Burying the dead takes precedence TB Nazir 47-8

With daf TB Nazir 47 we begin the seventh chapter of our massekhet. This chapter is the source of the mitzvah of the met mitzvah (מֵת מִצְוָה). Because the human being is created in God’s image we must treat that image with the utmost respect and honor both in life and in death. A met mitzvah is a person who has died and there is no one else besides you available to attend the corpse, you must stop whatever you are doing and bury the dead. Any other behavior would be a sacrilege. No one not even the High Priest or a nazir are exempt from the mitzvah of bearing a met mitzvah. “A High Priest and a nazirite may not become ritually impure even to bury their deceased relatives. However, they become impure to bury a corpse with no one to bury it [met mitzva]. If one of them comes across the corpse of a Jew, and there is nobody else available to bury it, he must bury the body.” (Sefaria.org translation)

Daf TB Nazir 48 provides the sources for this law. The Torah commands the nazir not to become in contact with the dead. “Throughout the term that they have set apart for YHVH, they shall not go in where there is a dead person. Even if their father or mother, or their brother or sister should die, they must not become defiled for any of them, since hair set apart for their God is upon their head.” (Numbers 6:6-7) If the Torah commands that they should not go where there is any dead person, the verse “Even if their father or mother, or their brother or sister should die, they must not become defiled for any of them” is extraneous. Because there can be nothing superfluous in the Torah, the terms father, mother, brother, and sister must come to teach us something else.

“Rather, the baraita explains as follows: The superfluous phrase “for his father” serves to say that he may not become impure to bury his father, and all the more so for his other relatives.” (You might think that the nazir is more comparable to a regular Kohen. Since a regular Kohen is allowed to become impure to bury his father, you might have thought that a nazir is allowed to become impure to bury his father. “For his father” comes to teach us that the nazir should be compared to the Kohen Gadol, the High Priest.-gg)

“The phrase “for his brother” teaches that he may not become impure to bury his brother but he may become impure to bury a met mitzva. “And for his mother”; this phrase is for a verbal analogy in accordance with the opinion of Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi, that a nazirite may contract ritual impurity of types other than a corpse. (As we learned earlier on the daf “‘or for his mother’ serves as a verbal analogy, in accordance with the opinion of Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi, as it is taught in a baraita: Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi says: It states with regard to a nazirite: “He shall not become defiled for them when they die” (Numbers 6:7), which indicates: It is only when his relatives die that he may not become impure for them. However, he may become impure for their leprosy and for their emission of a zav, i.e., a nazirite is not forbidden to contract those forms of ritual impurity.”

As for the phrase “and for his sister,” it is used for that which is taught in a baraita, as it is taught in a baraita: “And for his sister”; what is the meaning when the verse states this with regard to a nazirite? This detail is apparently superfluous, as the halakha that a nazirite may not become impure to bury a relative has already been derived.

“The baraita continues: Rather, the term “and for his sister” teaches the following: If someone went to slaughter his Paschal offering or to circumcise his son, which are particularly stringent positive mitzvot, as their neglect is punished by karet, and he hears that a relative of his had died, one might have thought that he should become impure to bury his dead relative and abandon his performance of the mitzva. You can say in response that he may not become impure, as one is not permitted to neglect the obligation of the Paschal offering or circumcision, even to bury a close relative.

“The baraita continues: One might have thought that he may not become impure even to bury a met mitzva. The verse states: “For his sister.” It is only for his sister or another close relative that the nazirite may not become impure, but he does become impure to bury a met mitzva. Since the verse had already taught that a nazirite may not become impure to bury a relative but does become impure to bury a met mitzva in an ordinary circumstance, the additional term “and for his sister” teaches that the same halakha applies even when he is going to perform an important mitzva.” (Sefaria.org translation)

The mitzvot of the korban Pesakh, the Paschal lamb, and circumcision are the only two positive commandments that carry the punishment of karet. Even when these mitzvot collide with the mitzvah of bearing a met mitzvah, the burying of the dead takes precedence.

If only we would take as much care to preserve the dignity and honor of the living, as we do of the dead.