Levítico 21:6 Halacá: Mishneh Torah, Negative Mitzvot & Sefer HaChinukh

That a priest who is unclean shall not serve (in the Sanctuary), as it is said, “(Speak unto Aaron and his sons) that they separate themselves from the holy things of the children of Israel….” (Lev. 22:2-3).

That a priest who had had an immersion during the day (to cleanse him from his uncleanness) shall not serve in the Sanctuary till after sunset, as it is said, “…. and they shall not profane the name of their God” (Lev. 21:6).^**The permission to serve after sunset can be inferred from Lev. 22:7: “And when the sun is down, he shall be clean, and shall afterwards eat of the holy things, because it is his food.” The prohibition is implied in Lev. 21:6, as above.

It is from the roots of the commandment [that] since the priests were chosen for the service of God, blessed be He — as the verse stated, “they shall be holy to their God” (Leviticus 21:6) — therefore, He distanced them from the dead. And I have already written above (Sefer HaChinukh 159) that the substance of impurity is something that is disgusting and vile. And the Sages explained about the body of a dead person that it is the primary source of the primary sources (avi avot) of impurity — meaning to say that it has very strong impurity, above all [other] impurity. And the matter is that in the separation from him of the living, good form of the intellect, [the body] remains by itself, as “he is also only flesh” — base and inferior, and seeking evil things; and also in its great evil, it led the precious soul to sin when it was still dwelling with it. Hence it is fitting that it make impure all that is around it, in the stripping of its glory from it — and that is the soul — and [when] only the evil substance remains in it. And it is truly fitting that the servants of God, may He be blessed, distance themselves from it — except for the relatives that are permitted to them, as they are their brothers, their flesh. As all the ways of the Torah “are pleasant and its paths are peace,” and it did not want to grieve them so much. As their hearts would be heated about the dead relative, that they could not approach into the tent that he is in and pour out their spirits and satiate their souls with crying about him. And I saw a hint about the reason which I wrote about the impurity of the dead; as they, may their memory be blessed, said (Talmud Yerushalmi Berakhot 3:1) that the completely righteous do not render impure. And from what appears, the intention is [that it is] because their bodies are pure and clean and they did not bring their soul to sin, but [rather] aided it to receive merit. And therefore their soul rose in a “kiss,” and upon their cadaver sown light will shine forever.