Reply To: Short & Sweet

Emor: Live Life

We know that a Kohen may not become טמא by coming into contact with a dead body. But why is that?

R’ Shamshon Rephael Hirsch explains that in many other religions, a priest’s job only relates to death. These religions think that religion is only an explanation for where we go when we die, but not a set of instructions for how we should live our lives while we’re here.

We believe just the opposite. Once somebody has died, it’s too late for them to change. Our religion is all about improving ourselves while we still can. The Kohanim are forbidden from dealing with the dead in order to emphasize that our religion is about life, not death.

לע״נ דוד חיים בן ישראל דוב הכהן
לע״נ ר׳ חיים דוב בן ר׳ בןציון שלום