton>{{cite web|title=The Samaritans – A Jewish Sect in Israel: Strategies for Survival of an Ethno-religious Minority in the Twenty First Century|author=Sean Ireton|publisher=Anthrobase|year=2003 |access-date=2007-11-29|url=http://www.anthrobase.com/Txt/I/Ireton_S_01.htm}}</ref>}}
|region1    = {{flag|Israel}}
|pop1       = 240,000
|region2    = {{USA}}
|pop2       = 200,000
|region3    = {{flag|France}}
|pop3       = 16,000
|region4    = {{flag|Canada}}
|pop4       = 12,000
|region5    = {{flag|India}}
|pop5       = 3,000
|languages = Vernacular:<br/>[[Modern Hebrew|Hebrew]], [[English language|English]] and numerous other languages in the [[Jewish diaspora]]<br/> Historical:<br/>[[Biblical Hebrew]], [[Aramaic language|Aramaic]]
|religions = [[Judaism]], [[Samaritanism]]
|related   = other [[Jews]], [[Samaritans]]
|footnotes = Total percentage of Levites among Jews is about 4%.
}}

'''Levites''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|l|iː|v|aɪ|t}} {{respell|LEE|vyte}}; {{langx|he|לְוִיִּם|Lǝvīyyīm}}) or '''Levi'''<ref>{{cite web |title=Levite synonyms, Levite antonyms|url=https://www.freethesaurus.com/Levite|website=freethesaurus.com|quote=Synonyms for Levite ...  noun a member of the Hebrew tribe of Levi … the branch that provided male assistants to ...}}</ref> are [[Jewish]] males who claim [[Patrilineality|patrilineal]] descent from the [[Tribe of Levi]].<ref>"Membership in the Levites is determined by paternal descent." {{cite web |url=http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=24469 |title= Medical Definition of Levite |access-date= 2017-02-19}}</ref> The Tribe of Levi descended from [[Levi]], the third son of [[Jacob (Bible)|Jacob]] and [[Leah]]. The surname ''Halevi'', which consists of the Hebrew [[definite article]] "{{lang|he|ה}}" ''Ha-'' ('the') plus ''Levi'' ('Levite'), is not conclusive regarding being a Levite; a titular use of '''HaLevi''' indicates being a Levite. The daughter of a Levite is a {{Transliteration|he|[[#Bat Levi|''Bat Levi'']]}} (''Bat'' being Hebrew for 'daughter').

The Tribe of Levi served particular religious duties for the Israelites and had political (administering cities of refuge) and educational responsibilities as well. In return, the [[landed tribe]]s were expected to support the Levites with a [[tithe]] ({{bibleverse|Numbers|18:21–25}}), particularly the tithe known as the [[First tithe]], ''ma'aser rishon''. The [[Kohen|Kohanim]], a subset of the Levites, were the priests, who performed the work of holiness in the Temple. The Levites, referring to those who were not Kohanim, were specifically assigned to:
* Singing<ref>{{cite web |title=The Holy Temple Music |url=http://www.nigun.info/hamikdash.html |quote=tractate Arachin (11a) that oral music was never to be uttered by anyone other than a Levite}}</ref> and/or playing music in the Temple
* Serving as guards
* Carrying{{efn|a Levite assigned to one area was punishable by death for encroaching on one of the other two areas. Kohathites who carried the holy items could not look at the ark or they died, since they were not descendants of Aaron Numbers 4.17-20|date=September 2023}}

When [[Joshua]] led the [[Israelites]] into the land of [[Canaan]] ({{bibleverse||Joshua|13:33|63}}), the Sons of Levi were the only Israelite tribe that received cities but were not allowed to be landowners "because the Lord the God of Israel Himself is their inheritance" ({{bibleverse||Deuteronomy|18:2|63}}).<ref>Joshua 13:33, cited in {{CathEncy|wstitle=Levites}}</ref>

