Then the priest is to take off these clothes and put on others, and carry the ashes outside the camp to a place that is ceremonially clean. The priest changes into different clothes to carry the ashes outside the camp — the sacred vestments worn at the altar are not worn for the task of waste disposal. The change of clothes communicates the distinction between the holiness of the altar's service and the necessary but less sacred task of disposal. The ashes are carried to a ceremonially clean place outside the camp: even the disposal of what the altar has consumed must be done in a way that honors the boundary between the sacred precinct and ordinary space.

COMMUNITY REFLECTIONS

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