Emor | Kohanim and Ritual Impurity from a Corpse

 

INTRODUCTION

 

Parashat Emor begins with a discussion of the various laws pertaining to the Kohanim concerning their service in the Mishkan.  As ministers to God in His holy abode, they are limited from coming into contact with various forms of tuma – sources of ritual disqualification.  In particular, the Parasha addresses the matter of corpse-tuma, the temporary unfitness for service that is caused by touching, carrying or sharing enclosed space with a dead human body.  The Kohanim, in fact, are prohibited from contracting corpse-tuma by attending to matters of burial, unless the deceased is one of seven immediate family members – father, mother, brother, sister, son, daughter or spouse.  Concerning the High Priest, the limitations are considerably stricter, for he may attend the funeral of no one, not even his close and immediate relatives, nor may he display any of the traditional outward signs of mourning such as rent garments or unkempt hair. 

 

God spoke to Moshe saying: Speak to the Kohanim the children of Aharon and say to them that they shall not become ritually unfit through contact with the dead of their people.  Except for a spouse, who is dear to him, as well as for his mother, father, son, daughter and brother.  He shall also become ritually impure for an unmarried sister who is close to him…They shall not make baldness upon their heads nor shave the corners of their beards, nor make cuts upon their flesh.  Rather, they shall be holy to their Lord and shall not profane the name of their Lord, for they present the fire offerings of God and sacrifice the bread of their Lord.  Thus, they shall be holy…

 

As for the Kohen who is exalted above his brethren, upon whose head the anointing oil has been poured, and he who has been charged to don the special garments, he shall neither let his hair grow long nor rend his garments.  He shall not come into contact with any deceased, nor shall he become ritually unfit even for his father or mother.  He shall not leave the holy precinct for in so doing he shall profane the holy precinct of his Lord, for the crown of his Lord's anointing oil is upon him, I am God… (21:1-15). 

 

DISTINCTIONS BETWEEN THE REGULAR KOHEN AND THE KOHEN HAGADOL

 

The above passage spells out a number of rites associated with mourning, as well as drawing important distinctions in this matter between a regular Kohen and the Kohen HaGadol or High Priest.  A Kohen is not only forbidden from attending to the funeral of a non-immediate family member but is also forbidden to display certain manifestations of mourning that were popular at the time.  Though he may grieve mightily, he may not pluck out his hair, shave his beard or make incisions in his flesh.  For comparison, we may note the example of Iyov, who responded to the tragic news of his children's demise by "tearing his robe, shearing his hair and falling to the ground" (Iyov 1:20), or the idolatrous priests of Ba'al who attempted to rouse their god by "crying out loudly, and cutting themselves after their custom with swords and spears until their blood began to flow" (Melachim 1:18:28).  The Kohen HaGadol may not attend any funeral whatsoever nor may he show any signs of mourning at all.  In fact, in contrast to the regular Kohen who MUST suspend his service in the Temple in order to attend to the burial of his seven immediate relatives, the Kohen HaGadol is explicitly forbidden from doing so and continues to perform his rites under all circumstances. 

 

THE EXPLANATION OF THE RAMBAN

 

The Ramban (13^th century, Spain) expands upon the matter and offers an explanation for these seemingly unsympathetic laws:

 

…the main thrust of this verse concerns the High Priest who may not leave the holy precincts during the service for any deceased whatsoever.  Were he to leave his service for the honor of the deceased it would constitute a profanation of the Temple.  Rather, the glory of the Mikdash and his service must be greater to him than the honor due to the deceased and his love of him.  All the more so would he be in abrogation of this command if he leaves his service for no good reason at all.  But the verse addresses the matter of the deceased in order to permit the Kohen HaGadol to serve even as an "Onen" (on the day of the burial).  Since he may serve even under those circumstances, were he to willingly abandon his service it would constitute a grave profanation of the Temple (commentary to 21:11).

