Parshat Emor
by Rabbi Avi Billet
At the beginning of Parshat
Emor, Moshe is instructed to inform the Kohanim a few important rules for them
to follow in order to maintain their “taharah” – their purity that allows them
to serve the general Jewish society’s spiritual needs.
They may not come in contact or
within a certain distance of a corpse, unless it is one of his close relatives
– mother, father, son, daughter, brother, and never-married sister. The status
of his wife makes for an interesting halakhic discussion (based on how 21:4 is
to be understood), but certainly in the absence of a Temple a Kohen will
typically participate in such a funeral.
