[Avodah] Torah Reading Without A Kohen

[Daniel M. Israel]

On this inyan, it would seem to me that while from the POV of the  
gabbai or the kohen, there may be times when it is appropriate to have  
the kohen leave to give the aliyah to someone who has a particular  
precedence, from the POV of that person, wouldn't it always be better  
for him to forgo his precedence and perform the mitzvah giving kavod  
to the kohen.  IOW, if I for example have a yahrzeit, wouldn't it be a  
greater zechus to the nifter for me to forgo an aliyah in order to be  
m'chabed a kohen, then to get the aliyah?  So in that case, even if we  
hold it to be appropriate for the gabbai to ask, shouldn't I decline?   
And certainly I shouldn't push the gabbai to ask.

-- 
Daniel M. Israel
daniel at cornell.edu