<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<HTML><HEAD>
<META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=US-ASCII">
<META content="MSHTML 6.00.2800.1601" name=GENERATOR></HEAD>
<BODY id=role_body style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"
bottomMargin=7 leftMargin=7 topMargin=7 rightMargin=7><FONT id=role_document
face=Arial color=#000000 size=2>
<DIV>
<DIV>
<DIV><FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent" face=Arial color=#000000
size=2>From: "Kohn, Shalom" <A
href="mailto:skohn@Sidley.com">skohn@Sidley.com</A><BR></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent" face=Arial color=#000000
size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent" face=Arial color=#000000
size=2>>>Various commentators addressed the anachronisms in he poem Ayleh
Ezke'raha and whether poetic license impacts on "truth."<BR><BR>The more serious
problem in the poem is that it portrays the kohain gadol as lifting the severed
head of the nasi and bemoaning his fate. This is a very dramatic
scene. But --- since a skull causes tuma'at meit, how could the kohain
gadol lift the severed head of the nasi? <BR><BR>There are three possible
answers....:<BR><BR>1. The event occurred in a tent, ....</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent" face=Arial color=#000000
size=2></FONT> </DIV><FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent" face=Arial
color=#000000 size=2>
<DIV><BR>2. It was a case of meit mitzah..... </DIV>
<DIV><BR>3. ....the reason for meit mitzvah is kavod ha-meit, and in the
context, lifting the head was for that purpose.... </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>The more troubling possibility is that the paytan's literary skills
exceeded his halachic awareness..... <<</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>>>>>></DIV>
<DIV>I can think of a few more possibilities (although I have little halachic
knowledge and these suggestions may not hold water at all):</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>1. Maybe it says somewhere that a tzaddik's body does not convey
tumah? Maybe we don't nowadays posken like this in practice but maybe they
did back then, or maybe it's at least good enough for poetic purposes?</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>2. A completely burnt body with all the flesh burnt off, so that
nothing remains but the bones -- do the bones convey tumah?</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Also another possibility is that "lifting" the skull just means something
like pointing to it or mentioning it, making it the main point of his
lament -- the way a navi is said to "lift a mashal" (pardon me for being
too tired to look up where it uses that phrase). i.e., it's being used
poetically</FONT></DIV></DIV></DIV>
<DIV><FONT lang=0 face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2 FAMILY="SANSSERIF"
PTSIZE="10"><B><BR></B><BR><B>--Toby
Katz<BR>=============</B></FONT></DIV></FONT><BR><BR><BR><DIV><FONT style="color: black; font: normal 10pt ARIAL, SAN-SERIF;"><HR style="MARGIN-TOP: 10px">Check out AOL Money & Finance's list of the <A title="http://money.aol.com/special/hot-products-2007?NCID=aoltop00030000000001" href="http://money.aol.com/special/hot-products-2007?NCID=aoltop00030000000001" target="_blank">hottest products</A> and <A title="http://money.aol.com/top5/general/ways-you-are-wasting-money?NCID=aoltop00030000000002" href="http://money.aol.com/top5/general/ways-you-are-wasting-money?NCID=aoltop00030000000002" target="_blank">top money wasters</A> of 2007.</FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>