In modern times, Levites are integrated in Jewish communities, but keep a distinct status. There are estimated 300,000 Levites among [[Ashkenazi Jewish]] communities,<ref name="ReferenceA">{{Cite journal|doi = 10.1038/s41598-017-14761-7|title = The genetic variation in the R1a clade among the Ashkenazi Levites' y chromosome|year = 2017|last1 = Behar|first1 = Doron M.|last2 = Saag|first2 = Lauri|last3 = Karmin|first3 = Monika|last4 = Gover|first4 = Meir G.|last5 = Wexler|first5 = Jeffrey D.|last6 = Sanchez|first6 = Luisa Fernanda|last7 = Greenspan|first7 = Elliott|last8 = Kushniarevich|first8 = Alena|last9 = Davydenko|first9 = Oleg|last10 = Sahakyan|first10 = Hovhannes|last11 = Yepiskoposyan|first11 = Levon|last12 = Boattini|first12 = Alessio|last13 = Sarno|first13 = Stefania|last14 = Pagani|first14 = Luca|last15 = Carmi|first15 = Shai|last16 = Tzur|first16 = Shay|last17 = Metspalu|first17 = Ene|last18 = Bormans|first18 = Concetta|last19 = Skorecki|first19 = Karl|last20 = Metspalu|first20 = Mait|last21 = Rootsi|first21 = Siiri|last22 = Villems|first22 = Richard|journal = Scientific Reports|volume = 7|issue = 1|page = 14969|pmid = 29097670|pmc = 5668307|bibcode = 2017NatSR...714969B}}</ref> and a similar number among [[Sephardim|Sephardic]] and [[Mizrahim|Mizrahi]] Jews combined. The total percentage of Levites among the wider Jewish population is about 4%.
[[File:Levites reading the law to the people.jpg|thumb|A Levite reads the Law to the people (1873 illustration)]]
Most scholars view the [[Torah]] as projecting the origins of the Levites into the past to explain their role as landless cultic functionaries.<ref>{{cite web
| last = Leuchter
| first = Mark
| title = Who Were the Levites?
| website = TheTorah.com
| year = 2017
| url = https://thetorah.com/article/who-were-the-levites
}}</ref>

==In contemporary Jewish practice==
Today, Levites in [[Orthodox Judaism]] continue to have additional rights and obligations compared to lay people, although these responsibilities have diminished with the [[Siege of Jerusalem (70 CE)|destruction of the Temple]]. For instance, [[Kohen|''Kohanim'']] are eligible to [[Torah reading|be called to the Torah]] first, followed by the Levites. Levites also provide assistance to the ''Kohanim'', particularly washing their hands, before the ''Kohanim'' recite the [[Priestly Blessing]].<ref>{{cite web |website=YUTorah.org
|url=https://www.yutorah.org/lectures/lecture.cfm/880673/rabbi-isaac-rice/the-levi-washing-the-hands-of-the-kohen |title=The Levi Washing the Hands of the Kohen |author=Rabbi Isaac Rice |date=June 22, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/2313791/jewish/Kohanim-and-Leviim.htm |author=Nissan Dovid Dubov |title=Kohanim and Leviim - Jewish Essentials |website=chabad.org |quote=In preparation for Duchaning, the Kohen has his hands washed by a Levi}}</ref>

Since Levites (and Kohanim) are traditionally pledged to Divine service, there is no [[Pidyon HaBen]] (redemption of the firstborn) ceremony for:
* the son of a Kohen's or a Levite's daughter
* the son of a Kohen or a Levite.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/929263/jewish/Who-Is-Obligated-in-Pidyon-Haben.htm |title=Who Is Obligated in Pidyon Haben? – Lifecycle Events |quote=The son of a Levi's daughter does not have a pidyon haben}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Pidyon Ha'ben – Redemption of First Born |date=15 February 2010 |url=http://www.aish.com/jl/l/b/Pidyon_Haben_-_Redemption_of_First_Born.html |quote=Pidyon Ha'Ben, the "redemption of the first born son," takes place when a ... 4) The father of the baby is not a Kohen or a Levi, and the mother's father is ...}}</ref>

