King Solomon said: “giving a straightforward reply is like giving a kiss” [Proverbs, 24:26]. The wise person speaks good sweet words, which the people appreciate. They would gladly kiss him, and they smack their lips that he is speaking well. The verse also teaches us about a righteous person who is worthy to die with a kiss from the Holy One, like Moses and Aaron died. Concerning them, it is written, “at the command of the Lord” [Numbers, 33:38; Deuteronomy, 34:5].¹ That is to say, they died through the kiss of the Holy One; their soul left them. Miriam also died in the same way, but the Torah does not explicitly want to write explicitly, “at the command of the Lord” concerning the death of Miriam because she was a woman and it is not proper to write that she died through a kiss from the Holy One. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob also died in the same way. Rabbi Judah the Prince, a rabbi in the Talmud also died in this way. That is to say, they all died without the Angel of Death. Rabbi Judah the Prince was very righteous; he had no pleasure from this world. The Jerusalem Talmud writes. When Rabbi Judah the Prince died, Rabbi Yannai announced, today the priesthood does not exist. That is to say, the priests may touch Rabbi Judah, since he is not impure like other corpses, because he died through the Holy One himself. The priests buried him. However, the priests should not touch other corpses. Therefore the verse says here:²

footnotes: ¹ The verse literally means, “by the mouth of the Lord.” Numbers is Aaron, Deuteronomy is Moses. ² Bahya, Emor, Introduction.

“Speak to the priests” [21:1]. Tell the priests that they should not touch any corpse. The children of the priests should not touch a corpse, even when they are small. One can ask a question. Rabbi Yannai told the priests that they could touch Rabbi Judah the Prince, even though he had died. There is a midrash in the Zohar that disagrees.³ It says, as soon as the person dies, the spirits of impurity see that the soul of the person has gone to heaven and the Garden of Eden. The spirits of impurity unite with the body. They think that they will also come to heaven when they cleave to the dead body. Therefore a corpse is impure because of the impure spirits. This midrash also answers a question. Why, when a gentile or an animal die and are lying in a house, a priest may go into that house. When a Jew dies and lies in a house, then no priest can come into that house because there is a corpse in the house. The explanation is that the spirits of impurity only desire to cleave to the corpse of a Jew whose soul went to heaven. However, they do not cleave to the body of a gentile or animal. So, one may ask, since the spirits of impurity unite with a body whose soul has gone to heaven. The soul of Rabbi Judah the Prince certainly went to heaven. Why does the Jerusalem Talmud say that Rabbi Yannai announced that the priests may touch Rabbi Judah the Prince and to bury him? The spirits of impurity would certainly cleave to the body of Rabbi Judah the Prince and make him impure. The explanation is that Rabbi Judah the Prince was called “Rabbi” in the Talmud because he taught Torah to all of Israel. Thus, he was called “Rabbi” and when he died, he had taught the whole world Torah and they always recited Torah that they had learned from him. Through this, the lips of Rabbi Judah the Prince speak in the grave, as the verse says, “O that I might dwell in Your tent forever” [Psalms, 61:5]. Here the Talmud asks a question. How is it possible that King David said that he would live in two worlds at one time? The explanation is that King David said, let people say words of Torah for my sake after my death and it will be as if I would live in two worlds because the lips of my mouth speak in the grave when people will say words of Torah for my sake after my death, as the verse says, “gliding over the lips of sleepers” [Song of Songs, 7:10]. This means, the lips of the scholars speak in the grave.⁴, 96b-97a. Thus, this explains the question about how could Rabbi Yannai announce that Rabbi Judah the Prince is not impure, since the spirits see that the lips of Rabbi Judah the Prince speak in the grave. They think that because Rabbi Judah is speaking with his lips, the soul must still be in him, since the soul speaks by every person. Therefore, the spirits of impurity do not cleave to Rabbi Judah the Prince. They think that he is still teaching.⁵

footnotes: ³ Most probably, Zohar, III:88b. ⁴ B. Yevamot ⁵ This is most likely an original interpretation.

Therefore, the verse says two times, “speak and say” [21:1]. When there is no person to bury a corpse, then the priest should go and bury him, but a male priest should not touch him. However, a daughter of a priest may touch it because the women brought death into the world. Thus, it is just that every woman should help bury the dead, even daughters of priests. The section of the priests is written near the section about magic, “a ghost or familiar spirit” [20:27], that is previously in Kedoshim. This teaches us that you Israelites do not need to ask what will happen through magic. You have priests who will tell you what you need.⁶

footnotes: ⁶ Bahya, Leviticus, 21:1.

“Except for the relatives” [21:2]. However, a priest may become impure for his wife. He can bury her and similarly, a priest may become impure for his mother and father, his son and daughter, his brother and sister who have not married. The priest may become impure for his relatives, but he should not go to the cemetery among other graves after he has buried his father and wants to visit the graves. However, when he carries the corpse to the grave he is allowed to go among other graves. However, he can be in a house where his dead relatives are in the house. Bahya and Toldot Yizhak ask. “To his mother and father he should become impure” [21:2]. He should become impure to his mother and father. Why does the verse say mother first, before the father? Rabbi Abraham said because more women die quickly than the men. He first mentions the mother regarding death, since the mother dies first. However, one can ask a question. Why did the Torah write the father first before the mother in connection with the high priest, that he should not become impure for them? The high priest was not supposed to become impure even for his mother and father. The explanation is that it says the mother first regarding an ordinary priest. That is to say, to his mother he can certainly become impure, because she is certainly his mother, with good testimony that his mother had given birth to him. However, his father is not certain to us if he is his true father, yet he may become impure to his father. Therefore, it says the mother first; he may certainly become impure to her. Concerning the high priest, the Torah first mentions the father. That is, it is obvious that he should not become impure to his father since he does not know with certainty if he is his father. However, to the mother the high priest should be able to become impure to her, since we know with certainty who is his mother. Therefore, the Torah says that even to your mother you should not become impure.⁷

footnotes: ⁷ Bahya, Leviticus, 21:2; Toldot Yizhak, Leviticus, 21:2–3.