The high-priest rends from below [At the death of one of his kin for whom he is commanded to rend, he rends below at the corner of his garment near his feet. (As to "and his clothing he shall not rend," the meaning is that he shall not rend them as others do)], and the common priest, from above [near the chest, close to the shoulder, as others do.] A high-priest may sacrifice when he is an onein (mourner), but he may not eat. [If someone, one of whose seven close kin whom he is commanded to mourn for, dies, then for the entire day of death, whether or not he were buried, he is an "onein" according to the Torah. And from the day of death onward, so long as he has not been buried he is an onein all of that day according to the Rabbis, even after burial. And if he were buried on the day of his death, then all of the following night he is an onein according to the Rabbis. And a high-priest who is an onein may sacrifice but not eat [of the sacrifices], and a common priest may neither sacrifice nor eat. [For thus do we find with Aaron, that on the day Nadav and Avihu (his sons) died, he said (Leviticus 10:19): "And had I eaten the sin-offering this day, would it be good in the eyes of the L rd?" — the concern is only with the eating, not with the sacrificing. And this, only with Aaron, who was a high-priest; but his sons, who were common priests, were forbidden both to eat and to sacrifice on that day.]
Bartenura on Mishnah Horayot
כהן גדול פורם מלמטה – If he sustained a death where he is obligated to tear [his clothing], he tears from the bottom at the corner of his garment nearest his feet. And this [verse] that is written (Leviticus 21:10): “or rend his vestments,” for he does not rend like other people.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Horayot
Introduction
In the previous mishnah we learned that both acting high priests and former high priests do not rend their clothes when a relative dies. Our mishnah clarifies that halakhah and teaches that the high priest does rend his clothes but not in the same way that an ordinary priest does. In section two, the mishnah makes a further comparison between an ordinary and a high priest.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Horayot
מלמעלה – opposite/corresponding to the breast near the shoulder, like other people.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Horayot
A high priest rends [his clothes] from below and an ordinary priest from above. A high priest offers sacrifices while an onen but does not eat them and an ordinary priest neither offers sacrifices nor eats them. If one of the high priest’s seven close relatives (father, mother, brother, sister, son, daughter or wife) for whom he is obligated to mourn dies, he rends his clothes at the bottom. When Leviticus 21:10 states that the high priest shall not rend his clothes, the interpretation of the rabbis is that he should not rend them in a normal fashion, which is above. In contrast, an ordinary priest rends his clothes the same way that all people do, above.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Horayot
אונן – he who sustained a death from one of the seven relatives that he (i.e., a Kohen) is obligated to mourn for, the entire day of death, whether the deceased is buried whether it is not buried [that day], he is an Onan/mourner before the funeral of a kinsman according to the Torah, and from the day of death and onwards, all the while that the deceased is not buried, he is an Onan according to the Rabbis, but the day of burial he is an Onan according to the Rabbis all that day, even after the burial, and from when the deceased is buried on the first day of death, all that night afterwards, he is an Onan according to the Rabbis.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Horayot
An onen is one who has had one of his seven close relatives die, but has not yet buried them (after the burial a person is an avel, a mourner). According to the Torah he is an onen only for the day of the death, but the rabbis extended the status of aninut (being an onen) to include the night after the death, and the entire period until burial. Our mishnah teaches that a high priest continues to offer sacrifices even while he is an onen, as it says in Leviticus 21:12, “He shall not go outside the sanctuary”. He stays in the sanctuary in order to offer sacrifices. However, he does not eat sacrifices on that day. We learn this from Aaron’s words on the day that his sons, Nadav and Avihu, die, “Had I eaten sin offering today would the Lord have approved?” (Leviticus 10:19). It is clear from here that Aaron did not eat sacrifices on that day. In contrast, an ordinary priest who is an onen may neither offer sacrifices, nor eat them. Since an ordinary priest is allowed to become impure for one of these seven relatives, his status during this period is basically the same as that of ordinary people.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Horayot
כהן גדול מקריב אונן ולא אוכל – from the Holy Things, for such we found with Aaron on the day that Nadav and Avihu died, he said (Leviticus 10:19): “Had I eaten purification offering today, would the LORD have approved?” On the eating he was stringent but not n the bringing of the offering. And specifically, Aaron who was the High Priest, but his sons who were common priests, they were forbidden that entire day whether to offer [a sacrifice] or to eat from it.
