376. You Can’t Just Punch Out: The prohibition against a nazir coming into contact with the dead

A nazir may not attend a funeral, even for a close relative. This is even more stringent than a regular kohein, who may attend a funeral for his parents, children, siblings or spouse. If anything, this is a level of separation from impurity otherwise only expected of the Kohein Gadol (High Priest)!

The reason that the nazir is more stringent than a regular kohein in this regard is explained by the Sefer HaChinuch as follows: A kohein has no choice. He’s born a kohein and he’s a kohein for life. The kohein, however, is not always on duty. Sometimes he’s at work in the Temple and other times he’s at home. In short, a kohein enjoys the same familial bonds as everyone else, so it would really be expecting too much to never let him attend a close relative’s funeral. A nazir, however, voluntarily enters into his condition for the designated period of time. (As mentioned, the default period is 30 days.) During that time, he is wholly sanctified to God. In other words, the nazir is always “on duty” during his nazir period. He knows the rules and he accepts them upon himself. He is therefore expected to forgo any funerals, as he’s on God’s time, not his own.

This mitzvah applies to both men and women in all times and places. It is discussed in the Talmud in tractate Nazir (42b-44a) and codified in the Mishneh Torah in the fifth chapter of Hilchos Nezirus. This mitzvah is #207 of the 365 negative mitzvos in the Rambam’s Sefer HaMitzvos and is not listed in the Sefer HaMitzvos HaKatzar of the Chofetz Chaim.