<HTML>Rachel Kohl wrote the following:
"The mishna in *Masechet Kidushin* 29a specifies three negative commands
that do not apply to women, one of them the restriction of a kohen
becoming "tameh l'met". The clear implication is that we would have
thought that it should apply to women, even though they do no avodah in
the mikdash and have no reason to be held to a higher standard of purity."
It seems to me that the first half of the second sentence above is
accurate but not for the reason implied by the tone of the sentence.
There is no chiddush in asserting that a woman is otherwise obligated in
mitzvot *lo ta'aseh she-ain hazman grama*.
In any event, if the woman is from zera Aharon, it may be thought that
she, too, must not become *tamei mayt*, just as women are obligated to
keep almost all other negative commandments. As memory serves, it happens
that it is G-d's will that only men from zera Aharon are so prohibited.
Avodah in the mikdash may be a *ta'am hamikra* but whether or not that
role actually determines the prohibition of coming in contact with the
dead is unclear. I think a kohen ba'al moom (this includes a kohen who
happens to naturally be left-handed) who may not serve in mikdash is still
prohibited in *toom-at mayt*.
Sincerely,
Noach Witty</HTML>
