In parsha emor פסוק א and ב it is written,
"And the Lord said to Moses: Speak to the kohanim, the sons of Aaron, and say to them: Let none [of you] defile himself for a dead person among his people"
"except for his relative who is close to him, his mother, his father, his son, his daughter, his brother,"
This tells us a kohen has to maintain a special level of purity, and may not tend to the body of someone who has died.
However, the Torah points out that when it comes to family, the kohen can and must be of help. Why is the kohen allowed to take care of his family? Chabbad.org say that this parsha teaches us that families should always stay together. In hard times, happy times, and every day of our lives.
Rabbi Mansour says that a Kohen can tend to the body of a family member since he will not get tameh from it. I think that is also because you should have a certain respect for your family members and honor them-- and this honor does not stop, especially when they die.
ReplyDelete--Gabriela Beyda
Chabad.org also adds, regarding a Cohen's purity, that no only is a Cohen permitted to be at the funeral of his family ( parents, siblings, children, and spouse) but it is mandatory. A Cohen is also permitted to "defile himself" for his half-sister, and divorced mother, however, not his step-sister( who is not counted as the Cohen's relative through blood).
ReplyDeleteParshat.com says its not necessarily that he should take care of his family its that he is obligated. when it talks about the people that a Kohen can visit in the cemetery it says that the Kohen is obligated to go to their funeral. the reason for this is to show the importance of family. there are so many people a Kohen can't go to a funeral for but when it comes to family he must take care of them and go. because family is our source as life.
ReplyDeleteA Cohen is also allowed to become impure for a "Mait Mitzvah" a dead body that is found without identification that has no one to take responsibility for its burial. This shows us how important a proper respectful burial is in Jewish law, the same way that a Cohen needs to take responsibility for an unidentified stranger is the same way that a Cohen is the responsible person when it comes to close relatives, if he would not take responsibility for their burial who would? That is his role as a family member
ReplyDeleteAccording to Rabbi Shalitsky, the reason a Kohen is allowed to defile himself for family is because they are considered apart of him. Since family is considered apart of him, Hashem doesn't view them as seperate people. Rather, Hashem considers the matter as if the Kohen is dead himself (emotionally)
ReplyDeleteHashem is very strict with laws regarding Kohanim, especially with deaths. A Kohen is not allowed in a cemetery or near a dead body unless it is a close family member such as, wife , mother ,father ,son, daughter, brother or unmarried sister. According to Torah Tots this is similar to the exception of burying a “mait mitzvah”. Torah law believes that burials and dead bodies are crucial and must be properly taken care of, therefore a Kohen or even a kohen gadol can bury these bodies. The torah makes exceptions for these two important cases to show how much we must value lives and respect for the dead.
ReplyDeleteAccording to Rav Yitzchak, the kohen is allowed to be at their families funeral because of how connected a family is. If he did not go to this funeral, it would be like a piece of a puzzle is missing. The kohen should also go to comfort his other family members because of this tragic death.
ReplyDeleteAccodring to parshat.org its an obligation not just that you should take care of your family. It says the kohen has to go to the funreal when it talks about who they can visit at cemetary which highlights the value of family in the torah because a kophen cant go to so amny peoples funeral ONLY family.
ReplyDeleteChabad.org says not only is a kohen allowed to go to the funeral of their family members but they are obligated so they can show the proper respect to them.
ReplyDelete