Cytowanie Komentarza do Kapłańska 21:10

If any of his near kin die he may not follow after the bier, rather when the bearers are not visible, he is visible, when they are visible he is not visible, and he may go out with them as far as the city gate, according to Rabbi Meir. Rabbi Judah says, “He may not leave the Temple, as it says, “Nor shall he go out of the Sanctuary”. And when he comforts other mourners the custom is for all of the people to pass by, the one after the other, while the appointed [priest] stands between him and the people. And when he receives comfort from others, all the people say to him, “Let us be your atonement”, and he says to them, “May you be blessed by Heaven.” When they feed him the funeral meal all the people sit around on the ground and he sits on a stool. The High Priest is severely restricted with regards to his participation in the rituals of burial. Since contact with the dead causes impurity the High Priest cannot even participate in the burying of his own immediate family (unlike a regular priest who may) (see Lev. 21:10-12). According to Rabbi Meir, the High Priest is allowed to semi-secretly participate in the burial procession, up until they leave the city gates of Jerusalem (people were not buried within the city confines). Rabbi Judah states that he may not even participate this much, since the Torah states that he may not leave the Sanctuary at all. If the High Priest needs to participate in the comforting of mourners he may do so, but the “appointed” priest would come in between him and the other people. According to the Rambam this is to show the honor due to the High Priest, that he shouldn’t be just a part of the crowd. When others comfort him they say, “Let us be your atonement”. It seems to me that this is to assuage the sense of guilt that the High Priest must feel since he was not able to participate in the burying of his own dead. When he comforts others he should give them a blessing. When he is fed the traditional funeral meal which would normally be eaten by the mourner while sitting close to the ground, the rest of the people must sit on the ground. This fulfills two functions: 1) he retains a higher status than them; 2) they are able to participate in his sorrow and grief.

this is when Moses said to Aaron: “do not mourn nor weep, and do not desist from carrying on with your priestly duties; I am telling you what I am saying in the name of G’d Who has said: בקרובי אקדש, I want to be sanctified by the High Priests, the ones who are “near” to Me and who perform the service for Me. I do not want that they should desecrate My name and My holy service by letting their private concerns take precedence.” Moses added that G’d had specifically given him instructions concerning such events as had just happened by saying (Leviticus 21,10-12) “the priest who is exalted above his fellows, on whose head the anointment has been poured and who has been ordained to wear the vestments, shall not bare his head nor rend his vestments. He shall not go in where there is a dead body; he shall not defile himself even for his father or mother. He shall not go outside the sanctuary and profane the sanctuary of his G’d, for upon him is the distinction of the anointing oil of his G’d, Mine the Lord’s.” It follows that by not leaving the holy precincts at this time Aaron did in fact sanctify the name of the Lord. This is the meaning of בקרובי אקדש, “I will be sanctified by those close to Me.” The fact that the legislation we just quoted appears only in chapter 21 is no argument as the Torah is not bound to record its message to the Jewish people in chronological sequence. At any rate, Moses told Aaron not to abandon the service in the Tabernacle while in circumstances which imposed mourning on other priests, even.

And that is what God meant in saying, by My close ones I will be sanctified. And an explanation is that God said this in the portion of the high priest, in Parashat Emor, where it is written concerning the high priest: (Leviticus 21:11) "neither shall he go in to any dead body, nor defile himself for his father, or for his mother;" and it is written, "[he] shall not suffer the hair of his head to grow long, nor rend his clothes;" (Leviticus 21:10). And this is, "by My close ones I will be sanctified." God is honoured by the high priests -- who are God's close ones -- that no mourning practices are found among them. And in this is "And gain glory before all the people" (Leviticus 10:3); "I will be glorified." And so for the children of Aharon, although they are ordinary priests, say then, since they are anointed first, behold they are like high priests today. And it is possible to explain, "this is what God meant in saying" as if to say, so thinks God: I will be revenged on these, since they are My close ones, and I will be sanctified and glorified in front of all the people, since they will learn from an a fortiori argument about themselves. Meaning, if God is so revenged on God's close ones when they transgress, how much more so should we fear the same. And when Aharon heard that they were the close ones of God, he was silent and was comforted. And our rabbis have explained that they taught halacha in the presence of their rabbi, or they were drunk on wine, "and that is what God meant in saying" when it said, "I will be sanctified in My honour" (Exodus 29:43).