Daf Yomi, Rabbi Simcha Feuerman, Torah and Psychology, Marriage Counseling, Psychotherapy
Our Gemara on Amud Aleph discusses the halacha and proof text that, though in some respects performing the slaughtering is a part of the ritual of sacrifice, it is permitted for a non-Kohen to execute this service.
On occasion, the Zohar contradicts halacha and Gemara. One of the most troubling examples is that the Zohar (Naso 124:1) which states that a Kohen is forbidden to perform shechitta on a sacrifice “so as not to impair the region to which he belongs.”
There are a few ways to deal with contradictions between halacha and the Zohar. The most rationalist manner is to assert the primacy of halacha over Zohar and even to question the veracity of that particular segment, as Rav Yaakov Emden did frequently in Mitpachas Hasefarim. A different approach is said in the name of the Vilna Gaon (Introduction to Midrash Rus HaChadash): “If there is an apparent contradiction between the hidden and revealed parts of the Torah, it is only due to misunderstanding either the revealed part or the mystical part. In fact, there is no contradiction.” And finally, there is an approach where we assume that the Zohar is either speaking metaphorically, or addressing a person on a particularly high spiritual level who is sensitive and bound by a different order of concerns. We will work off this last approach (and possibly the second approach) in order to explain more deeply what the Zohar meant by “so as not to impair the region to which he belongs.”
The Rama in Toras HaOlah and the Ralbag in his commentary on the Torah (beginning of Vayikra) understand the sacrificial order as a symbolic process that catalyzes a meditative state. There is a visceral reaction to seeing an animal being slaughtered and dismembered that is structurally very similar to a human being (especially when one looks at the face of a goat, which seems to have human expressions). This is no small matter, and the Torah constantly works with symbolic actions that arouse psychological, emotional, and spiritual states. One need go no further than the mitzvos of tefillin, mezuzah, and tzitzis, which obviously create a mindful development of awareness of God and mitzvos worn on the body, on the heart, on the head, and at the entrance and exit to one’s house.
Toras HaOlah (II:15) understands that the first part of the sacrifice involves the recognition of death and destruction. The Kohen represents the middah of chessed, God’s kindness, which is life and order—the opposite of destruction. Destruction is not an act of God, because God would not perform an act that is objectively corrupting. Instead, loss and death represent the disconnection from God, which inevitably brings loss and death. However, the blood of the sacrifice must be accepted in a holy vessel, which represents God being there to collect the soul and restore order. Therefore, the slaughter “must” be done by a non-Kohen, to accentuate the idea that destruction and loss—which is inevitable in the material world that cannot always be connected to God—is not a godly thing, but rather a loss of the godly thing.
Appreciating that this is a symbolic process, we can be more attuned to the idea that the Kohen occupies an emotional and spiritual space that would be disrupted by performing the slaughter. In this way, we can say it is “forbidden” for him to perform it. It may not be literally forbidden, but it may be forbidden for him to embody that process. It also may be that if the Jewish people—and/or the Kohen—were on a particular level of spiritual sensitivity, it actually would be forbidden. It is forbidden in the same sense that a rebbi might stay of his star pupil, “it is forbidden for you to study less than 10 hours of Torah a day”, or how a rabbi mate tell a wealthy congregate, “given your income it means it is forbidden for you to give less than 20% to charity.“ In both of those cases, it’s not really forbidden. It’s just given the circumstances it’s rolling not to do it.
Translations Courtesy of Sefaria, except when, sometimes, I disagree with the translation
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Rabbi Simcha Feuerman, Rabbi Simcha Feuerman, LCSW-R, LMFT, DHL is a psychotherapist who works with high conflict couples and families. He can be reached via email at simchafeuerman@gmail.com