Hello!<br><br>I recently learned (Yevamot 59a) that when the chumash says that a
cohen gadol must marry a virgin (if he is unmarried), that is referring
to a girl aged 12-1/2 (a naarah). The reason is that he must marry a
female with all the signs of virginity fully manifested, and as a
female grows older her virginality starts to fade away (even though she
technically may still be a virgin). <br>
<br>Please note as well that he cannot decide to marry her now and
consummate the marriage later on--he must consummate the marriage at
this time as well.<br><br>Rambam cites this as halachah.<br><br>My background thoughts:<br>
<br>I have adapted as a working principle the idea that "darkei
noam"--"ways of pleasantness"--constitutes an essential dynamic in
Torah (something noticeably missing, lehavdil, in the Moslem world).
Thus, it seems to me that someone who simply quotes difficult Torah
sources without contextualizing them in darkei noam may be said to be,
in a new application of Ramban's phrase, a naval birshut hatorah--a
"degenerate within the technical guidelines of Torah."<br>
<br>And it would seem that every generation needs wider and new
applications of darkei noam as we become sensitized to matters that
weren't of import in previous generations.<br><br>It also seems to me
that, generally speaking, when we consider the "hypersensitivity" shown
in specific areas of Torah thought, the idea that someone concerned for
"darkei noam" is oversensitive cannot be supported. For instance, the
Talmud mandates that a person choose death rather than embarrass
someone else. <br>
<br>That leads us back to the case of the cohen gadol and the virgin. <br><br>As
I look at it, this halachah follows its interior logic to the ultimate
degree. That is to say, the verse states that the cohen marries a woman
"with her virginal tokens"--i.e., all of them, not some of them. One
might also say that it follows the concept of virginal purity to the
ultimate degree. The cohen gadol must marry a woman as much as possible
who is not immersed into the realm of this world.<br>
<br>But where is the context of darkei shalom, which is to say, as I am
seeing it, the humanistic context: that 12-1/2 year old girls should
not be married, and in particular not to adults?<br clear="all"><br>As
far as I see, practically speaking there is a way of avoiding this. If
a cohen gadol is widowed, he can simply resign and allow another cohen
who is already married to take his place. But that seems very unwieldy
and not the intent of the halachah. Why is this halachah there in the
first place?<br>
<br>I would be most interested in hearing other people's thoughts on this issue.<br><br>Thank you.<br><font color="#888888"><br></font>-- <br>Yaacov David Shulman<br>Translator; Editor; Ghostwriter<br>Specializing in Torah and literary texts<br>
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