Kashrut Status

In Jewish Kosher law, the Kashrut status is basically the "type" of food or utensil. For example, if I cut a steak with a knife, that knife becomes a "Meat" item. If I slice cheese with a different knife, it becomes "Dairy." If an item is neither meat nor dairy, it is considered "Pareve."

The Jews, especially women, have a special ceremonial bathing that is done to become "clean" after menstruation as well as a special preparation before certain life events. The water they bathe in must be a natural body of water, however, they abide by the law by taking a certain amount of rain water and combining it with tap water. The tap water, therefore, picks up the symbolic status of rain water.

If a man comes into contact with a dead body, he also picks up the status of unclean, the status of the dead body, and must be cleansed before he may go about his regular business.

Interesting... I notice items picking up properties from the things they come into contact with. A useful idea. What I also notice, that I find humorous, is that both good and bad traits can be picked up. Rain water (good), mixed with tap water (bad) turns the tap water Good, not the other way around, while a dead body (bad), coming into contact with a live body (good) turns the live body bad. I just muse over this observation, how curious it seems.