 

For the Ramban, the main issue at stake is the glory and honor of the Holy Temple and its service.  The Kohen HaGadol is nowhere called upon to be a demi-god or superhuman figure.  He is a man like other men, he is enjoined both to marry as well as to mourn.  But at the same time, his office is like no other, for he ministers before God at the Holy Temple.  He must remain at his post not because he doesn't feel the pain of his loss or care for the honor of the deceased, but rather because his love of God must surpass his bereavement, and his concern for the glory of His service must transcend the honor due to the dead.

 

For the Ramban, then, it is the private spiritual state of the Kohen HaGadol that is at the core of the matter.  HE must place the glory of the Temple and his exalted service within it before all else, even before his own most profound of personal losses, the demise of his loved ones.  Thus he continues to serve even as an "Onen" on the day of burial, while the regular Kohen must not do so.  

 

THE REPRESENTATIVE OF ALL ISRAEL

 

There is of course another dimension to the discussion and the Ramban is presumably not indifferent to its relevance.  As the Torah presents it, the Kohen HaGadol is not only the most exalted of the priests that serve before God but is also the emissary of the people of Israel.  He serves God as their representative and performs his rites as their envoy.  He is most assuredly NOT an intermediary that stands between them and God but rather represents what a man can achieve if he is sensitive to life's innate worth and inestimable spiritual value.  All of the garments that the Kohen HaGadol wears testify to one overarching principle, the most comprehensive principle that the Torah offers its adherents: "HOLY TO GOD" (see Shemot 28:36 and our discussion of the vestments of the High Priest – Parashat Tetzaveh 2000/5760).

 

As the emissary of all Israel, the Kohen HaGadol must always carry the great burden of his office upon his shoulders and in his heart, as surely as the precious stones of his epaulets and breastplate are engraved with the names of the twelve tribes (Shemot 28:9, 21).  In other words, his personal moments of tragedy are of necessity overshadowed by his awesome responsibilities on behalf of all Israel.  Because he serves them as well as God, he must not allow individual cares, painful as they may be, to supersede his national responsibilities.  The Torah's laws therefore place him within the great tradition of noble leadership, among those select few who are able to transcend their own wants, desires and even overwhelming needs, in order to serve the people who have entrusted them with the sacred mandate to wield their power selflessly.  

 

THE EXCEPTION OF THE "MET MITZVA"

 

Significantly, there is one notable exception to the provisions of the Torah, and it casts in sharp relief the inherent tension between the needs of the people, the glory of the Temple, and the service of God on the one hand, versus the exigencies of mortality, the tragedy of death and the image of God in which man was created on the other.  The Rabbinic Midrash in the Sifre relates a most remarkable (but purely hypothetical) progression, related in simplified form by Rashi in his commentary to Tractate Megilla 3b:

 

(Concerning the Nazir the verse states) "He shall not come into contact with any deceased, he may not ritually defile himself for his father or for his mother" (BeMidbar 6-7) – But he must defile himself for the sake of the "Met Mitzva"…though he may be a Kohen HaGadol as well as a Nazir, though he may be on the way to perform the Passover sacrifice or the circumcision of his son, though he may be involved in the service of the Temple, he nevertheless must defile himself for the sake of the "Met Mitzva."

 

The "Met Mitzva" is one who dies without any living relatives or friends present who can attend to his proper burial.  Under such circumstances, it becomes a special mitzva for any Israelite who chances upon the deceased (the "Met") to take care of his needs and ensure that a proper burial is effected.  Here, the Rabbis entertain a striking situation: let us assume that the only person present with the "Met" is a Nazir, one who has taken on special vows that include the prohibition of contracting corpse-tuma.  Nevertheless, rules the Torah, the Nazir must suspend his vows in order to attend to the deceased. 

