EXTRA · Parashas Reeh · Fourth Aliyah · Passuk 14:08
Supplementary classical material for a passuk with no Torah Temimah citation.
English: “And their carcasses you shall not touch” — Could Israelites be prohibited from contact with carcasses? It says, “Speak to the priests, the sons of Aaron… to a dead person he shall not defile himself among his people”: priests do not defile themselves with the dead, but Israelites do. An a fortiori argument: if they may become impure through the more severe impurity of the dead, surely they are not prohibited from the lesser impurity of carcasses. How then do I understand “and their carcasses you shall not touch”? On the festival.
Derash limiting the scope of the touch prohibition (Sifra / Chullin) — the verse is applied primarily to the festival context.
The Torah’s warning against touching the carcass of the swine (and similar animals) is understood by the Sages as applying especially when one must be pure for the festival.