Halakhah sobre Números 6:6

Tiferet Yisra'el, Bo'az, Oholot 8:6, declares that although members of this class do not have the status of a "tent" even for purposes of constituting an interposition, nevertheless, they themselves do become defiled. That is indeed the position of a host of early-day authorities.⁷See sources cited by Rabbis Halberstadt and Goldmintz, Kanfei Yonah, p. 8 and idem, Teḥumin, XXII (5762), 507, note 8. However, one early-day authority, Rabbenu Shimshon (Rash), Tohorot 4:3, maintains that members of this class neither constitute a “tent” nor do they themselves become defiled. In effect, Rash maintains that a flying object is not susceptible to defilement as a “tent” or overhanging object. Thus, the passenger in the airplane, who is also in motion, cannot become defiled. That is also the position of Rash, loc. cit.; however, Rosh contradicts that view in his comments on Nazir 55a, s.v. ve-ha-tanya, and in his Tosafot ha-Rosh, Berakhot 19a, s.v. rov. The theory underlying Rash’s position in difficult to fathom. He presumably maintains that defilement extends ad coelum only in the presence of an overhanging tent. Hence, since a flying object does not constitute an overhanging “tent,” even that object cannot become defiled. Cf., R. Chaim ha-Levi Soloveitchik, Ḥiddushei Rabbenu Ḥayyim ha-Levi al ha-Rambam, Hilkhot Tum’at Met 11:5. See Rabbi Halberstadt, Kanfei Yonah, p. 9, note 4. Rabbi Spitzer, Kol ha-Torah, no. 52, p. 179, cites numerous early-day authorities who contradict the view of Rash. Teshuvot Kappei Aharon, no. 25, sec. 14 and no. 50; Ḥazon Ish, Tohorot 4:13 and Yoreh De‘ah 211:9; and R. Yosef Shalom Eliashiv, Yeshurun, X (Nisan 5762), 566f., all rule contrary to the position of Rash. R. David Samuel Pardo, in his commentary on the Tosefta, Ḥasdei David, Tohorot 3:14, also expresses astonishment with regard to Rash’s position.
Citing the comments of Rash and Rosh, Oholot 8:5, regarding a “house on a boat,” Kappei Aharon, no. 50, asserts that, even according to Rash, a “flying” object is immune to defilement only if there is no “roof” over that object; if, however, the flying object is covered by its own roof, even if the roof itself is moving, it does become defiled by the corpse below the flying object. Thus, a kohen in an airplane that overflies a cemetery, asserts Kappei Aharon, becomes defiled because the plane is enclosed on top.
R. Eleazer Moshe ha-Levi Horowitz of Pinsk, Teshuvot Ohel Mosheh, II, no. 122, develops the novel view that even according to Rash, since there is no interposition between himself and the corpse, a kohen who leaps over a corpse transgresses the prohibition against “entering” the tent containing a corpse even though he does not transgress the prohibition against becoming defiled. The prohibition against actual defilement is formulated in Leviticus 21:1; the verse “upon a dead body he shall not come” (Numbers 6:6) is understood by the Gemara as referring to entering into a tent in which a corpse is present and, according to Ohel Mosheh, Nazir 42a, constitutes a transgression even if such entry does not lead to defilement. That thesis is also tentatively advanced by R. Elchanan Wasserman, Koveẓ Shemu‘ot, Ḥullin, sec. 31, and is reflected in the comments of R. Chaim Ozer Grodzinski, Teshuvot Aḥi‘ezer, III, no. 65, secs. 5–7. An airplane flying through the sky is certainly comparable to a ship sailing in the sea and a bird flying in the air. Accordingly, since an airplane is not a "tent" but does itself become defiled, it cannot serve as an interposition preserving persons within the plane from defilement. That fundamental point was noted in the early days of airplane travel by R. Aaron Epstein, Teshuvot Kappei Aharon (Munkàcz, 5693), nos. 25 and 50, and repeatedly confirmed in the intervening decades by a host of authorities.⁸See Ḥazon Ish, Yoreh De‘ah 211:9, Even ha-Ezer 144:9 and Oholot, addenda; Teshuvot Har Ẓevi, Yoreh De‘ah, no. 280; Teshuvot Ḥelkat Ya’akov, III, no. 209; Yerushat Pleitah, no. 34; Teshuvot ve-Hanhagot, III, no. 347; and R. Yosef Shalom Eliashiv, Yeshurun, X (Nisan 5762), 566–567.

That the nazirite not enter the tent of a dead body: That the nazirite not enter the tent of a dead body, as it is stated(Numbers 6:6), "to the soul of a dead person he shall not enter."