cleansed through the ḥaṭṭāʾt.18 He cites the case of the woman after childbirth (Lev 12) and the case of the leper (Lev 14). In both cases the text clearly indicates that the person is cleansed (12:8; 14:20). “Nothing is said or implied about cleansing the sanctuary.”19 Contrary to Milgrom, who believes that whenever an Israelite sinned—wantonly or inadvertently—the sanctuary was contaminated,20 Rodríguez argues that the sanctuary is contaminated whenever the law of purification is not obeyed, when