Parashat Emor- A Torah of Hesed
**Candlelighting in Brooklyn, NY, May 9th is at 7:42 PM.
MInha, followed by Derasha by Rabbi Mansour, and Arbit ,on Shabbat, May 10th will be at 6:50 PM **
The first section of Parashat Emor presents the law of "Tum'at Kohanim," which forbids a Kohen from contracting Tum'a (ritual impurity) by coming in contact with a human corpse. Ordinary Kohanim are permitted to become Tamei (ritually impure) if an immediate family member passes away, Heaven forbid, whereas the Kohen Gadol may not contract Tum'a even in the event of a death within his family.
Interestingly, however, Halacha makes an exception in the special case of a "Met Misva," a body left with no one to bury it. If a Kohen encounters the remains of a Jew and nobody else is available to bury it at this moment, he is permitted and in fact required to tend to the burial regardless of the Tum'a that he will contract as a result. This Halacha applies even to the Kohen Gadol himself. Even though the Kohen Gadol may not become Tamei to tend the burial of a parent or sibling, he is enjoined to become Tamei for the purpose of burying a person whom nobody else is currently available to bury.
The unique situation of a "Met Misva" demonstrates the primary importance that the Torah affords to the value of Hesed performing kindness for others, even after their passing. Imagine that once on Yom Kippur during the time of the Bet Ha'mikdash the Kohen Gadol came upon an abandoned corpse as he made his way to the Bet Ha'mikdash. On Yom Kippur, it was the Kohen Gadol who performed all the rituals in the Mikdash, including the special rituals that served to earn atonement for the entire nation. He offered all the sacrifices, recited the Viduy (confession) on the nation's behalf, and sent a special goat into the wilderness symbolic of the elimination of Am Yisrael's misdeeds. The entire nation looked to the Kohen Gadol, the holiest man among them, to perform the special Yom Kippur service through which they could earn God's compassion and forgiveness. Nevertheless, upon seeing the body, the Kohen Gadol must immediately stop in his tracks and bury it. He may not even rush to the Mikdash and send somebody else to perform the burial. It is his duty to take the time to bury the "Met Misva," rather than allow the body to endure even a few additional moments of humiliation.
In such a case, the responsibilities of the Yom Kippur service would fall upon his "Segan," the Kohen Gadol's deputy who is assigned as a "backup" in case the Kohen Gadol became disqualified for the service. We can image how disappointed the people in the Mikdash would feel upon hearing that the Yom Kippur service would be performed that year by only the "Segan," and not by the Kohen Gadol himself. Their forgiveness would now depend on not the holiest man in the nation, but rather his understudy.
Nevertheless, this is what the Torah demands. From the Torah's perspective, formality and ritual do not supersede Hesed, the genuine concern and loving kindness that we must extend to one another. It is far preferable to delegate the Yom Kippur service to a lower-ranking Kohen than to allow a person's body to remain in an undignified state for a few moments unnecessarily. When it comes to Hesed, to performing kindness even to somebody who has already passed on nothing may stand in the way.
Contrast this attitude advocated by the Torah with other value systems that we see around us today. In England, for example, the guards surrounding Buckingham Palace do not move or even flinch for a second as they stand in place. There are reported cases where people fainted or collapsed right in front of a Palace guard, and the guard still did not leave his post to help. In that world, formality and protocol take precedence over basic sensitivity and concern for other people.
Our Torah, by contrast, is a Torah of Hesed, a Torah that teaches us that nothing is more important than helping one's fellow and coming to his side in his time of need. And when the situation calls for lending assistance, we are bidden to forego on our other concerns and responsibilities in order to offer a helping hand.