Orthodox Judaism believes in the eventual [[Third Temple|rebuilding of a Temple]] in Jerusalem and a resumption of the Levitical role. A small number of schools, primarily in [[Israel]], train priests and Levites in their respective roles.<ref>{{cite web |date=March 8, 2016|url=http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/215910|title=Temple Institute announces school to train Levitical priests – Israel|quote=The Temple Institute, dedicated to reestablishing the Holy Temple in Jerusalem, announces school for training Kohanim. ... on the Temple service}}</ref>

[[Conservative Judaism]]—which believes in a restoration of the Temple as a house of worship and in some special role for Levites, although not the ancient sacrificial system as previously practised—recognizes Levites as having special status. Not all Conservative congregations call Kohanim and Levites to the first and second reading of the [[Torah]], and many no longer perform rituals such as the [[Priestly Blessing]] and Pidyon HaBen in which ''Kohanim'' and Levites have a special role.

[[Reconstructionist Judaism|Reconstructionist]] and [[Reform Judaism]] do not observe distinctions between Kohanim, Levites, and other [[Jews]].

===Relationship with Kohanim===
{{main|Kohen|Priesthood (Ancient Israel)}}
The Kohanim are traditionally believed and [[halacha|halachically]] required to be of direct patrilineal descent from the [[Bible|biblical]] [[Aaron]] of the [[Tribe of Levi]]. The origins of the name/term [[Levy (surname)|"Levy"]] in Hebrew remain unclear. Some hypotheses link this name with the Hebrew root ''lwh'', the Aramaic root ''lwy'', or the Arabic root ''lwy''.

The [[noun]] ''kohen'' is used in the [[Torah]] to refer to [[priest]]s, both Israelite and non-Israelite, such as the Israelite nation as a whole,<ref>MamLeChes KoHaNim – ממלכת כהנים</ref> as well as the priests (Hebrew ''kohanim'') of [[Baal]]. During the existence of the [[Temple in Jerusalem]], Kohanim performed the daily and holiday ([[Jewish holidays|Yom Tov]]) duties of [[korban|sacrificial offerings]].

Today ''kohanim'' retain a lesser though somewhat distinct status within [[Judaism]], and are bound by additional restrictions according to [[Orthodox Judaism]]. During the [[Priestly Blessing]], the Levites traditionally wash the hands of the Kohanim prior to the blessing of the House of Israel.<ref>{{cite web |quote=The general procedure of the Priestly Blessing is: After *Kedushah the priests prepare themselves, removing their shoes and washing their hands with the assistance of the levites, whereafter they ascend the platform before the Ark.|url=https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/judaica/ejud_0002_0016_0_16089.html |title=Priestly Blessing |work=Jewish Virtual Library |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140427010612/http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/judaica/ejud_0002_0016_0_16089.html |archivedate=2014-04-27 |url-status=deviated}}</ref> ("A first-born son washes the Kohen's hands if there is no Levite".<ref>{{cite book |title=Let's Ask the Rabbi |page=163|author=Raymond Apple |year=2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.woodsideparksynagogue.org.uk/duchening-the-basics |title=Duchening: The Basics}}</ref>)

{{Anchor|Bat Levi}}

===Bat Levi===
<!-- This section is linked from [[Kohen]] -->
In Orthodox Judaism, children of a Bat Levi, like those of a [[Bat-Kohen]], regardless of the child's father's tribe or the mother's marital status, retain the traditional exemption for their children from the requirement of being redeemed through the [[Pidyon haben|Pidyon HaBen]].<ref>"Rivash" 15; "Divrei Yatziv" by R' Y. Halberstam, E.H. 6; "Yechaveh Da'at" by R' O. Yosef, V 61)</ref>

