Purity and impurity are related to being connected and separated with God. All things that are considered pure are things that go along with God’s teachings and with what he expects from his people, whereas impure things are those that go against his teachings. As described in the footnote from the article by Mary Douglass, “purity rules represent regulations of the social body”, showing how purity is what defines what should be done to please God and follow with his ideals and rules.
God requires the maintenance of purity because of how those who follow God must do what he asks and follow his rules. In order to stay and live together with God, people must maintain their purity. It also relates back to Genesis and Adam and Eve. Their curse, as stated in the footnote, is the curse of death. This curse is specified in the purity laws described in Leviticus. They are connected to the way in which humans became impure and separated themselves from God in Genesis with Adam and Eve being banished from Paradise. Following these purity laws allows humans to become pure again and rebuild their connection with God. I think it also serves as a way of God ensuring that his people will follow with his commands and will do what is right.
The logic behind the laws we encountered related to purity, especially the food laws, is that God is trying to ensure that his people will follow with his ideas and lifestyles. It is a way of showing how people need to be aware of what they have to do in order to remain pure and follow God. I also connect the food laws being so detailedly described in Leviticus to the original sin of Adam and Eve in which they eat the apple and thus distance themselves from God. I think that this is connected to how Israelites must be always conscious of what they eat, meaning what they bring into their bodies. I think of it as sort of a metaphor in which God is making it very specific for his people that they can be only filled with pure things and to avoid temptation of bringing into their bodies any type of impurities.
Alegria Ubidia 
I agree with your definition of purity and the fact that it is necessary for humans to stay connected with God. However, I don’t agree that purity is to “follow with his ideas and lifestyles”. I don’t think God himself is going through such extensive measures to consume food. I think he is placing these restrictions on humans for covenant purposes and this may not reflect his lifestyle.
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