Recanti (Chukas 19:14) This is the law of one who dies in the tent. You already know that a gentile, while alive, is impure and transmits impurity due to the impurity dwelling within his body; yet when he dies, that spirit departs from him, and therefore he does not transmit impurity via a tent—for the established principle among us is that the graves of gentiles do not transmit impurity via a tent, based on the verse "When a *man* dies," implying that the nations of the world are not designated as "*man*." However, the case of a Jew is the opposite: during his lifetime, a holy spirit dwells within him, yet upon death, he is impure and transmits impurity. There is a profound mystery here: when the spirit of impurity perceives a vessel of purity—now devoid of the holy spirit—it comes and settles within it, rendering everything inside it impure and capable of transmitting impurity. For this reason, it is customary to guard the bodies of the dead to prevent an evil spirit from entering them, for they yearn to complete their formation—understand this well.
Interesting application to medical halakha.
ReplyDeleteIf a Kohen wants to go to medical school, can he attend one where there are absolutely no Jewish in town so that the bodies in the anatomy lab are Gentile and he can observe without touching?