Hashem said to Moshe; speak, to the kohanim, the sons of Aharon, and you shall say to them, let him not defile himself with the dead among his people.

§ The Gemara relates: Rabba bar Avuh found Elijah standing in a graveyard of gentiles...

...The amora proceeded to ask Elijah a different question and said to him: Is not the Master a priest? What is the reason that the Master is standing in a cemetery? Elijah said to him: Has the Master not studied the mishnaic order of Teharot? As it is taught in a baraita: Rabbi Shimon ben Yoḥai says that the graves of gentiles do not render one impure...

...there are different opinions among the rabbis as to which tribe he was from. Some of them said he was from the tribe of Gad, and some of them said he was from the tribe of Benjamin, and some of them said "Pinchas: this is Eliyahu." And each of them supports his words with verses in far-fetched ways, and we do not know the truth...

Is not the Master a Kohen?- According to the opinion that Eliyahu is Pinchas, because it is written "I have acted jealously [for Hashem]" (Kings I 19:10), and also about Pinchas "by his vengeance for Me" (Numbers 25:11).

The graves of non-Jews do not render one impure, etc. With regard to the question I asked in an earlier edition, It seems to me that the answer is that Eliyahu is an angel and was standing in the air; there was proximity, but no contact.

It is said in the Midrash Talpiot, letter Alef, that Rabbah Bar Avuha found Eliyahu, of blessed memory, in a non-Jewish cemetery, because he went there to save the soul of a non-Jew from gremlins, because that non-Jew did something good for a Jew in the diaspora. See there. And from this you can understand how dear to HaKadosh Baruch Hu is one who does something good for a Jew...

After these things [happened] illness struck the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, and his sickness was very severe, until there was no breath left in him.

He spread himself out on the boy three times, and cried out to Hashem, and said, “Hashem, my God, please restore the soul of this child within him.”

And Hashem listened to the voice of Eliyohu, and the soul of the child was restored within him and he lived.

He said to him: Is not the Master a Kohen? - R"I asks: How could [Eliyahu] have revived the widow's son, since he was a kohen, as it is written (1 Kings 17): "And he stretched himself over the child, etc." And it is possible to say that it was clear to him that he could revive him, so it was permitted because of the preservation of life.

... Tosafos answers that it was clear to him that he could revive him, therefore, it was permitted because of the preservation of life. The first problem with this is that we do not rely on miracles. Furthermore, if it was clear to him that he would revive him, then there was no life-threatening risk. And if there was there was a risk, then it was not clear to him that he would revive him...

Rabbi Shimon said: Great is the love for Israel, as the Holy One blessed be He revealed Himself in a place of idol worship, a place of filth, and a place of impurity in order to redeem them. This is analogous to a priest whose teruma fell into a cemetery. He says: What shall I do? To impurify myself is impossible, and to leave my teruma there is impossible. It is preferable that I render myself impure one time and then purify myself, and [thus] I will not lose my teruma. So, our ancestors were the teruma of HaKadosh Baruch Hu, as it is stated: “Israel is holy to the Lord, [the first of His crop]” (Jeremiah 2:3).

...But all of this does not apply to Moses, for it is not his terumah. If so, how did he defile himself by going to Egypt, which is called a cemetery? And at that point in his mission he had the status of a Kohen. And also the fact that Hashem commanded him to act not in accordance with the law requires an explanation.

And it seems to me {that the question can be answered based on what is written] in Bava Metzia (114a): "Rabba bar Avuha found Eliyahu standing in anon-Jewish cemetery.... He said to him, 'Are you not a Kohen? Why are you standing in the cemetery?'" etc. And the Tosafos wrote there (s.v. "Amar Li") as follows: "R"I asks how Eliyahu was permitted to revive the widow's son, since he was a kohen, as it is written (1 Kings 17:21): 'And he stretched himself over the child, etc.' And it is possible to say that it was clear to him that he would revive him, so it was permitted because of the preservation of life." Here too, it is possible to say that if it was clear to Moses that he would be able to successfully bring them out of Egypt, it was permitted for him to defile himself because of the preservation of life.