Study Zevachim folio 21A with parallel Hebrew-English text, traditional commentary, and modern study tools. Free access to Babylonian Talmud online.
Text Excerpt
והא פרה – דטמויי מטמינן ליה, דתנן: מטמאין היו הכהן השורף את הפרה ומטבילין אותו, להוציא מלבן של צדוקין שהיו אומרים: במעורבי שמש היתה נעשית; שמע מינה: לא פסלה בה (מחשבת) טומאה!
And in preparation for the rite of the red heifer, we intentionally impart impurity to the priest after he has already sanctified his hands and feet, as we learned in a Mishnah (Para 3:7): They would render the priest who burns the heifer ritually impure and immerse him immediately, to remove a misconception from the hearts of the Sadducees by means of a public display of disregard for their ruling. As the Sadducees would say: Only by those for whom the sun set was the heifer ritual performed. The Sadducees believed that it is prohibited for an impure priest who immersed that day to burn the red heifer until sunset, when the purification process is completed. The Talmud concludes: Since this impurity does not disqualify the sanctification of his hands and feet, learn from it that impurity does not disqualify sanctification of the hands and feet in general.
שאני פרה, הואיל דטבול יום לא פסיל בה. אי הכי, למה לי דמקדש? כעין עבודה [בעינן].
The Talmud responds: The service of the heifer is different, as one who immersed that day is not unfit for performing it, unlike any other rite. Likewise, impurity does not disqualify the sanctification of hands and feet preceding the service of the heifer. The Talmud asks: If so, why do I require that the priest sanctify his hands and feet at all for the service of the red heifer? The Talmud responds: We require that the service of the red heifer be similar to the service of offerings performed inside the Temple.
איבעיא להו: מהו לקדש ידיו [ורגליו] בכיור? ״ממנו״ אמר רחמנא – ולא בתוכו; או דלמא אפילו בתוכו?
§ A dilemma was raised before the rabbis: What is the halakha with regard to a priest who wishes to sanctify his hands and feet by dipping them in the Basin rather than letting the water run from it onto them? Must one say that the priest may not do so, since God states: “And Aaron and his sons should wash their hands and their feet from it” (Exodus 30:19), and not inside it? Or perhaps the priest may even use water still inside it.