“...Say
to the Priests, the Sons of Aharon, and Say to Them...” (VaYikra
21:1) Parshat Emor begins with what seems to be
a repetitive injunction to the Ordinary Priests to avoid contact with the
dead at the time of their burial, except for their seven closest relatives;
namely, their wives, parents, children, brothers and unmarried sisters.
The more extensive, total avoidance of contact with the dead
incumbent upon the High Priest is stated later in verses 21:10-11.
RASHI cites
the Talmud in Yevamot 114a that deals with this problem and answers that
what appears to be an extra injunction is to warn adults with respect to
children, to enforce this ban upon them as well, more so than with regard to
other prohibitions of the Torah. In
the general prohibition, efforts are made to discourage one’s children’s
involvement, but if a child, on his own, involves himself with the
prohibited act, the parents are not considered responsible for the child’s
act. In this context, the
parents are more accountable. The Kli Yakar gives a basis for the above
idea, and suggests that the Ordinary Priests had to avoid contact with the
dead for two reasons. The first
“saying” to the Priests was to tell them that as sons of Aharon,
they too were to avoid such contact. The
second “saying” informed them that as servants of HaShem, they
were similarly obligated. For
the Ordinary Priest who serves HaShem in the Temple, we apply the principle
that it is “sufficient for the servant to be like his Master,” Who
involved Himself only in the burials of those closest to Him; namely, Moshe
and Aharon. Of the first fifteen words in the opening
verse of the Parshah (21:1), three are forms of the verb “to say:”
“And HaShem said to Moshe, ‘Say to the Priests, the
Sons of Aharon, and say to them...”
Because the shoresh, or root of the verb used is “Aleph-Mem-Resh,”
(Amor, “to say”) to the exclusion of the shoresh “Dalet-Beis-Resh,”
(Daber, “to speak”), a number of commentators discuss the difference in
meaning between these near-synonyms of the verb “to speak.” The Rakanti mentions that the difference between Amor and Daber is that Amor is more closely associated with the Oral Torah, while Daber is more closely associated with the Written Torah. Rav
Shamshon Rephoel Hirsch elaborates upon this idea, “... The one who
speaks (Daber) gives precise expression to his thought, while the one who
speaks (Amor) transfers a complex idea to the heart of another, explaining
and developing it in full. And
thus, in the context of Torah, “Dibbur” conveys the most precise
expression of the Mitzvah, as it appears in the Written Torah, while
“Amirah” conveys the full explanation and understanding of the concept
as it has been developed in the Oral Torah.” Rabbi Pinchas Frankel |
