Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Holy

“...the priestly tradition envisioned the world according to a scale of categories, from unclean to clean to holy. Even what was clean needed to be specially 'sanctified' (קדש qiddesh) in order to qualify for contact with God (who is the realm of the holy). For the unclean to attain the status of clean, it needed to be 'cleansed' (טהר tiher) first. The unclean is never envisioned to be in the presence of the holy, that is, the divine.”—A Severe Mercy, page 195

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