Bechoros chapter 7, Mishnah 1. Here is a new chapter and a new topic, and in fact, this topic has no direct connection to tractate Bechoros. In the previous chapter, the focus was on blemishes and defects that disqualify an animal from being brought as a sacrifice; in the seventh chapter, the focus will be on blemishes and other deficiencies that disqualify a person from serving as a kohen in the Holy Temple. The reason these matters are brought here is the significant overlap, both in the verses and in the halachos, between the blemishes that disqualify animals and those very same blemishes that restrict or prohibit a person from serving as a kohen.
Three levels of disqualification:
An actual blemish: The most basic level, a blemish and defect as seen in the previous chapter. The verse says explicitly: "Ish asher yihyeh bo mum lo yikrav" - a person who has a blemish may not approach for the service. Therefore, kohanim who have the blemishes on their bodies that were listed in the previous chapter are disqualified from the service. Although this law was stated regarding a permanent blemish, even with a passing blemish - a temporary defect - as long as he has it, he cannot perform the service, and once the blemish passes, he is once again fit. This is derived from the repetitive wording in the following verse: "Ki chol ish asher bo mum lo yikrav" - as long as the blemish is present on him, he may not approach for the service, and once the blemish passes - he is fit.
Not resembling the offspring of Aharon: This level is derived from another verse, which explicitly mentions the offspring of Aharon: "Chol ish asher bo mum mizera Aharon hakohen lo yigash lehakriv et ishei Hashem". Why was it necessary to mention the offspring of Aharon, since this was already known from elsewhere? Rather, the words "from the offspring of Aharon the kohen" come to teach that he must be similar to the rest of the offspring of Aharon regarding the service. That is, if he has an anomaly that makes him strange in his appearance - and this is a suggested phrasing, not found explicitly in the Sages - so strange that a small child walking with his mother on the street would call out: "Mommy, look at that man, what a funny shape his head has," this is a second reason to disqualify him from the service. Even though technically this is not a true defect or blemish but merely an aesthetic issue, nevertheless he looks strange and does not resemble the rest of the people, whereas the verse demands that he look like the rest of the offspring of Aharon. Therefore, he is forbidden to perform the service, but after the fact, if he did perform it - his service is valid.
Appearance: The third level is also an aesthetic issue: his appearance is not pleasant, and he looks unpleasant to the point that it is not fitting for him to do the service. If such a person performed the service - after the fact, his service is valid, but the Sages said that he should not function as a kohen working in the Holy Temple. This is not in line with the standards sought, as the kohanim are essentially representatives of the Almighty, serving almost as part of the vessels and furnishings of the Holy Temple, and it is not fitting that there be among them a person whose appearance is not pleasant.
The wording of the Mishnah:
The Mishnah begins and says: "Mumin elu, bein kevuin bein overin, poslin ba'adam" - the list of blemishes and defects that were mentioned in the previous chapter regarding animals, whether the blemish is permanent or temporary, disqualifies a kohen from serving in the Holy Temple and performing the service.
Here a difference between the levels can be seen: when dealing with a technical blemish, a defect from the previous chapter, it involves something that intrinsically belongs to the creature itself, and therefore as long as the blemish is present on it, it is not fit for the service - or to be brought as a sacrifice, in the case of an animal.
Conversely, at the level below that, where he does not resemble the rest of the offspring of Aharon, it would seem (and the source for this will be shown in the Mishnah itself) that plastic surgery solves the problem: once he has corrected the defect, he returns to his fitness, since everything depends on his appearance, and from the moment his appearance is normal - he returns to his service. And all the more so at the third level of appearance: if he no longer looks unsightly, it is certainly permitted, as there is nothing here but a rabbinic problem.
The Mishnah now lists the things that are at the second level, where the person does not look like other people and therefore cannot perform the service as a kohen. These halachos have no practical implication outside the case of a kohen performing the service, except for the case learned in tractate Kesubos: a couple who married without having seen each other beforehand, and objective defects were found in her about which it can be assumed that a regular husband would say "I do not want a wife who looks like this" - this is grounds under the law of a mistaken transaction to invalidate the kesubah and the like.
The blemishes listed in the Mishnah:
"Hakilon" - from the word 'uchlah', like a pot lid that is somewhat pointed at its top. The reference is to a person whose head is pointed. Again, these are suggested words, but this seems to be the simple understanding: so pointed that a small child who does not yet have a filter would say: "Mommy, look at this man's head, it looks like the point on a pot lid." This person's appearance is excessively unusual, and he does not resemble the rest of the descendants of Aharon.
"Vehalaftan" - from the word for turnip, the vegetable. For this person, the upper part of the head is very flat and wide, and its lower part is narrow, and his head looks exactly like a turnip (like the figure of Bart Simpson). The Rambam explains that his head rests almost like on a stalk, on a thin neck or the like. The point is that his appearance is anomalous and strange to the point of disqualification from the service.
"Vehamakban" - from the word makkeves, which is a hammer (and like the nickname Yehudah HaMaccabee; see Kesubos 21). This refers to a person whose head is shaped like a hammer: the front part of his head protrudes outward like a hammer and a mallet, or the back part protrudes in this way. His appearance is strange because it is disproportionate, and therefore he is disqualified from the service.
"Vesherosho shakua" - that the front part of his head is sunken inward, as if someone crushed his forehead.
"Veshakipas" - that the back part of his head does not protrude at all, and it looks as if a piece is missing from the back of his head, as if his skull is shaped in an unusual way that catches the eye, so much so that a small child would say: "Look at this man's head, he is missing part of his skull." These too are disqualified from the service.
"Uva'alei chatoteres":
It is common to translate this expression as a hunchback, but this does not seem to be the correct translation, and proof of this is from the dispute that will be seen shortly. The reference is to a person who has a sort of large mass of flesh, like a growth, protruding from his back - a kind of large hump. The intention is not a hunchback whose spine is very crooked, since the dispute is specifically in a case where the protrusion is not in the skeleton: his bone structure is not defective, rather there is something in the flesh, like a large mass of fat or a growth protruding from him outward. Is this also a problem?
The Sages say that this too is a problem: it makes no difference that his skeletal structure is intact, because when one looks at him he appears abnormal and is unlike the other descendants of Aharon the kohen. Rabbi Yehudah rules him valid: if the defect is not in the skeleton, it is not significant enough to disqualify him, and even though his appearance is somewhat strange - that is not enough. In his opinion, the disqualifying factor must be in the bone itself, such that the bones are deformed in some way. The halachah follows the Sages: if his appearance is so abnormal, he is unfit for the service.
In summary: In this chapter we dealt with three levels that disqualify a kohen from the service - an actual blemish (whether permanent or temporary), an abnormal appearance that is unlike the other descendants of Aharon (where after the fact, his service is valid), and an issue of appearances by rabbinic decree. We saw the blemishes enumerated by the Mishnah: the kilon, the laftan, the makban, one whose head is sunken, and the shekifas, as well as the dispute between the Sages and Rabbi Yehudah regarding someone with a hunchback, where the halachah follows the Sages.