Monday, May 03, 2021

the issur of korcha al meis

On the pasuk of לֹֽא־יִקְרְח֤וּ קׇרְחָה֙ בְּרֹאשָׁ֔ם the gemara, quoted by Rashi, comments:

קרחה בראשם – מה ת״ל בראשם, לפי שנאמר (פ׳ ראה) ולא תשימו קרחה בין עיניכם, יכול לא יהא חייב אלא על בין העינים בלבד, ת״ל בראשם – לרבות כל הראש

The Taz in his commentary on Rashi is bothered by the gemara's diyuk.  What do you mean מה ת״ל בראשם -- you need בראשם to tell you that you are chayav for a korcha on the head as opposed to anywhere else on the body?  

Taz writes a chidush l'halacha that even though all the poskim refer only korcha on the head, it must be that a person would in fact be chayav for a korcha anywhere on the body, and that is why the word is extraneous.  In the notes in the Mosad haRav Kook edition the editor writes that the Taz seems to be a daas yachid, as he looked all over and could not find anyone else who refers to the issur as applying to anywhere else other than the head.

Torah Temima raises the same question as the Taz and answers:  וצ״ל כיון דהאי קריחה איירי בקורח מפני הצער על מת, כפי שנתבאר לעיל, ודרך הקריחה של צער הוא לגוז שער הראש, וא״כ מיותר המלה בראשם דממילא משתמע  The pasuk is speaking about the behavior of someone in mourning, where the custom was to make a korcha on the head; therefore, the word בראשם should go without saying.

2 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  2. could the Torah be talking about Yisraelim and Kohanim at their service?

    for the Yisrael, a bald spot between the eyes would be hidden beneath the tefillin shel rosh: 'don't do it'; for the kohen hedyot, a bald spot could hide anywhere under the mitznefet: 'don't do it' [hence the >two< teachings; hence 'b'rosham']

    ReplyDelete