Individual piety in P

DR. RABBI DAVID FRANKEL: “Mitzvah Piety” and the Need for Individual Atonement (TheTorah.com).

Abstract: “Mitzvah piety” of the individual outside of the cult comes to the fore most distinctly in the Priestly texts. Each mitzvah became an end in itself as a divine command that was meant to be obeyed by each individual and, the unique meaning or purpose of the particular mitzvah took on less significance. This development required a heightened emphasis on personal atonement and the role of the individual in attaining it through a sin offering, so that the dangers of contact with this new realm of holiness—any violation of which was a death penalty offense—could readily be averted.