[Avodah] Kohen Gadol

[Daniel Israel]

On Wed, 05 Aug 2009 22:49:54 -0600 T613K at aol.com wrote:
>  Most likely it never 
>happened, ever in history (like the ben sorrer umoreh), and the 
halacha is  
>actually a lesson to the rest of us about the great importance of 
making sure  
>that a Jew is never left unburied, even in extreme circumstances, 
if there is  
>any possible way to bury him.

Tangential nitpick that doesn't effect your primary point:

The opinion in the Gemara regarding the ben sorer umoreh appears to 
be making an onological claim, namely, that it is intrinsically 
impossible for such a case to happen.  (As I recall there is 
another man d'amar that claims that he actually witnessed such a 
case.)

Your case of the meis mitzvah for a Kohen Gadol is highly 
improbable, to the point that your claim it probably never happened 
is reasonably, but there is not intrinsic reason it couldn't 
happen.  The halacha here is not a lesson about something else, we 
actually need to know this halacha in case the case ever does 
occur.  The Gemara is full of cases that are highly unlikely, but 
perfectly possible.  The reason ben sorer umoreh is singled out is 
because of the claim that it actually _can't_ happen.

--
Daniel M. Israel
dmi1 at cornell.edu