19 The leaders of Judah and Jerusalem, the court officials, the priests and all the people of the land who walked between the pieces of the calf, 20 I will deliver into the hands of their enemies who want to kill them. Their dead bodies will become food for the birds and the wild animals.
This verse made me think of the commitment God and Moses made to each other, and them performing the same ritual. So, I looked it up.....once again 'cause it seems so strange.
This concept throws some light on a custom mentioned by the Torah7 in connection with the making of a covenant. The parties to the pact would pass between the two halves of a slain animal. This custom is very difficult to understand. Surely, a more appropriate gesture could be found for persons wishing to express their unity and oneness than passing through the disunited halves of a whole object!
The explanation of the custom of “passing through the halves” in making a covenant is the same as the underlying concept of the half-shekel. Each party to the covenant was to regard himself as incomplete, a mere “half.” Hence, when G‑d told Moses that He was about to make a covenant with the Jews, He was emphasizing once again the lesson of the half-shekel—that a Jew and his Creator are two indivisible halves, together forming one whole, a perfect unity.8
Well it still seems strange but thanks for digging a little deeper to get an explanation for this ritual that seems very off the wall without any background. Sorry I'm slow catching up, been struggling to get up in time to do my reading. i'll try to push myself!'
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