Conservative Judaism permits a Bat Levi to perform essentially all the rituals a male Levi would perform, including being called to the [[Torah]] for the Levite [[aliyah]] in those Conservative synagogues which have both retained traditional tribal roles and modified traditional gender roles.<ref>[http://www.rabbinicalassembly.org/sites/default/files/public/halakhah/teshuvot/19861990/roth_daughtersaliyot.pdf Joel Roth, The Status of Daughters of Kohanim and Leviyim for Aliyot, Rabbinical Assembly]</ref> In Israel, Conservative/Masorti Judaism has not extended Torah honors either to  a bat Kohen or to a bat Levi.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.responsafortoday.com/vol3/3.pdf |title=See: Robert A. (Rafael) Harris, Rabbinical Assembly of Israel's Law Committee Teshuvah: "The First Two Aliyot for a Bat Kohen and a Bat Levi." pp. 31–33 in ''Responsa of the Va'ad Halacha of the Rabbinical Assembly of Israel'' 5748–5749 (1989). Volume 3. Jerusalem: The Rabbinical Assembly of Israel and the Masorti Movement (Hebrew; English Summary, vii–viii). |access-date=2013-05-17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130926141046/http://responsafortoday.com/vol3/3.pdf |archive-date=2013-09-26 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

===The Levites and the Holocaust===
{{Main|Holocaust theology}}

In 1938, with the outbreak of violence that would come to be known as [[Kristallnacht]], American Orthodox rabbi [[Mnachem Risikoff|Menachem HaKohen Risikoff]] wrote about the central role he saw for Priests and Levites in terms of Jewish and world responses, in worship, liturgy, and [[Repentance in Judaism|''teshuva'']], repentance. In ''The Priests and the Levites'' (1940),<ref>[https://www.hebrewbooks.org/36377 הכהנים והלוים HaKohanim vHaLeviim (1940)]</ref> he stressed that members of these groups exist in the realm between history (below) and redemption (above), and must act in a unique way to help move others to prayer and action, and help bring an end to suffering. He wrote, "Today, we also are living through a time of flood, Not of water, but of a bright fire, which burns and turns Jewish life into ruin. We are now drowning in a flood of blood. ... Through the Kohanim and Levi'im help will come to all Israel."<ref>Gershon Greenberg, "Kristallnacht: The American Ultra-Orthodox Jewish Theology of Response," in Maria Mazzenga (editor), ''American Religious Responses to Kristallnacht'', Palgrave MacMillan: 2009, pp. 158–172.</ref>

==Levite population==

===Levite Y-chromosome studies===
A 2003 study of the Y-chromosome by Behar et al. pointed to multiple origins for [[Ashkenazi Jews|Ashkenazi]] Levites, who comprise approximately 4% among the Ashkenazi Jews. It found that [[Haplogroup R1a1a]] (R-M17), uncommon in the Middle East or among [[Sephardic Jews]], is present in over 50% of Ashkenazi Levites, while the rest of Ashkenazi Levites' paternal lineage is of certain Middle Eastern origin, including Y-chromosome haplogroups E3b, J2, F, R1b, K, I, Q, N and L.<ref name="Behar2003"/> Haplogroup R1a1a is found at the highest levels among people of Eastern European descent, with 50 to 65% among [[Sorbs]], [[Polish people|Poles]], [[Russians]], and [[Ukrainians]].<ref>{{cite journal |pmc=2987245 |pmid=19888303 |doi=10.1038/ejhg.2009.194 |volume=18 |issue=4 |title=Separating the post-Glacial coancestry of European and Asian Y chromosomes within haplogroup R1a |year=2010 |journal=Eur. J. Hum. Genet. |pages=479–484 |last1=Underhill |first1=PA |last2=Myres |first2=NM |last3=Rootsi |first3=S |last4=Metspalu |first4=M |last5=Zhivotovsky |first5=LA |last6=King |first6=RJ |last7=Lin |first7=AA |last8=Chow |first8=CE |last9=Semino |first9=O |last10=Battaglia |first10=V |last11=Kutuev |first11=I |last12=Järve |first12=M |last13=Chaubey |first13=G |last14=Ayub |first14=Q |last15=Mohyuddin |first15=A |last16=Mehdi |first16=SQ |last17=Sengupta |first17=S |last18=Rogaev |first18=EI |last19=Khusnutdinova |first19=EK |last20=Pshenichnov |first20=A |last21=Balanovsky |first21=O |last22=Balanovska |first22=E |last23=Jeran |first23=N |last24=Augustin |first24=DH |last25=Baldovic |first25=M |last26=Herrera |first26=RJ |last27=Thangaraj |first27=K |last28=Singh |first28=V |last29=Singh |first29=L |last30=Majumder |first30=P |last31=Rudan |first31=P |last32=Primorac |first32=D |last33=Villems |first33=R |last34=Kivisild |first34=T}}</ref> In [[South Asia]], R1a1a has often been observed with high frequency in a number of demographic groups, reaching over 70% in [[Bengali Brahmin|West Bengal Brahmins]] in India and among the Mohani people in [[Sindh]], Pakistan.{{Citation needed|date=November 2023}} Behar's data suggested a founding event, involving an 'introgression' of anywhere from one to fifty non-Jewish European men, occurring at a time close to the initial formation and settlement of the Ashkenazi community as a possible explanation.<ref name="Behar2003">{{Cite journal |vauthors=Behar DM, Thomas MG, Skorecki K, etal |title=Multiple origins of Ashkenazi Levites: Y chromosome evidence for both Near Eastern and European ancestries |journal=American Journal of Human Genetics |volume=73 |issue=4 |pages=768–779 |date=October 2003 |pmid=13680527|pmc=1180600 |doi=10.1086/378506}}</ref> As Nebel, Behar and Goldstein speculate:

