וְעַ֛ל כָּל־נַפְשֹׁ֥ת מֵ֖ת לֹ֣א יָבֹ֑א לְאָבִ֥יו וּלְאִמּ֖וֹ לֹ֥א יִטַּמָּֽא׃
<span class="x" onmousemove="Show('perush','Estas palabras sirvieron al Rambam como referencia al <b>167mo Precepto Negativo</b> y al <b>168mo Precepto Negativo</b> enumerados en el Prefacio a Mishné Torá, su “Compendio de la Ley Hebrea” para todo el Pueblo de Israel.',event);" onmouseout="Close();">Ni entrará donde haya alguna persona muerta, ni por su padre, o por su madre se contaminará</span>.
Bartenura
כהן גדול. אינו יוצא אחר המטה – Perhaps he would come to touch [the corpse] in the midst of his troubles. And the All-Merciful One said (Leviticus 21:11): “He shall not go where there is any dead body.”
English Explanation of Mishnah Nazir
A high priest and a nazirite may not defile themselves with their [dead] relatives, but they may defile themselves with a neglected corpse.
If they were walking on the path and found a neglected corpse: Rabbi Eliezer says: the high priest should defile himself but not the nazirite. But the Sages say: the nazirite should defile himself but not the high priest.
Rabbi Eliezer said to them: the priest should defile himself, for he does not offer a sacrifice for his defilement, and the nazirite should not defile himself, for he does offer a sacrifice on defilement. They said to him: the nazirite should defile himself, for his holiness is not permanent, and the priest should not defile himself, for his holiness is permanent.
Just as it is forbidden for nazirite to defile himself, even in order to take care of his relatives (Numbers 6:6), so too this is forbidden for a high priest (see Leviticus 21:11). An ordinary priest is allowed to take care of the burial of his close relatives, but he is forbidden from defiling himself for others.
In Nazir 6:5 we learned that the one exception to this rule for a nazirite is a “neglected corpse”, literally termed “a commanded corpse”. All Jews are commanded to take care of bringing this corpse to a proper burial, and this commandment overrides the prohibition of defilement. Our mishnah deals with a priest and a nazirite who are walking together and see a neglected corpse. Only one of them need defile himself; the question is which one.
Section one: As we stated in the introduction, even a high priest and a nazirite may defile themselves in order to take care of a neglected corpse.
Section two: In this situation one of them, either the priest or the nazirite, but not both of them must defile themselves in order to take care of the neglected corpse. Note that once one person is taking care of the corpse, it is no longer a “neglected corpse” and hence the other one is forbidden to defile himself.
Rabbi Eliezer says that the high priest/priest should defile himself. In the following section he provides his reasoning. A priest who defiles himself does not bring a sacrifice as atonement, but a nazirite does. Rabbi Eliezer reads the bringing of a sacrifice as a sign of the greater seriousness of the transgression. To avoid this, the priest, or even high priest, should take care of the corpse, and the nazirite should remain pure.
The Sages respond that the priest’s holiness is greater than that of the nazirite for his holiness is permanent, whereas the nazirite’s is temporary. This is indeed a different way of looking at holiness. Holiness is measured by the innate quality of having been born into a priestly family, and not by the “mitzvah” oriented idea that being liable to bring a sacrifice make’s one status holier.
As an aside, we might note in this mishnah that a nazirite’s vow in some ways is an attempt for him to become holy like the priest. While their prohibitions are different, there is enough similarity between the two that we may sense that one reason that a person might take a nazirite vow was to become holy in much the same way that a priest is holy.
If they were walking on the path and found a neglected corpse: Rabbi Eliezer says: the high priest should defile himself but not the nazirite. But the Sages say: the nazirite should defile himself but not the high priest.
Rabbi Eliezer said to them: the priest should defile himself, for he does not offer a sacrifice for his defilement, and the nazirite should not defile himself, for he does offer a sacrifice on defilement. They said to him: the nazirite should defile himself, for his holiness is not permanent, and the priest should not defile himself, for his holiness is permanent.
Just as it is forbidden for nazirite to defile himself, even in order to take care of his relatives (Numbers 6:6), so too this is forbidden for a high priest (see Leviticus 21:11). An ordinary priest is allowed to take care of the burial of his close relatives, but he is forbidden from defiling himself for others.
In Nazir 6:5 we learned that the one exception to this rule for a nazirite is a “neglected corpse”, literally termed “a commanded corpse”. All Jews are commanded to take care of bringing this corpse to a proper burial, and this commandment overrides the prohibition of defilement. Our mishnah deals with a priest and a nazirite who are walking together and see a neglected corpse. Only one of them need defile himself; the question is which one.
Section one: As we stated in the introduction, even a high priest and a nazirite may defile themselves in order to take care of a neglected corpse.
Section two: In this situation one of them, either the priest or the nazirite, but not both of them must defile themselves in order to take care of the neglected corpse. Note that once one person is taking care of the corpse, it is no longer a “neglected corpse” and hence the other one is forbidden to defile himself.
Rabbi Eliezer says that the high priest/priest should defile himself. In the following section he provides his reasoning. A priest who defiles himself does not bring a sacrifice as atonement, but a nazirite does. Rabbi Eliezer reads the bringing of a sacrifice as a sign of the greater seriousness of the transgression. To avoid this, the priest, or even high priest, should take care of the corpse, and the nazirite should remain pure.
The Sages respond that the priest’s holiness is greater than that of the nazirite for his holiness is permanent, whereas the nazirite’s is temporary. This is indeed a different way of looking at holiness. Holiness is measured by the innate quality of having been born into a priestly family, and not by the “mitzvah” oriented idea that being liable to bring a sacrifice make’s one status holier.
As an aside, we might note in this mishnah that a nazirite’s vow in some ways is an attempt for him to become holy like the priest. While their prohibitions are different, there is enough similarity between the two that we may sense that one reason that a person might take a nazirite vow was to become holy in much the same way that a priest is holy.
German Commentary
so gehe er nicht hinter der Bahre. Denn er könnte in seinem Schmerze sich vergessen und an der Leiche verunreinigen, was dem Hohenpriester selbst bei den nächsten Verwandten verboten ist, Lev. 21, 11.