A series of articles on Beit HaMikdash-related topics by Catriel Sugarman intended to increase the knowledge, interest, and anticipation of the reader, thereby hastening the realization of our hopes and prayers for the rebuilding of Jerusalem and the Beit HaMikdash.

"Spiritual Impurity" and "Ritual Impurity"
Two weeks ago (TT660), I discussed two of the four Mechusrei Kapara - the Metzora (the "leper", one affected with the skin diseases described in Vayikra 13) and the Yoledet (the parturient, Vayikra 12). The two remaining Mechusrei Kapara to be discussed are the Zav (the man who experienced certain unusual seminal emissions, Vayikra 15:2,3), and the Zava (a woman who had abnormal Niddah-like bleeding after the conclusion of her normal menstrual period, Vayikra 15:25-30). We recall that even after the Mechusar Kapara (sing.) has already waited his/her required time period (e.g. until sunset, seven days, etc.) and has already immersed in a Mikveh, the atonement and purification process is incomplete until he brought his required Korbanot to the Mikdash the following day. Since I am constantly referring to "ritual purity" when I write about the Beit HaMikdash, I have been asked to address this subject, perhaps the most difficult and complicated in all Torah. Please bear in mind that there are twelve Masechtot (tractates) in Seder Tohorot, the section of the Mishna and the parallel Tosefta which deal with these laws. (Tohorot literally means "purities" but in this case it is a euphemism for Tum'ot - "impurities".

The Tosefta is a collection of Baraitot - extraneous Mishnaic material- which was edited by R. Chiya and R. Oshaya. While not as authoritative as "our Mishna", the Tosefta has explanatory notes and additions lacking in the Mishna; consequently it elucidates the ancient Oral Traditional Law in a considerably more detailed manner than does R. Yehuda Hanasi's more definitive compilation. However, though they are constantly quoted in the Gemara, these extraneous Mishnayot were excluded from the "official Mishna" of R. Yehuda Hanasi. As is the Mishna, the Tosefta is divided into six Sedarim and are further sub-divided into tractates and Mishnayot, the organization of which are similar to that of "our" Mishna.) There are scores of Tohorot-like Mishnayot in other Sedarim, and additional hundreds of similar Baraitot embedded in the Halachic Midrashim (Sifra, Sifri etc.), in the Gemara (Yerushalmi and Bavli), as well as elsewhere in the Tana'itic and Amora'itic literature. The Rambam and the voluminous classical commentaries delve even deeper into the minutiae of these Halachot. Therefore, in a short series of TT articles, I can neither be exhaustive, nor can I presume to decide practical Halacha. Rather I am merely making an attempt to illustrate and summarize some of the basic Halachic and philosophic principles involved and their relationship to Am Yisrael and the Beit Hamikdash.

There are two categories of Tum'ah, impurity. One form, called in the language of the Sages Tum'at HaKedushot ("spiritual impurity") or Tum'at HaNefashot ("impurity of the soul"), is diametrically opposed to Kedusha - holiness. Tum'at HaNefashot is engendered by illicit sexual relationships or the consumption of forbidden foods. In Vayikra 20:8-20, there is a whole list of forbidden sexual relationships which upon exposure and conviction by Beit Din entail a death penalty. The use of various epithets, e.g. Vayikra 20:13 where homosexuality is called a To'eivah, "abomination", or 20:14 where the practice of a man taking "a woman and her mother" is a Zimah - "depraved plot" (R. Hirsch has "lewd sensuality") etc. amply illustrates the Torah's abhorrence of these perverted practices. This list is preceded by Vayikra 20:7 - "You shall sanctify yourselves and be holy… Vayikra 20:8 reads, "You shall observe my decrees (Chukotai) and do them because I am the Lord who sanctifies you." The miasma of Tum'at HaNefashot also clings to the Yisrael who eats forbidden animals. ("You are what you eat!") Vayikra 20:25,26 reads, "You shall distinguish between the pure animal and the impure, between the pure bird and the impure, and you shall not make your souls abominable through such animals or birds or anything that creeps on the ground… You shall be holy unto Me, for I the Lord am holy…." The Torah calls the consumption of forbidden foods an abomination; their ingestion also is diametrically opposed to a life of holiness. To remove the spiritual pollution of Tum'at HaNefashot, immersion in a Mikveh will not help; sincere repentance is required.

Forbidden animals include;
• Quadrupeds which do not have the following two signs are not Kasher and they may not be eaten. They must have completely split hooves and they must chew the cud (Vayikra 11:2,3). The animal must have both these signs, one is not sufficient. The Torah lists four animals that have only one sign - e.g. the pig - and they are not Kasher (Vayikra 11:4-8).

• Only fish which have both fins and scales are permitted (trout, carp, salmon etc.). Other sea creatures such as lobsters, clams, eels, sharks ("Peirot HaYam") etc. may not be eaten.

• Biblically, with the exception of twenty bird-families specifically named in Vayikra 11:13-19, all other birds are permitted. However over the millennia, the identities of many of these birds have become unclear and therefore the Sages have decreed that only certain birds which have a "tradition" of being Kasher may be eaten (chickens, pigeons, quail etc.)

• Among all the reptiles, various "creeping things" and insects, only four species of specifically named locusts are permissible (Vayikra 11:20-23). However, over the millennia. The identities of these permitted insects have become unclear and most Jews will not eat any kind of locust. Yemenite and some Moroccan Jews maintain that they have an unbroken tradition.

The Malbim comments, "The opposite of Tumat HaNefashot is holiness… the opposite of Tum'at HaGeviot is Toharah, ritual purity" (Sifra, Shemini-Parsha 5:106). Since Tum'at HaGeviot is not a contamination of the soul, the Yisrael or Kohein who is tainted with this form of impurity, can remove it by undergoing the proper rite of purification. "The laws of ritual purity… do not concern forbidden acts. They concern human conditions or states which occur despite human volition (e.g. the "leper", the parturient). Sometimes they are consequences of actions which they them- selves are meritorious (e.g. attending a funeral). To be in a state of ritual impurity is never a sin; but the sufferer of ritual impurity has to be careful not to enter sacred areas or touch sacred objects until he has rid himself of his impurity by the prescribed method of purification." Under ordinary conditions it was not unlawful for a Yisrael to be defiled with Tum'at Meit (corpse-impurity), or for a Kohein to be defiled with one of the lower forms of impurity. But if a Kohein came into contact with a dead body at any time, he becomes a Tum'at Meit and immediately must undergo purification and be sprinkled with Mei Nida (red heifer ashes mixed in spring water) on the third and seventh day and immerse in a Mikveh. Only people who are ritually pure can enter the Mikdash complex or eat Kodashim. <to be continued>

Catriel's book in progress: The Temple of Jerusalem, A Pilgrims Prospective; A Guided Tour through the Temple and the Divine Service

[The Parshat Tzav Homepage]
[The TORAH tidbits Homepage] [How to use TORAH tidbits]
[About The OU/NCSY Israel Center] [About TORAH tidbits]
 [www.ou.org]