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Question
I recently read a passage from a Holocaust memoir that mentioned that a man, who was a Cohen, could not retrieve his mother's body from a morgue. He could have retrieved it from the hospital upon her death, but he was unable to do so in sufficient time and so her body was removed to the morgue. Can you explain why a Cohen cannot enter a morgue for this purpose?
Answer
A Cohen is generally
prohibited from coming in contact with a dead body, except in the case of his
close relatives. Thus he may enter a morgue to retrieve his mother's body. (source:
"Code of Jewish Law" Y.D. 373:4-7; "Shach" 11-12 there; "Pitchei Teshuva" 4 there;
"Sheilat Yavetz" by R' Y. Emden, II 26; "Gesher HaChaim" by R' Y.M. Tuketchinsky,
I 6).
With blessings from Jerusalem,
Rabbi
Shraga Simmons
Aish.com
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