{{blockquote|although neither the NRY haplogroup composition of the majority of Ashkenazi Jews nor the microsatellite haplotype composition of the R1a1 haplogroup within Ashkenazi Levites is consistent with a major Khazar or other European origin, as has been speculated by some authors (Baron 1957; Dunlop 1967; Ben-Sasson 1976; Keys 1999), one cannot rule out the important contribution of a single or a few founders among contemporary Ashkenazi Levites."<ref name="Goldstein2008">{{Cite book|author=Goldstein, David B. |title=Jacob's legacy: A genetic view of Jewish history |publisher=Yale University Press |year=2008 |pages=location 873 (Kindle for PC) |chapter=3|isbn=978-0-300-12583-2}}</ref>}}

A 2013 paper by Siiri Rootsi et al. confirmed a Near or Middle Eastern origin for all Ashkenazi Levites, including the R1a Y-chromosome carriers, and refuted the [[Khazar hypothesis of Ashkenazi ancestry]]:
{{blockquote|Previous Y-chromosome studies have demonstrated that Ashkenazi Levites, members of a paternally inherited Jewish Levite caste, display a distinctive founder event within R1a, the most prevalent Y-chromosome haplogroup in Eastern Europe. Here we report the analysis of 16 whole R1 sequences and show that a set of 19 unique nucleotide substitutions defines the Ashkenazi R1a lineage. While our survey of one of these, M582, in 2,834 R1a samples reveals its absence in 922 Eastern Europeans, we show it is present in all sampled R1a Ashkenazi Levites, as well as in 33.8% of other R1a Ashkenazi Jewish males and 5.9% of 303 R1a Near Eastern males, where it shows considerably higher diversity. Moreover, the M582 lineage also occurs at low frequencies in non-Ashkenazi Jewish populations. In contrast to the previously suggested Eastern European origin for Ashkenazi Levites, the current data are indicative of a geographic source of the Levite founder lineage in the Near East and its likely presence among pre-Diaspora Hebrews.<ref name="natu_Phyl">{{Cite journal| title = Phylogenetic applications of whole Y-chromosome sequences and the Near Eastern origin of Ashkenazi Levites |display-authors=4|author1=Siiri Rootsi|author2=Doron M. Behar|author3=Mari Järve|author4=Alice A. Lin|author5=Natalie M. Myres|author6=Ben Passarelli|author7=G. David Poznik|author8=Shay Tzur|author9=Hovhannes Sahakyan|author10=Ajai Kumar Pathak|author11=Saharon Rosset|author12=Mait Metspalu|author13=Viola Grugni|author14=Ornella Semino|author15=Ene Metspalu|author16=Carlos D. Bustamante|author17=Karl Skorecki|author18=Richard Villems|author19=Toomas Kivisild|author20=Peter A. Underhill |journal=Nature Communications |volume=4 |pages=2928 |date=2013 |doi=10.1038/ncomms3928 |pmid=24346185 |pmc=3905698 |bibcode=2013NatCo...4.2928R}}</ref>}}

