LEV868 When a close relative of a regular Kohen dies, the Kohen shall become spiritually impure to mourn and to attend to the needs of the deceased corpse, as any Jew whose close relative dies. When a close relative of a regular Kohen dies, there Kohen has a mitzvah and obligation to become spiritually impure through the nearness to the corpse that results from mourning and from attending to the needs of the deceased's corpse. The six relatives are his mother, father, son, daughter, brother and sister. The Rabbis added that the same requirement exists in the event of the death of his wife. When any such close relative dies and the Kohen does not want to fulfill this mitzvah because he wants to retain his spiritual purity, we oblige him to become impure and fulfill the mitzvah. Every Jew has this obligation to mourn and to attend to the needs of the corpse when the deceased is one of these relatives. Key concepts: Sometimes, owing to his physical nature, when something happens to a person he is not moved by it emotionally until he does an act that brings his emotions to the surface. Therefore, the Torah commands that when someone dies, his close relatives, who naturally loved him, must perform actions that will stir them to reflect upon why this suffering befell them. The prescribed acts of mourning help them to realize that their sins were the cause of their woe, for never does Hashem bring suffering or pain on anyone unless he is guilty of sin. This is a basic tenet of our faith. The required mourning and reflection upon it bring the mourner to repent his sins and improve his way to the best of his ability. Another benefit of the mitzvah is as follows: Non-believers attribute death to chance, as if just as animals die, people die. In order to prevent such a thought from entering our minds and to uproot it if it is already present, the Torah obligate special procedures for mourning.

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LEV871 No Kohen shall marry an immoral woman. No Kohen Gadol or regular Kohen may marry a woman who has had intimate relations with a man who she is forbidden to marry. Similarly, if she had relations with a Kohen challal (חלל)--a Kohen who was forbidden to serve in the Sanctuary--no other Kohen may marry her. Key concepts: Hashem chose the Kohanim to serve Him in the Beis HaMikdash on a constant basis, so in many respects they must live on a higher plane of purity and sanctity than what is required of the rest of our nation. Since a man's wife is often on his mind, the Torah forbids any Kohen to marry a woman who has an evil nature and immoral character, lest she corrupt him and cause him to deviate from the correct path. In addition, anyone who becomes close to such a woman bring shame and disgrace upon himself, for everyone scorns and derides her.

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LEV876 The Kohen Gadol shall not enter a tent where a corpse is present. As Hashem's servants in the Sanctuary, and as explained earlier, the Kohanim are placed on a uniquely high level of sanctity. For this reason, they must keep far away from spiritual impurity. As to regular Kohanim, however, the Torah take takes pity on them and allows them to defile themselves to pour out their hearts and souls and more in the deaths of close relatives. Although the Kohen Gadol, too, possesses a physical body, the Torah forbids him any spiritual defilement whatsoever. Due to his great degree of attachment to the spiritual and the sublime, his soul dwells in the spiritual realms even during his lifetime, so his nature differs from that of the rest of humanity. He makes his heart forget mundane life in the fleeting physical world. As a result, he does not feel the need to weep over the death of relatives, for he had set himself apart from them even while they were living.

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LEV877 The Kohen Gadol must marry a virgin. The main good that a person can have is pure and clean thoughts, for one's deeds follow one's thoughts. Since the Kohen Gadol is the highest attendant of Hashem, it is fitting for him to take a wife who never thought about another man. Her thoughts were about him exclusively--the holiest of the holy. Thereby, when Hashem gives him children through her, they will be pure and fit to serve in the Holy Sanctuary. Our Sages teach that once a girl has reached the age of bogeres (twelve and a half), she is forbidden to become the Kohen Gadol's wife, for by then, her mind might have become set up on a different man. For the same reason, if a girl is betrothed but not yet married and her future husband dies before the wedding, she is forbidden to marry a Kohen Gadol, even if she is not yet a bogeres, for she had set her mind upon a man other than him.

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LEV879 No Kohen with a physical defect shall serve in the Beis HaMikdash. A person's actions make an impression on onlookers according to his importance. If someone is well formed and his appearance is proper and pleasing, then when he acts with virtue people watching him are impressed and delighted by all that he does. By contrast, if someone's appearance is blemished due to limbs that are not well formed, his actions will not generate such delight in the hearts of onlookers. Accordingly, since every Kohen is a messenger of the Jewish people and atonement for our sins is dependent upon him, it is only fitting that he be pleasing in appearance. All of his limbs must be well formed and all of his ways must be pleasant. Thereby, the people will be drawn after him. In addition, when the Kohen performs the avodah, the perfection of his physical form might allude to matters that, upon reflection, can serve to elevate and purify an onlooker’s soul. Therefore, it would be counterproductive were there anything abnormal about the Kohen’s external appearance, lest those needing atonement be prevented from thinking the proper thoughts.

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LEV882 No one who has a physical defect shall enter the Heichal of the Beis HaMikdash. Key Concept: To preserve and accentuate the glory and awe-inspiring atmosphere of the Beis Hamikdash, a place of perfection. Accordingly, someone whose body is imperfect in form cannot be allowed to enter there. The benefit of accentuating the glory of this holy place is explained in [Exodus 25:8 sanctuary CHINUCH 62-5).

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LEV884 Offer only unblemished animals on the altar. Offerings are to influence the thoughts of those who bring them, so that the person comes closer to Hashem. People are influenced by their actions, so it is fitting that offerings be free of defects. A perfect offering has more power to awaken one's heart and steer one’s thoughts toward Hashem.

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LEV885 Do not castrate any creature. Hashem created His world with such perfection, nothing is lacking or superfluous. He desires to bestow blessing on man and all creatures by giving them the ability to reproduce, so each species will flourish and will not become extinct. Accordingly, if someone destroys a creature's ability to reproduce, he shows that he disdains Hashem’s work, and wants to destroy Creation’s perfection.

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LEV889 Do not slaughter an animal and its mother on the same day. Key concepts: We should be aware that Hashem watches over all living beings. Although regarding mankind, He watches over every individual, regarding animals His Providence extends only to each different species in general. Because of this concern, the Torah forbids us to cut a tree and its branches on the same day--that is, to slaughter a mother animal and one of its young on the same day. This prohibition is an allusion to Hashem's general Providence over each species. In addition, Hashem wants us to develop the positive trait of compassion to distance ourselves from any tendency towards cruelty. For this reason, too, although we are allowed to slaughter animals for their meat, we are forbidden to kill a mother animal and its young on the same day.

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LEV914 Sanctify the Name of Heaven. That is, we shall give up our lives for the sake of His mitzvos. Our Sages delineated regarding which mitzvos and in which situations that command applies [Rambam (Fifth Chapter of Hilchos Yesodei HaTorah, Law 2) and the Shulchan Aruch (Yoreh De’ah 127:1).] Key concepts: We are created only to serve our Creator, so he who will not give up his life for the sake of his Creator’s commands is not a good servant. After all, we see that men who are servants of flesh and blood sacrifice their lives for their masters, so all the more so must one do so for the Master of the Universe. We find in the Sifra, “I took you out of Egypt on conditioned that you would sanctify My Name in public.”

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