273. Not Only That…: The prohibition against the Kohein Gadol marrying a widow

This verse also includes a zonah, a chalalah and a divorcee, who are also prohibited to regular kohanim as per Mitzvos #266-268. Only a widow is new to this verse and unique to the Kohein Gadol.

The reason underlying this mitzvah was alluded to in the previous mitzvah: so that the Kohein Gadol should not have to worry about competing with the memory of his wife’s first husband. For good or for bad, a previous spouse is always with one’s partner. The Talmud in Pesachim (112a) says that if a divorced man marries a divorced woman, there are four people in the bed because each one brings the baggage of their previous marriage. Relieving the Kohein Gadol of this baggage gives him one less thing to worry about, the better to focus on his job.

Because of this prohibition, if the Kohein Gadol has a brother who dies childless, he may not take the widow in yibum (levirate marriage). Rather, he must perform chalitzah (the shoe-removal ceremony – see Talmud Yevamos 20a).

This mitzvah applies when there’s a Temple and a Kohein Gadol. It is discussed in the Talmud in tractate Yevamos (59a-61a) and is codified in the Mishneh Torah in the seventeenth chapter of Hilchos Issurei Bi’ah. It is #161 of the 365 negative mitzvos in the Rambam’s Sefer HaMitzvos.