In a later 2017 study Behar et al. revised their initially mitigated position, concluding that a "Middle Eastern origin of the Ashkenazi Levite lineage based on what was previously a relatively limited number of reported samples, can now be considered firmly validated", precising that a "rich variation of haplogroup R1a outside of Europe which is phylogenetically separate from the typically European R1a branches", referring to the R1a-Y2619 sub-clade.<ref name="ReferenceA"/>

===Lineage===
Having a last name of Levi or a related term does not necessarily mean a person is a Levite, and many well-known Levites do not have such last names.<ref>Some examples of having the title HaLevi, but not in their last name are: [[Baruch Epstein]], [[Yisroel Belsky]], [[Abraham Fraenkel]], [[Shmuel Wosner]], [[Meir Abulafia]], [[Samuel ibn Naghrillah]], [[Yehuda Ashlag]], [[Yitzchok Zev Soloveitchik]], [[Pinchas Horowitz]], [[Hillel Paritcher]], [[Yaakov Yitzchak of Lublin|The Chozeh (seer) of Lublin]], [[Shmuel Schecter]], [[Joseph Weiler]], [[Yom-Tov Lipman Heller]], [[Abraham ibn Daud]], [[Salomon ibn Parhon]], [[Shlomo Wahrman]], [[Salomon Alkabetz]], [[Issachar Berend Lehmann]], [[Avraham Bromberg]], [[Max Letteris]], [[Joseph ibn Migash]], [[Yechezkel Landau]], [[Jacob Moelin]], [[Luis de Torres]], [[Chaim Herzog]],
[[Avraham Gombiner]]</ref>

Levitical status is passed down in families from father{{efn|The child of a Bat Levi [daughter of a Levi] has no Levi status.}} to child born from a Jewish mother, as part of a family's genealogical tradition. Tribal status of Levite is determined by [[patrilineal descent]], so a child whose biological father is a Levite (in cases of adoption or artificial insemination, status is determined by the genetic father), is also considered a Levite. Jewish status is determined by matrilineal descent, thus conferring levitical status onto children requires both biological parents to be Israelites and the biological father to be a Levite.

Accordingly, there is currently no branch of Judaism that regards levitical status as conferrable by matrilineal descent. It is either conferrable patrilineally with a Jewish mother, in the traditional manner, or it does not exist and is not conferred at all.

