Caring For The Dead Despite their focus on life, priests are
permitted to attend to their closest relatives in death,
emphasizing the importance of caring for the dead. Provided by
KOLEL--The Adult Centre for Liberal Jewish Learning, which is
affiliated with Canada's Reform movement. This week's parashah
begins with specific restrictions directed at the kohanim, the
priests. These restrictions pertain to marriages, sexuality and
mourning. Kohanim must not come into contact with the dead,
except for immediate blood relatives. They are only allowed to
marry certain partners, and some kinds of physical abnormalities
disqualify them from service. The food that the kohanim eat may
not be shared with "regular" Israelites. And, just as the
sacrificial offerings must be perfect, so too the priests
themselves must be physically unblemished. In chapter 23, all of
the "set times" or holy days are listed and described, beginning
with Shabbat and continuing with Pesach, the Omer period,
Shavuot, Rosh HaShanah, Yom Kippur,