Vomited Out of the Land

The purity system of the Bible chiefly involved the Temple, sacrifices, and priestly gifts, all of which had to be guarded from ritual impurity. The penalty for polluting the Temple is karet, excision from the people of Israel. The Land had to be guarded from moral impurity lest the people of Israel be vomited out of the land as their predecessors had been. Corpse impurity was considered the most severe form of ritual impurity (avi avot ha- tumah), requiring sprinkling with waters of purification on the third and seventh days of the seven-day impurity. Death impurity was transferred not only by direct contact but also through the air of the enclosed tent or building or—according to rabbinic law—by overshadowing and grave fluids. Based on Leviticus 18:25