 

But what if the said Nazir also happens to be the Kohen HaGadol who, as we have seen, is strictly forbidden from attending to the burial of even his closest relatives?  He must nevertheless attend to the "Met Mitzva."  Though the Kohen HaGadol-Nazir may be involved in either the preparation of the Passover sacrifice or else the circumcision of his son – the only two positive mitzvot whose abrogation carries the harsh penalty of spiritual excision from Israel – he must nevertheless temporarily abandon those in order to attend to the Met Mitzva!  Even though he may be involved in the service of the Temple, which we have already seen overrides any private affairs of the Kohen HaGadol, the Met Mitzva takes precedence.

 

In other words, the Torah was not indifferent to the honor that is due to the deceased, to the great value that we must place upon the final care and internment of the human body, and to the elementary and universal human need to express the pain of loss.  But there are typically other individuals who can provide admirably for these things without the need for the Kohen HaGadol to leave his station.  Under such circumstances, both necessities can be met: the need for the honor of the deceased and the need for the glory of the Temple.  But where there is a direct and irresolvable conflict between the two, then God, so to speak, suspends His honor for the sake of ours, commanding us to drop all else in order to first attend to the human being who has died leaving no one else to perform the final act of loving kindness. 

 

THE GENERAL PROHIBITIONS PERTAINING TO ALL ISRAEL

 

We return once again to the Ramban on this topic.  It should be noted that the prohibition upon the Kohen to not pluck his hair, shave his beard or cut his flesh as expressions of grief are not exclusive to the priestly class, but are enjoined upon all of Israel.  The Torah states in Parashat Reeh:

 

You are the children of God your Lord, you shall not cut yourselves nor make baldness between your eyes for the deceased.  For you are a holy people to God your Lord, and He has chosen you to be His treasured nation from all of the peoples who are upon the face of the earth…(Devarim 14:1-2).

 

The Ramban comments:

 

The Torah here indicates that these prohibitions were not enjoined upon the Kohanim exclusively because they are "holy to God", but rather the entire congregation is holy, all of them are children to God your Lord like the Kohanim, and therefore must observe these rites as they do…In my opinion, the notion of a "holy nation" constitutes an assurance of the soul's immortality before God, may He be blessed.  It is as if the Torah states that since you are a holy nation and God's treasure, and "God does not take souls but considers how they shall not be driven from before Him" (Shemuel 2:14:14), therefore it is inappropriate to cut one's flesh or pluck one's hair for the deceased, even if he died in his youth.  Now the Torah does not outlaw crying, because human nature is to cry out when one is separated from a loved one even while alive, but this nevertheless serves as an allusion for the Sages who forbade excessive mourning over the deceased (commentary to Devarim 14:1-2).

 

CONCLUSION

 

In other words, the Ramban suggests, the holiness of the people of Israel implies the immortality of the soul.  To be close to Him and to live in His presence means to continue to exist even after the demise of the material body.  That being the case, excessive expressions of mourning such as cutting oneself or making baldness are unwarranted, for the deceased may have been taken from us but he or she has not ceased to exist.  We cry out because we feel OUR loss, but the soul lives on.  For the Ramban, then, these very laws that stress the necessity of the Kohen HaGadol to not abandon his service even when death summons him may be more than an emphatic statement about the glory of God's service on the one hand or the responsibility of the leader towards his people on the other.  The Kohen HaGadol remains in the Temple because that place is associated with God's ongoing presence, with the ultimate Source of all life with Whom we strive so mightily to be united. 

 

By remaining there even as a loved one passes from this earthly plain, the Kohen HaGadol highlights the immortality of the soul, that a person's spiritual being can never be extinguished because it is bound up with God – Himself absolutely incorporeal and eternal.  As an expression of the human being's most noble strivings to be constantly aware of God's overarching presence and spiritually sensitive to His closeness, the Kohen HaGadol therefore remains behind as his loved ones are borne to their final earthly resting place, not because he does not care but because he cares so much.  Bound up with God, he is afforded a rare glimpse into an existence that transcends death and conquers mourning, that overpowers our material transience and looks towards eternity.  And within that realm, engaged in the service of the Most High Who gives life and takes it away, mourning, sadness and even death itself are an outrage.

 

Shabbat Shalom