daf bit: Nazir 49

[cellio]

If a nazarite becomes ritually impure, he must shave, wait to become ritually pure, and start over. What are the things that can make him ritually impure? The mishna says contact with a corpse or parts (or derivatives) thereof. What is contact? Touching, being under the same roof as, or being above or below a corpse (without an intervening roof). (49b)

This list has a lot in common with contact forbidden to kohanim. I don't know if that's just a similarity or if there is some causal link; I could imagine seeing priests as being akin to nazarites in that they are dedicated to ritual service, though most are not actual nazarites. (The bit about being above a body without a roof intervening is why some kohanim will not fly over graveyards. I have no idea if floors on multi-story buildings count as roofs; does a kohein have to worry about the apartment below his?)

Comments

[magid.livejournal.com]

The major source of ritual impurity in Judaism is dead bodies, which affects a lot of things, but in modern days, without a Temple and so forth, it's an eara of halacha that's not dealt with much beyond women's monthly ritual impuurity (for which I've heard one explanation that the reason there's impurity at all is that there was a potential life that didn't happen... relating back to the major reason for ritual impurity).

[cellio]

Yeah, this isn't an area that gets a lot of practical use. But some kohanim still pay attention to it -- everyone's tamei, but maybe they don't want to make it even worse (or maybe they want to stay in practice).

[magid.livejournal.com]

I know that a dead body is the worst kind of tum'ah source there is; I suspect that even with today's general tum'ah, the idea is to avoid the source of it as much as possible.

[zevabe.livejournal.com]

In reality, no one is concerned with the tumah of a woman on a monthly basis. If we actually worried about tumat niddah, we would make sure she didn't sit on any couchs or beds we wanted to use the rest of the month, nor sit on them at the same time as anyone else.

However, the other part of niddah is the prohibition of having relations with the niddah. This is a different effect with the same cause (Niddah implies both this prohibition and the state of tumah. Everything we do today re: niddah is a result of the prohibition and not the tumah). Then, to prevent any possibility of having relations, a variety of other things become prohibited.

[baron-steffan.livejournal.com]

Understand that I'm looking at this as a not-particularly-frum Conservative/Reform Jew, but I'm struck by a contrast. On the one hand we have this concern about whether a multistory building's floor counts as a roof -- and I didn't know about the flying-over-graveyards thing, where I suppose the question is "does the fuselage of an airplane count as a floor*". But on the other hand we have the laws of eruv, where a mere cord counts as a "wall". Why does a "roof" have to be real, while a "wall" can be a piece of string?

* Clearly not, since a plane is a vehicle, not a building, yes?

[magid.livejournal.com]

Technically, the cord is part of a wall... but it's the gateway part of the wall, with the posts in between the cords as the "actual" wall...

[geekosaur]

Keep in mind that eruvim are not universally recognized, in part for this reason.

[cellio]

That's a good point about eiruv. And I should mention that the talmud is probably not the last word on roofs either; I haven't chased this one any farther. (Today it doesn't really matter; we're all tamei. So why do kohanim still worry about it? I'm guessing, for those who do, that it's a combination of "don't make it even worse" and "stay in practice".)

As for your last question: according to this site (which seems to be reputable): "An object that is flying through the air, such as a bird or a Talis that is carried or caught up by the wind, is not an Ohel and is not Mevi or Chotzetz, even if it is one Tefach wide." So that sounds like a "no" for the plane.

[fauxklore]

I know a few kohanim who also won't walk under a tree branch if the tree is growing in a cemetery.

Tumah 101

[zevabe.livejournal.com]

A kohen is not allowed to make himself tamei to a corpse which is not one of the close relatives (parent, wife, sibling or child). A nazir is not allowed to make himself tamei to a corpse even if it is a close relative. This difference is usually attributed to the fact that a Kohen is a kohen by virtue of his family, while a nazir is not a nazir in this way (Samson, being a nazir by parental vow, would probably still not be allowed to attend funerals for close relatives)

Thus Kohanim today who observe this mitzva should avoid being in a situation which will make them tamei. The tumah of a Jewish corpse is transmitted in 3 ways: 1) touching 2) carrying 3) tent, which has 3 subcategories 3a) being together in a tent which has 1 tefach (handsbreath) of space above the corpse 3b) if the corpse is immediately above the kohen 3c) if the corpse is immediately below the kohen. The latter two subcategories can best be understood like this, which Jewish cemetaries work to avoid: imagine a corpse buried underground. Because there is no space between the corpse and the earth above him, a kohen who stood above him would be making a "tent" over him (even though there is no space between the kohen and the ground) and become tamei. Similarly, this ray of tumah extend upward an infinite distance until stopped by a tent of some sort (trees work for this). Little discussion that I have seen is devoted to a person under a corpse, but he the corpse were hanging in the air, anyone or anything (this doesn't just apply to kohanim, but is only practiced today by kohanim) passing underneath the corpse would become tamei.

Floors of apartment buildings would work, but the fact that the two apartments are connected by a continuous indoor path complicates things. A building which requires a person to walk outdoors to go from floor to floor (such as some motels & condo buildings) would be less problematic, I think.

Re: Tumah 101

[cellio]

Thanks!

The tumah of a Jewish corpse is transmitted in 3 ways:

Is there a difference between Jewish and non-Jewish corpses?

Little discussion that I have seen is devoted to a person under a corpse, but he the corpse were hanging in the air, anyone or anything (this doesn't just apply to kohanim, but is only practiced today by kohanim) passing underneath the corpse would become tamei.

So a corpse being flown somewhere for burial is potentially a problem. A non-trivial number of corpses are sent to Israel for burial; I assume that dilligent kohanim stay away from the airspace used by planes arriving at Ben Gurion?

Re: Tumah 101

[zevabe.livejournal.com]

A non-Jewish corpse does not convey tumah through method 3. I believe it also does not convey tumah through carrying. However, touching a non-Jewish corpse will convey tumah. This is problematic for kohanim wishing to be doctors, as touching a corpse is almost inevitable in first year anatomy courses.

Corpses to Israel for burial:
Additionally, being on the plane taking the corpse would be similarly problematic, depending on how connected the passenger cabin is to the luggage compartment.