The Torah commands in Parashat Emor, "Ve’kidashto" – that we must treat the Kohanim as sacred. The Gemara in Masechet Gittin (59b) explains this command to mean that since the Kohanim have a special status of sanctity, the rest of the nation are to treat them with special respect, by calling the Kohen first to the Torah, having him lead the Zimun, and extending other such honors.
Rashi, in his Torah commentary, writes that this requirement is actually introduced not by the word "Ve’kidashto," but by the phrase later in this verse, "Kadosh Yiheyeh Lach" – "he [the Kohen] shall be sacred for you." The word "Ve’kidashto," Rashi writes, instructs that the authorities must force a Kohen to observe the special laws that apply to a Kohen. Thus, for example, if a Kohen marries a divorcee, which is forbidden, then he should be forced to divorce her. Some later commentators raised the question of how Rashi interprets the verse differently from the Gemara, which, as mentioned, derives the obligation to respect a Kohen from the word "Ve’kidashto." In truth, however, in Rashi’s commentary to Masechet Gittin, he remarks on the word "Ve’kidashto" cited by the Gemara, "Ve’gomer" – the equivalent of "etc." Meaning, Rashi is indicating that the Gemara’s inference is not from the word "Ve’kidashto," but rather from the latter part of the verse, where the Torah commands, "Kadosh Yiheyeh Lach."
This Halacha is brought by the Shulhan Aruch (Orah Haim 201), who writes that a Kohen is given the honor of receiving the first Aliya to the Torah and to lead the Zimun. The Mishna Berura (Rav Yisrael Meir Kagan of Radin, 1839-1933) adds that if a Kohen is present at a meeting, he should be invited to speak first. Furthermore, if a number of Rabbis are speaking at an event, and one of them is a Kohen, he should be given the honor of speaking first. Interestingly, in his work Shemirat Ha’lashon about the laws of Lashon Ha’ra (negative speech about other people), the Hafetz Haim (author of the Mishna Berura) writes that one who speaks Lashon Ha’ra about a Kohen violates not only the prohibitions that forbid Lashon Ha’ra generally, but also the specific command to give honor to a Kohen.
The clear implication of the Gemara is that this requirement constitutes a Torah obligation, as it is inferred from a verse. This is, indeed, the view of the Magen Abraham (Rav Abraham Gombiner, 1633-1683), as the Mishna Berura cites, and of the Minhat Hinuch (commentary to the Sefer Ha’hinuch by Rav Yosef Babad, 1801-1874). Others, however, understood that the Gemara did not intend to cite this verse as the actual source of this obligation, and in truth, it was enacted by the Sages.
This debate is relevant for a case where one eats a meal with his father and a Kohen, and he needs to choose whom to honor with leading the Zimun. Honoring one’s father is clearly a Torah obligation, whereas honoring a Kohen, as we saw, is Rabbinic in origin according to some opinions. Therefore, in such a case, precedence is given to the father, for whom respect is required by force of Torah law according to all opinions. Moreover, the Magen Abraham observed that in his day most people neglected the Misva of giving honor to Kohanim, and he speculated that this might be due to the fact that we cannot be certain that people who identify as Kohanim nowadays are indeed the descendants of Aharon. Although we should not rely on this consideration to neglect altogether the requirement to respect Kohanim, this gives us another reason to grant precedence to one’s father over a Kohen, given the uncertainty as to whether the Kohen is truly a Kohen.
During the COVID-19 outbreak in New York City, the Hevra Kadisha, tragically, was faced with the question of to whom to grant precedence with regard to burial. Due to the large amounts of casualties, there were numerous bodies awaiting burial, and the Hevra Kadisha needed to decide whom to bury first. Normally, bodies are buried according to the order of death. However, the question arose whether the obligation to grant a Kohen precedence over others applies even after a Kohen’s death, such that a Kohen should be buried first, even before those who died earlier.
