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

[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.