Endnote 10 – Did Jesus Oppose the Purity Laws?
The purifying mix of red heifer ashes and water, for example, serves to remind the worshiper of the two components of human being, (Dreams 1.209–212); for a discussion with references, see Sanders, Jewish Law from Jesus to the Mishnah, pp. 263–271. Sanders notes, “By biblical law, all Diaspora Jews were impure all of the time: everyone had to be assumed to have corpse-impurity, which could be removed only at the Temple. Childbirth-impurity also required sacrifices (Leviticus 12:6–8), as did leprosy and discharge…Nevertheless, Philo…thought that people who carried out a non-biblical domestic rite after corpse-impurity were really pure, in spite of not being allowed to enter the temple,” p. 270.