Impurity in Jewish Mythology

7 myths

Each story names the sources it was written from.

Myth 6 min

The Book That Named Ninety-Seven Impure Forces

A closed booklet held names no one should speak. Ninety-seven forces of impurity hid in two Torah words, and Gehenna (afterlife of judgment) shook for the.

KabbalahImpurityDemonsGehinnomTziyoniTemptationNamesSecrecyMosesEgyptSorceryHa SatanPharaohSnakeShemaAngelsTikkunei
Parshat Naso 5 min

The Nazirite Whose Days Voided at a Death

A nazirite counted ninety-nine clean days without wine or razor until a corpse in the road voided the count and sent him back to day one.

NaziriteVowImpurityWineHairNumbersAtonementTemple
Parshat Naso 5 min

The Nazir Stumbled on a Corpse in the Road

A nazir walked pure until his foot found a body no one owned. Consecrated hair became shame, and impurity traveled link by careful link.

NazirPurityCorpseImpurityNumbersVowTempleHair
Myth 4 min

Lilith Kept House in the Goldsmith's Cellar

On Passover the goldsmith left the Seder table and went downstairs. His wife put her eye to the cellar keyhole and did not cry out.

LilithDemonsPassoverZoharImpurityMarriagePosenCellar
Myth 7 min

The Nazirite Lifts the Body No One Claimed

A Nazirite under vow finds a corpse with no kin. He may not touch the dead for father or mother, yet he must become impure for the unburied stranger.

NaziriteDeathImpurityKindnessBurialSifrei Bamidbar
Myth 5 min

The Frog Carried the Scorpion Across the River

A frog ferried a scorpion to its kill and back. A shrub saved a man until he stripped it off. In Vayikra Rabbah, every creature keeps a mission.

Divine JusticeAnimalsRabbisRomeImpurity
Parshat Chukat 6 min

Moses Asked About the Corpse and God Did Not Answer

God taught every law with its cleansing until the corpse, where the answer stopped and Moses walked out of the Tent with a gray face.

MosesRed HeiferPurityPriestsImpurityMidrash Tanchuma