NOTES for Втор 14:1-29
The Book of Deuteronomy sometimes repeats the norms and rules of ritual purity already known from Leviticus. Historically, given when Deuteronomy was written, this is indeed a repetition, a reminder of what should already have been known to everyone who took Yahwism seriously. Why, it would seem, repeat what everyone knows?
The simplest and most obvious answer is this: to remind people of what many were inclined to forget. That is true, but it is not the whole truth. We must remember that the Book of Deuteronomy as a whole requires a much more conscious approach to the Torah than the sacred texts of earlier periods do.
Here it is not even important whether we are speaking about the logic of the text or the logic of history. In any case, the Book of Deuteronomy is perceived as the completion of the Torah, as precisely the second law that appeared after the first. And this means not only Exodus with its legislative chapters, but also Leviticus with its laws concerning sacrifices and the norms and rules of ritual purity. From any point of view, Deuteronomy is reminding people here of things everyone already knew.
What, then, does greater consciousness mean when it comes to the Torah? Above all, it must be about the main reason the Torah was given to the people: holiness. Not holiness as righteousness, as holiness came to be understood in the Middle Ages, but holiness as being sanctified, as abiding in God's presence, which truly changes a person if that person is able to preserve the spiritual state opened to him before God's face. Here the norms and rules of ritual purity come to the forefront, because purity is precisely the state that allows a person to be sanctified. That is why the whole Torah is needed: it helps a person become the vessel that can contain God's presence, opened to man.