Ritual and Morality - The Ritual Purity System and its Place in Judaism (Paperback)

The book describes in detail the ritual purity system of the Hebrew Bible, and its development into the system of the rabbis. Certain human conditions require purification before contact is made with holy foods or areas. Recent scholarly theories (Milgrom, Neusner, Douglas) are discussed, and new theories are proposed for the origin of the Red Cow and Scapegoat rites. It is argued that the impurities concerned all derive from the human cycle of generation, birth and death, from which the Sanctuary is to be guarded; not because it needs protection from demonic powers (as in other ancient purity systems), but because of the reverence due to the divine presence. While the priestly code of holiness displays traces of earlier conceptions, its ritual has lost urgent salvific force, and has become a protocol for the Temple and a dedicatory code for a priestly people; the sources distinguish it from universal morality.

General

Imprint:	Cambridge UniversityPress
Country of origin:	United Kingdom
Release date:	2009
First published:	2009
Authors:	Hyam Maccoby
Dimensions:	216 x 140 x 14mm (L x W x T)
Format:	Paperback - Trade
Pages:	244
ISBN-13:	978-0-521-09365-1
Categories:	Books > Humanities > Religion & beliefs > Non-Christian religions > Judaism > General Books > Religion & Spirituality > Non-Christian religions > Judaism > General
LSN:	0-521-09365-1
Barcode:	9780521093651

Is the information for this product incomplete, wrong or inappropriate? Let us know about it.

Does this product have an incorrect or missing image? Send us a new image.

Is this product missing categories? Add more categories.

Review This Product

No reviews yet - be the first to create one!