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MAY 7, 2020 | The Jewish Home OCTOBER 29, 2015 | The Jewish Home
From the Fire
Parshas Emor The Kohein Within By Rav Moshe Weinberger Adapted for publication by Binyomin Wolf
T
he Torah teaches the mitzvah that kohanim may not come into contact with a corpse (Vayikra 21:1) with the words, “Speak to the kohanim, the children of Aharon, and you shall say to them, ‘Let none of you defile himself to a dead body among his people.” The commentaries all explain why the pasuk has to say “speak” and “say,” which seems duplicative. The Zohar (88b) explains that the intent of the pasuk is: “Tell the kohanim in a whisper...” Why is the command that a kohein not defile himself conveyed in a whisper? In the sefer Eitz Hadaas Tov, Rav Chaim Vital, the greatest student of the Arizal, explains why the Torah permits and even commands a kohein to defile himself by coming into contact with a deceased close relative. He explains that close relatives are branches of one tree which draw from the same root. When one member of the family dies, all close relatives are affected and touched by death. Therefore, because the kohein has already been touched and affected by death, he loses nothing by coming into contact with the person’s body and fulfilling the mitzvah of escorting the person into the Next World. But if this is true, why should a kohein gadol be different? Why is he forbidden to come into contact with even the seven categories of close relatives unlike other kohanim? Rav Moshe Wolfson offers an explanation. He points out that there are three general dimensions: olam, space; shana, time; and nefesh, soul.
Every soul has its own place and time. The place that corresponds to the soul of the Jewish people as a whole is Eretz Yisroel. Each individual Jew has his or her own place in Eretz Yisroel. In fact, the Rambam quotes an opinion that a Jew can acquire property using the particular four amos in Eretz Yisroel with which he or she is associated. A kohein gadol’s place in Eretz Yisroel is the Holy of Holies. The character of the Holy of Holies, which is the resting place of Hashem’s presence, is (Divrei Hayamim 1:16:27) such that “might and joy are in His place.” Mourning and death have no place in Hashem’s home, which is a place of pure joy. The Holy of Holies is a place of life. Death cannot touch it. The living, joyous nature of the Holy of Holies spreads out to all of Yerushalyim as well. According to the Midrash (Shmos Raba Pikudei 52), “There was a house of calculation outside of Yerushalayim, and anyone who needed to work on his books for business would go there. Why [was it necessary to leave Yerushalayim to work on one’s books]? So that one should not make calculations and experience distress [in Yerushalayim], which is called (Tehillim 48:3) ‘the joy of all the land.’” There is no place for sadness, darkness, depression, or mourning in the city of joy, Yerushalayim. This place of joy is rooted in the Holy of Holies, the place of the kohein gadol, as the pasuk (Divrei Hayamim 1:23:13) says, “And Aharon was separated to
be sanctified, the Holy of Holies.” The kohein gadol himself is called the Holy of Holies! Death may touch other kohanim but the kohein gadol, who is connected to the heart of Yerushalyim, the Holy of Holies, is above the concept of impurity and defilement. That is why he does not defile himself even to his close relatives. Mourning and sadness have no place in the person identified with the clearest manifestation of Hashem’s presence, the Holy of Holies. The kohein gadol is anointed with the shemen ha’mishcha, the anointing oil. The word for oil, shemen, is connected to the word “eight” because the kohein gadol is above nature, above the seven days of creation. He connects to that which is above nature. And the word for anointing, ha’mishcha, has the same letters as simcha, joy. The kohein gadol is also the only person to wear eight garments, rather than four, further identifying him with a level of joy that is beyond this world. Every Jew has a little kohein gadol inside of him – a place where sadness and destruction cannot reach. No matter what has happened to him or what he has done, there is a Holy of Holies deep inside of him which is still filled with a spark of Hashem’s light and joy. This week is Lag B’Omer, the hillula of Rebbi Shimon bar Yochai. Rebbi Shimon shared this attribute of being like the kohein gadol, although
he was not a kohein or even from the tribe of Levi. And as we are about to say about the tzaddik, “Bar Yochai nimshachta ashrecha shemen sasson mei’chaveirecha, Bar Yochai you are anointed, rejoice, with the oil of joy from your friends,” and “Bar Yochai mei’kodesh ha’kedoshim, Bar Yochai from the Holy of Holies.” Rebbi Shimon was anointed with the number eight, with the holiness of the Holy of Holies. Therefore, destruction, sadness, and mourning have no place in his world. Indeed, it once happened that Rebbi Avraham Halevi, one of the students of the Arizal, said “Nachem,” while he was bentching – although we normally say that prayer on Tisha B’Av – in Meiron on Lag B’Omer (as he was accustomed to doing all year) and the Arizal saw a vision of Rebbi Shimon warning that because he brought the prayer of mourning which literally means “comfort,” into Rebbi Shimon’s place, which is a place of joy, that this Jew would ultimately need to be comforted. Indeed, Rebbi Avraham’s son passed away a short time later. According to the Ramchal, the soul of Rebbi Shimon bar Yochai is the soul of the ultimate redemption. “Shimon ben Yochai” has the numerical value of me’chayei meisim, Who brings the dead to life. Rebbi Shimon’s essence is life and the numerical value of b’Lag B’Omer, “on Lag B’Omer” is simcha, joy. Indeed, according to the Zohar (296b) Rebbi Shimon’s last words on earth as a fire descended from Heaven to bring his holy body