This question was already discussed by Poskim of earlier generations. The Aderet (Rav Eliyahu David Rabinowitz-Teomim, 1843-1905) brought a fascinating proof from a story told in Masechet Berachot (47) of the time when Rabbi Abahu made a special feast for the Rabbis to celebrate Rabbi Zera’s recovery from an illness. When it came time to recite Birkat Ha’mazon, Rabbi Abahu invited Rabbi Zera, the "guest of honor," to lead the Zimun. The Gemara explains that while some opinions maintained that one who recited the Beracha over the bread – who, in this case, was Rabbi Abahu, the host – leads the Zimun, Rabbi Abahu maintained that the guest leads the Zimun. The Aderet raises the question of why the Gemara did not explain very simply that Rabbi Zera was invited to lead the Zimun because, as we know from the Talmud Yerushalmi, he was a Kohen. The Gemara clearly implies that Rabbi Zera was chosen only because he was the guest, even though he was a Kohen, which seems difficult to understand. Evidently, the Aderet explains, the Gemara felt that Rabbi Zera was not entitled to the honors given to Kohanim because of an incident famously related in Masechet Megila. The Gemara there tells that once, when Rabbi Zera still lived in Babylonia, he celebrated Purim together with Rabba, and during the feast, Rabba became inebriated and killed Rabbi Zera. He later succeeded in bringing him back to life. The celebration hosted by Rabbi Abahu clearly took place later, after Rabbi Zera moved to Eretz Yisrael. The Aderet thus suggests that once Rabbi Zera died, he lost his status of Kohen and thus no longer deserved the privileges of the Kohanim. For this reason, the Gemara did not explain that he was chosen to lead the Zimun because of his being a Kohen – because he was no longer considered a Kohen after he had died, even after being brought back to life.
This would seem to prove, the Aderet writes, that the Misva to give Kohanim honor does not apply once a Kohen passes away.
Further proof to this conclusion may be brought from the ruling of the Magen Abraham (Orah Haim 282) that if the only Kohen in the synagogue in a minor, he does not receive the first Aliya. The Magen Abraham notes that the Torah requires giving honor to a Kohen "Ki Et Lehem Elokecha Hu Makrib" – because the Kohanim offer the sacrifices to G-d in the Bet Ha’mikdash. Since Kohanim below the age of Bar-Misva do not serve in the Bet Ha’mikdash, the Magen Abraham reasons, they are not included in the obligation to accord special honor to the Kohanim. As such, a Kohen who is a minor is not given the honor of the first Aliya. Presumably, this would apply also to a Kohen who has passed away. Since he quite obviously can no longer offer sacrifices, he no longer receives special honor.
Yet another proof may be drawn from the Shulhan Aruch’s discussion in the laws of mourning concerning the proper order of burial when several bodies are waiting to be interred. The Shulhan Aruch writes that normally, as mentioned earlier, the bodies are buried in the order in which they had died, but there are a number of exceptions – a woman precedes a man (because the degradation is more severe when a woman’s body awaits burial), and a Torah scholar precedes a layman. Revealingly, the Shulhan Aruch makes no mention of a Kohen preceding a non-Kohen, certainly indicating that there is no such rule.
Although not everyone agrees with this ruling, the general consensus among the Poskim is that a Kohen’s remains do not receive precedence over those of non-Kohanim with regard to burial.
The Magen Abraham’s discussion also leads to the conclusion that a woman who is the daughter of a Kohen is not included in this obligation. Since only male Kohanim served in the Bet Ha’mikdash, there is no requirement to give special honor to the daughter of a Kohen. (This conclusion also emerges from the discussion of the Minhat Hinuch concerning the case of a Kohen who is an "Androginus," such that it is questionable whether this person is Halachically considered a man or woman. The Minhat Hinuch writes that since, in his view, honoring a Kohen constitutes a Torah obligation, one would have to show respect to such a Kohen, given the possibility that this Kohen has the status of a male. The Minhat Hinuch clearly worked off the assumption that a female Kohen does not receive the special honor owed to Kohanim.)
Summary: Halacha requires according special honor to Kohanim, such as by giving a Kohen the first Aliya to the Torah, inviting him to lead the Zimun, and to speak first at a meeting or when a series of lectures is presented. If a Kohen’s body and a non-Kohen’s body await burial, they are buried according to the order of death, and the Kohen does not receive precedence. There is no obligation to show special honor to a Kohen before his Bar-Misva, or to a female Kohen.
