12 - Contagious Holiness

Summary

Though the main focus of this book is pollution, there are several reasons why holiness is indispensable to this discussion. The antinomy between the sacred domain and impurity suggests that these antagonistic categories are inextricably related to one another. For this reason, it seems hardly coincidental that several biblical passages depict a contagious aspect to holiness that is similar to that of pollution, which suggests that there is an additional, positive potential of contagion that needs to be explored. Finally, and most fundamentally, the emphasis of the present work on embodiment as a key to understanding ostensibly “religious” concepts faces its greatest challenge with holiness, which appears to be otherworldly by definition and hence separate from mundane experience. Confronting this challenge, this chapter will examine the various means of conceptualizing holiness in the HB, showing that they are in varying degrees grounded in experience. Moreover, it will examine the possibility of conveying holiness by contact, showing that it, like impurity, can be contagious.