===Levite surnames===
Some Levites have adopted a related last name to signify their status. Because of diverse geographical locations, the names have several variations:<ref name=Lev.WP>{{cite web
|title=What's in a name?
|date=18 October 2014|url=https://inmuchness.wordpress.com/2014/10/18/whats-in-a-name|quote=Levi not only has variations like Lewita (Polish) and Loewe (German/Swiss), but also Segal and Zemmel. They sound nothing like the original name, and that’s because they’re acronyms in the Hebrew alphabet – a great way to hide your Jewish heritage while keeping true to the family identity. Segal stands for 'SeGan Leviyyah', which is roughly translated as 'deputy Levite', since Levites served as deputies to kohanim. Segal itself has variations too, like Chagall (French).}}</ref>
* ''Alouwi'' – Arabic variant, of Sephardic origin
* ''Aguiló'' – surname to the Jews from Mallorca ([[Xueta|Xuetes]])
* ''Bazes'' – a Levite surname.
* ''[[Benveniste]]'' – a Sephardic Levite surname.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.geni.com/people/Don-Judah-de-la-Cavaller%25C3%25ADa-ha-Levi/6000000001500854394 |title=Don Judah de la Cavalleria Ha Levi (Benveniste "Cavalier") (c. 1227 – 1286)|date=2 February 2024 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=BENVENISTE |website=JewishEncyclopedia.com |url=http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/3011-benveniste |quote=Joseph ben Ephraim ha-Levi Benveniste}}</ref>
* ''[[Epstein]]'' – one of the European lineages descended from [[Zerachiah ha-Levi of Girona|Zerahiah Ha-Levi]] of Sepharad
* ''HaLevi'', ''[[Halevi]]'' and ''Halevy'' – Hebrew, meaning 'the Levi' or 'the Levite'
* ''[[Horowitz]] HaLevi'', or simply ''Horowitz/Hurwitz/Gurvich/Gurevich'' – a European Levite surname, tracing to Isaiah Horowitz HaLevi, a descendant of [[Zerachiah ha-Levi of Girona|Zerahiah Ha-Levi]] of Sepharad
* ''Lavi'' – a common Levite surname
* ''Leefsma'' – Frisian surname
* ''Leevi'' – Finnish variation
* ''Lev'' – simplified Russian variation of ''Levi''
* ''Levai'', ''Lévai'' and ''Lévay'' – a Levitic surname, originally meaning "a person from ''[[Levice]]''" but subsequently used by [[Jews]] who were forced to change their name during the [[Holocaust]]
* ''Leven'' – Swedish variation
* ''Levente'' – Hungarian variation
* ''[[Levi (surname)|Lévi, Levi]]'', ''[[Levy (surname)|Lévy or Levy]]'' – Hebrew for "Levite", equally common in Ashkenasic and Sephardic groups
* ''Levian/Livian/Benlevi/Liviem'' – Persian-Jewish variations
* ''Lević'', also ''Levinić'', ''[[Luciano Moše Prelević|Prelević]]'' – Croatian or Serbian variations
* ''[[Levin (surname)|Levin]]'' – [[Russia]]n variation, also ''[[Levine]]'', ''Lavin'' or ''Lavine'' ({{IPAc-en|l|ə|ˈ|v|iː|n}}, rhyming with "ravine", or in some cases further anglicised to {{IPAc-en|l|ɪ|ˈ|v|aɪ|n}}, rhyming with "divine") and ''[[Lewin (name)|Lewin]]'' a Polish variation. Sometimes supplemented with German "thal" (valley) to ''Levinthal'' or ''Leventhal'' and -sohn and -son to ''Levinson'' or ''Levinsohn'' as a patronymic, and with Slavic -ski and -sky suffixes ''Levinski'', ''Levinsky'', ''Lewinski'' and ''Lewinsky'' (the "e" often replaced with "a" in German areas).
* ''Levit'', also ''Levitt'' – typically from the Bessarabia region of Romania, Moldova and southern Ukraine
* ''Levita'' – [[Elia Levita]], an ancestor of [[David Cameron]]
* ''Levits'' – the surname in Latvia (adding the ''s for men or a for women''), president of Latvia Egils Levits.
* ''Leviyev'' – the Russified surname (adding the ''yev/ev'') that many [[Bukharian Jews]] of Central Asia have. Sometimes spelled ''Leviev'' or even ''Levaev''.
* ''Lewi'' or ''Lewj'' (Polish, ''Levi'' and ''Levy'')
* ''Lewicki'' – Polish "of the Levites", also ''Lewicka'', ''Lewycka'', ''Lewycki'', ''Lewycky'', ''Lewicky'', ''Levicki'', ''Levicky'' (can also originate from placenames in Poland)
* ''Lewita'' – Polish ''Levite'' or ''Levita'' Latinized, with Slavic suffix -an/in ''Lewitan'', ''Levitan'', ''Levitin'', ''Lewitin'', ''Lewitinn'', and with additional suffix -ski/sky ''Levitanski'', ''Lewitanski'', ''Levitansky'', also ''Lewitas'', ''Levitas'',  Lithuanian, Belarusian, ''Leyva'' Spanish Sephardic, also but rare ''Lefite, Lafite, Lafitte'', of French Sephardic origin.<ref name=Lev.WP/>
* Variants from [[Yiddish]] ''Leyvik'', a pet form of Leyvi: ''Levitch'' Ukrainian variant,  also ''Levicz'', ''Levis'', ''Levitz'', ''Lewicz'', ''Lewitz'', ''Lewis'', and with -ski and -sky suffixes ''Leviczky'', ''Levitski'', ''Levitsky'', ''Lewitski'' and ''Lewitsky'' ("e" and "s" often replaced with "a" and "z" in German areas)
* ''Loewy'', ''Löwi'', ''Löwy'' and ''Loewe'' German or Swiss variations (although the usual origin for these names is Löwe, the [[German language|German]] word for "[[lion]]").<ref name=Lev.WP/>
*Moss (Hebrew for Moses) (Descendant of Moses God's most important prophet according to the torah) also ancient Gaelic for Devotee, which Moses was a Levite devoted to his mission to free the Hebrew.
* ''Segal'' – shortened "Segen Levi" (secondary Levite)
* ''Urfali'' or ''Levi Urfali'' (also ''Levi Abud'', ''Levi Aslan'', ''Levi Hamami'') – an [[Urfalim]] community surname, which was mostly Levite in origin
* ''Zemmel'' – shortened "Zecher mi-Shevet Levi" (descendant of the Levite tribe)

