Sefer HaChinuch ספר החינוך

That the priests not go out from the Temple at the time of the service: That the priests not go out from the Temple at the time of the service, as it is stated (Leviticus 10:7), “And from the entrance of the Tent of Meeting you shall not go out, lest you die.” And this prevention was repeated likewise with the high priest, and it stated (Leviticus 21:12), “And from the sanctuary he shall not go out.” And the language of Sifra, Shemini, Mekhilta d'Miluim 42-43 is, “‘And from the entrance of the Tent of Meeting’ — it could be [that they shall not go out] at the time of the service and [also] not at the time of the service. [Hence] we learn to say, ‘And from the sanctuary he shall not go out and he will not profane’ — [...] it would be said, when he is officiating. [...] ‘For the anointing oil of the Lord is upon you’ — I only have Aharon and his sons who were anointed with the oil of anointment, if they went out while serving, they would be liable for death; from where [do I know] for all of the priests of the generations? As it is stated, ‘for the anointing oil of the Lord is upon you.’”

The transcriber wrote in the name of Rambam, may his memory be blessed, (Sefer HaMitzvot, Negative Commandments 165), “Know that there is an addition with the high priest, that he not go out after the coffin. And this is revealed in the language of Scripture in its stating, ‘And from the sanctuary he shall not go out.’ And so is it elucidated in the second chapter of Sanhedrin 18a — that it is if a [relative] dies on him, he does not go out after the coffin. And they brought a proof about this from its stating, ‘And from the sanctuary he shall not go out.’ And we learn from this that it is permitted for him to serve on the day that a [relative] dies on him. And so did they, may their memory be blessed, say in Tractate Sanhedrin 84a, ‘“And from the sanctuary he shall not go out and he shall not profane” — behold, another who serves [that he does not go out], profanes.’ [This is] meaning to say for a common priest, the service is not permitted for him when he is bereaved. And so too is this principle elucidated at the end of Horayot 12b, that a common priest that is bereaved may not serve, but a high priest serves when he is bereaved. Behold, it is elucidated for you that its stating, ‘and he shall not profane,’ is to make it a negation — and not a prevention (negative commandment) — to say that his service is not profane, even though he is bereaved.”

And from that which appears from the words of Ramban, may his memory be blessed, he reasons that “and he shall not profane” is a prevention for the high priest, who is commanded that he not go out of the Temple because of his dead relative and not profane the service of God, may He be blessed. As it would be a profanation of the service that the great servant leave it for anything else in the world. And he explains this whole matter in a different way, as he wrote in his commentary on the Torah (Ramban on Leviticus 21:12).

The foundation built for it about the aggrandizement of the [Temple] and the services done there is from the roots of the commandment. And therefore it is fitting in any case to not go out and leave the precious service for anything in the world. As truly if they leave it, it would be a demeaning of it. And they would be showing about themselves that there is something greater in the world than the service of God, since it is pushed off even temporarily for something else. And therefore they were warned about this with death.

The laws of the commandment: For example, that which our Rabbis, may their memory be blessed, said [regarding] a common priest, that even though he is not permitted to go out from the Temple at the time of service — as it is stated, “And from the entrance of the Tent of Meeting you shall not go out, lest you die” — nonetheless, if a [relative] that is fit (closely enough related) for him to mourn dies on him, he does not serve, as he is bereaved; and one bereaved is forbidden in the service. And even though he does not serve, he is warned not to go out of there until he finishes the service in which he is occupied, so that it not appear like he is occupied with something transient. And the high priest is more than he, as he is obligated not to go out of the Temple and also not to leave his service at all on account of bereavement, as it is stated, “And from the sanctuary he shall not go out and he shall not profane, etc.” And the explanation comes about this verse [that it is] meaning to say, that he not go out, but rather do the service in which he is involved, and that his service is not profaned on account of bereavement. (See Mishneh Torah, Laws of Admission into the Sanctuary 2.)

And [it] is practiced at the time of the [Temple] by the males of the priesthood. And if he transgressed and went out at the time of service, he is lashed.