This is going back a number of Dafim- My friend asked me this question The Gemarah asks what is the Din for a Kohen regarding a Y'fas toar. Why is the Kohein going to battle ( especially if Yefas Toar is only by a Milchemes Reshus)
I thought possibly that there is no issur for a kohein to go to war if he volunteers ( but wouldn't there be a problem of possible tumas meis)??
thanks,
Dovid P, New York - USA
Whether or not a Kohen goes to battle is discussed extensively in Yabia Omer (vol. 8, O.C. 54:4). Among the sources quoted in that Teshuvah is a Radak in Shmuel Beis (23:20) who explicitly addresses this issue, and states that to fight against the enemies of Bnei Yisrael is a Mitzvah, and Kohanim are fully expected to participate. The opposite is implied by the Mordechai in Gitin (end of Mi she'Achzo) who seems to hold that Kohanim did not go to war. All of these Mareh Mekomos and more are discussed at length in the Yabia Omer (ibid.).
Kol Tuv,
Yaakov Montrose