Kohanim Not Becoming Tameh: Difference between revisions
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Kohanim Not Becoming Tameh (view source)
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#In cases of a pressing need, a kohen is allowed to visit someone who is sick in the hospital outside of Israel.<ref>Rav Moshe Feinstein (Igrot Moshe Y.D. 2:166) says we can follow the majority that any corpse or limbs will be of a non-Jew which strictly speaking are not mitamay b'ohel. However, he notes that you should try and find out if there are any Jewish corpses at the time as that would be a problem. See also Chelkat Yaakov, YD 215.</ref> | #In cases of a pressing need, a kohen is allowed to visit someone who is sick in the hospital outside of Israel.<ref>Rav Moshe Feinstein (Igrot Moshe Y.D. 2:166) says we can follow the majority that any corpse or limbs will be of a non-Jew which strictly speaking are not mitamay b'ohel. However, he notes that you should try and find out if there are any Jewish corpses at the time as that would be a problem. See also Chelkat Yaakov, YD 215.</ref> | ||
#A kohen is permitted to live outside the land of Israel.<ref>The Gemora Shabbat 15a tells us that Shimon ben Shetach decreed that outside the land of Israel has the status of tumas meis. The Shach Y.D. 369:2 and Taz Y.D. 369:4 suggest that this is a stringency that doesn't apply nowadays as the laws of tumah and tahara are not practiced. Rabbi Akiva Eiger (Y.D. 369 :1 s.v. v'chol) explains there is room to be lenient as this tumah is only Rabbinic in nature. Additionally, he suggests (s.v. HaKohen) that kohanim are relying on the minority opinion of the Ravaad that there is no issue for a Kohen to come into contact with a corpse if he is already tamay.</ref> | #A kohen is permitted to live outside the land of Israel.<ref>The Gemora Shabbat 15a tells us that Shimon ben Shetach decreed that outside the land of Israel has the status of tumas meis. The Shach Y.D. 369:2 and Taz Y.D. 369:4 suggest that this is a stringency that doesn't apply nowadays as the laws of tumah and tahara are not practiced. Rabbi Akiva Eiger (Y.D. 369 :1 s.v. v'chol) explains there is room to be lenient as this tumah is only Rabbinic in nature. Additionally, he suggests (s.v. HaKohen) that kohanim are relying on the minority opinion of the Ravaad that there is no issue for a Kohen to come into contact with a corpse if he is already tamay.</ref> | ||
# A kohen may enter a non-Jew's house.<ref>Mishna Ohalot 18:7 | # A kohen may enter a non-Jew's house.<ref>Mishna Ohalot 18:7 establishes that we're concerned about a corposed buried beneath the floor of a non-Jew's house as long as they have lived there for 40 days or more. This is quoted in Gemara Pesachim 9a and codified by the Rambam Tumat Meyt 11:9. Tosfot Pesachim 9a quotes a Tosefta that it doesn't apply in the diaspora. Erech Lechem YD 372:2 codifies this. Rash Ohalot 18:7 writes that there's no tumah in the non-Jew's houses in the diaspora since anyway there's a tumah in all of diaspora. Mayan Omer 5:23 quotes Rav Ovadia Yosef as holding that the entire halacha of non-Jewish homes being tameh doesn't apply today without any explanation. R' Yehuda Naki in the footnote suggests that since we have flooring and not dirt floors we're not worried about a corpse being buried under the ground. Mayan Omer 6:5:17 cites this from the Drashta Vchakarta v. 5 p. 410 supporting this point. Similarly, Taharat Kohanim pp. 99-100 cites Rav Nissim Karelitz who thought that the entire halacha is about whenever there's a real concern but if there's no concern then it is permitted. Factors to consider are that it is unlikely in places where they have flooring and in some places it is abnormal to bury under a house.</ref> | ||
==Blocking Tumah of Corpse== | ==Blocking Tumah of Corpse== | ||
