Emphasis Preaching Journal

When Israel received the Law, they began practicing what is called a strict purity code. This divided up all people at any one time into two categories: clean and unclean. For example, Israelites with certain disfigurements or skin diseases, who had touched a dead body, or had just given birth, would be considered unclean. As long as someone was deemed unclean, they could not participate in the Temple, the center of Jewish life and primary connection to God, and had to remain alone outside the city.