The role assigned to hands may likewise be an indicator of a religion's character, one for example that illuminates a fundamental difference between Judaism and Christianity. A detail in this week's parashah prompts me to take up the subject. The Levites are inducted to replace the first born Israelites to service the Tabernacle. The latter lost their privilege after they had succumbed to worshiping the Golden Calf. In the purification rite for the Levites there are two rapid symbolic hand gestures.
Ritual language is by definition multivalent.
Moreover, the inauguration of the Levites is not an isolated use of hands for ritual purposes. To convey the idea of transference apparently required the use of two hands. Outside the cult, the laying on of hands functioned to symbolize the transference of authority from master to disciple. And a thousand years later the Rabbis adapted this Mosaic paradigm as the rite by which they bestowed juridical and spiritual authority on their most accomplished students. The New Testament, in contrast, employs the laying on of hands for an utterly different purpose, namely to heal the sick.