Shabbos Parashas Emor - 5780

Shabbos Parashas Emor - 5780

Rabbi Hal Miller

God said to Moshe, say to the Kohanim, the sons of Aharon, and you shall say

to them, to a body he shall not become impure among his people. [Vayikra 21:1]

All through the Torah, including later in our parsha, we read "God said to Moshe,

say to Aharon", or "God said to Moshe and Aharon". Here, it seems to skip Aharon

entirely, and have Moshe going directly to Aharon's sons. What happened to Aharon?

Aren't "the Kohanim" and "the sons of Aharon" the same thing?

Rashi tells us two things here. First, the verse excludes the daughters of Aharon

in the prohibition of touching a corpse, so a Koheness is allowed to act for the honor

of a dead body, even when a Kohen is not. Secondly, "the Kohanim" comes to

exclude from "the sons of Aharon" any chalal, one born of a prohibited relationship

such as a Kohen who marries a divorcee. Toras Kohanim make the point that a

Kohen who is blemished, whether temporary or permanent, is required to observe

this law.

Rav Yonasan Eybeschutz explains that both of these phrases serve as exclusions.

"The Kohanim" excludes Pinchas, who although Aharon's grandson, was not at this

point a Kohen, despite becoming one later. "The sons of Aharon" excludes Moshe,

who had been destined to be the Kohen originally.

Talelei Oros says that the commandments in this section might have proven

embarrassing to Aharon due to his involvement in the golden calf episode, so God

told them over to Moshe and all the Kohanim in a way that would limit that impact.

Rav Moshe Feinstein understands that Aharon did not have a need for Moshe's

explanation in order to connect to the commandment, already having that ability,

so God explained to Moshe and to the other Kohanim who did not already have that.

Ramban says that "sons of Aharon" is to teach us that children are included in the

command, for we should already know that Aharon and his sons would be covered.

Further, when dealing with commandments on matters of offerings, the Torah says,

"speak to Aharon and to his sons", where here it says "the Kohanim" because as

priests to God, this commandment applies to them on all other matters as well.

They should never be contaminated, whether working in the Mishkan or otherwise.