====Modern Levites====
The following are some Levites with non-Levite-like last names in modern times:
* [[Frank Gehry]]<ref>PBS Show ''[[Finding Your Roots]]'' broadcast February 2, 2016</ref>
* [[Chaim Herzog]]<ref>{{cite web |url=https://mfa.gov.il/MFA/Facts+About+Israel/State/Chaim+Herzog.htm |title=Chaim Herzog |quote=The son of the Chief Rabbi of Ireland, Rabbi Isaac Halevi Herzog}}</ref>
* [[Norman Lear]]<ref>PBS Show ''[[Finding Your Roots]]'' broadcast January 26, 2016</ref>

== Notable Levites ==

* [[Levi]]
* [[Moses]]
* [[Samuel]]
* [[Joshua ben Levi|Yehoshua ben Levi]]
* [[Judah Halevi]]
* [[Aharon HaLevi]]
* [[Shlomo Halevi Alkabetz]]
* [[Maharsha]]
* [[Shlomo Wahrman]]
* [[Issachar Berend Lehmann]]
* [[Avraham Bromberg]]
* [[Max Letteris]]
* [[Joseph ibn Migash]]
* [[Zerachiah ha-Levi of Girona|Zerahiah Ha-Levi]]
* [[Yechezkel Landau]]
* [[Yaakov ben Moshe Levi Moelin]]
* [[Luis de Torres]]
* [[Abraham Fraenkel]]
* [[Shmuel Wosner]]
* [[Meir Abulafia]]
* [[Samuel ibn Naghrillah]]
* [[Yehuda Ashlag]]
* [[Yitzchok Zev Soloveitchik]]
* [[Pinchas Horowitz]]
* [[Hillel Paritcher]]
* [[Yechezkel Levenstein]]
* [[Yisroel Belsky]]
* [[Baruch Epstein|Baruch ha-Levi Epstein]]
* [[Chaim Herzog]]
* [[Yosef Dov Soloveitchik (Beis Halevi)|Yosef Dov Soloveitchik]]
* [[Chaim Soloveitchik]]
* [[Joseph B. Soloveitchik]]
* [[Mordechai Willig]]

==See also==
* [[Kohen]]
* [[Samaritans]]
* [[Urfalim]]

== Explanatory footnotes ==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* {{Cite book |author=Grena, G. M. |year=2004 |title=LMLK: A Mystery Belonging to the King Vol. 1 |location=Redondo Beach, California |publisher=4000 Years of Writing History |isbn=0-9748786-0-X}}

==External links==
* [http://kehuna.org/about-kohanim/twenty-four-places-the-kohanim-are-called-leviim/ Twenty-four places in tanach where the Kohanim are called Levi'im] – Kehuna.org
* [http://www.cohen-levi.org/the_tribe/welcome_to_the_tribe.htm The Cohen-Levi Family Heritage]
* [http://www.levitedna.org LeviteDNA.org] – website on R1a Ashkenazi Levites

{{Ark of the Covenant}}

[[Category:Levites| ]]
[[Category:Hebrew Bible words and phrases]]
[[Category:Jewish ethnic groups]]
[[Category:Jewish religious occupations]]
[[Category:Book of Numbers people]]