Parshat Emor: Tumah and Shema:Proper education

“And G-d said to Moshe, ‘Say to the Kohanim, the sons of Aharon, and say to them, they should not become ‘tameh’ to people of the nation.’” (Vayikra 23:1)

The opening instruction in our parsha is for the kohanim to learn that they must follow a strict behavior, in which under ordinary circumstances they can only become “tameh” to a dead body if the deceased is one of seven close relatives.

But the language utilized to relay this rule is strange. Instead of informing us that “G-d spoke (Vay’daber) to Moshe to say” the Torah says, “G-d said (Vayomer) to Moshe, “Say…” (Emor) And then it repeats the root word meaning “say” with the instruction of “V’amarta” – you will say to them.

Ramban says there is nothing special to be learned from this language. Emor is the same as Daber – it’s a call to gather, listen and pay attention.

Yet one wonders, since there is a difference between the word “Daber” – Speak! and “Emor” – Say. “Speak” means you will address them saying the following idea, perhaps in your own words. “Say” means, “Here is a script you must follow.”

The out-of-the-ordinary repetition of the root “Emor” is brought to our attention by Rashi, who, quoting a gemara (end of Yevamot 114a), says “’Emor... V’Amarta’ comes to tell the big people (adults) to teach the little people (children) about the laws of tumah.”

The midrashic book compiled in the Geonic period, Pitron Torah, explains that the first “say” teaches kohanim not to become tameh. The second “say” teaches kohanim the exception: if a kohen happens to come across a “met mitzvah” – a corpse on the road – he is to bury the body.

When Maimonides discusses the teaching of the Gemara (Hilchot Eivel 3:12), he says that a kohen-minor is to be taught not to become tameh. And while if he chooses to become tameh himself, the court is not commanded to have him desist from being in a tameh arena, his father must educate him in the ways of “kedushah” – the holiness and sanctity that he must maintain as a kohen.