Study Yevamot folio 73A with parallel Hebrew-English text, traditional commentary, and modern study tools. Free access to Babylonian Talmud online.
Text Excerpt
״והזה הטהור על הטמא״, ״טהור״ — מכלל שהוא טמא, לימד על טבול יום שכשר בפרה.
It is further stated: “And the pure person should sprinkle upon the impure” (Numbers 19:19). The verse states “pure”; this indicates by inference that he is in some way ritually impure. In other words, the verse speaks of one who is pure only in relation to one who is impure. Were this not the case, there would have been no need at all to mention his purity, as it would have been understood that since the red heifer is called a sin-offering, with regard to which purity is paramount, the one performing the ritual must be pure. Of necessity, then, this “pure” individual is not completely pure in all regards. This teaches that one who immersed himself that day is fit to perform the rites connected to the red heifer.
The Talmud returns to the previous discussion. They raised a dilemma before Rav Sheshet: In the case of an uncircumcised man, what is the halakha with regard to his eating second tithe? Can one claim that just as the halakha governing the Paschal lamb is derived from the halakha governing second tithe with regard to acute mourning, in that an acute mourner, who may not eat second tithe, is likewise prohibited from partaking of the Paschal lamb, so too, the halakha concerning second tithe is derived from the halakha concerning the Paschal lamb with regard to lack of circumcision, in that an uncircumcised man, who may not partake of the Paschal lamb, is likewise prohibited from eating second tithe?
או דלמא: חמור מקל יליף, קל מחמור לא יליף.
Or perhaps the halakha governing the stringent case of the Paschal lamb is derived from the halakha governing the lenient case of second tithe, but the halakha concerning the lenient case of second tithe is not derived from the halakha concerning the stringent case of the Paschal lamb, and therefore it is prohibited for an uncircumcised man to partake of the Paschal lamb, but he may eat second tithe.