70 C.E. The Bible, canonized gradually during the preceding centuries, provided the words for the petitions and praises, the affirmations of faith and study texts that became the fabric of Jewish liturgy. In a moment of spiritual crisis, Judaism forged the synagogue, a setting of unique synergy in which Scripture yielded the language of prayer even as prayer deepened the knowledge of and attachment to Scripture. We tend at first blush to think of mitzvot only in terms of positive and negative injunctions. But the readings for Yom Kippur sensitize us to a deeper classification. Absorbed with matters of purity and ritual, chapter 16 treats of the relationship between God and the community, including the individual.
Impurities threaten to render the divine inaccessible.
So once a year the pristine holiness of the sanctuary must be restored. In contrast, chapter 18 treats of the manner in which human beings ought to relate to each other. If every woman in the household is fair game for sexual conquest, if every form of sexual experimentation is within bounds, then neither the family nor society will long endure. Sexual restraint generates cohesion, intensifying the relationships that are countenanced. Religion must comprise morality as well as theology if it is to enhance the social compact.