Tumah
According to the Kabala, the term refers to physical or
moral uncleanness. The latter is divided into three main divisionsidolatry,
murder, and immorality. Sin has rendered humanity
imperfect, but also affected the whole of nature, even
to the sphere of angels and the divinity. In physical uncleanness,
there is a coarser and subtler form. The latter causes a
dimness in the soul felt by those who are nearest to sacred
things. Organic matter that comes into contact with the human
body is more liable to tumah than remoter things. The human
corpse is more unclean than lower animals, because its more
complex nature involves more decay
