Yerushalmi Shevuot 2:3 ירושלמי שבועות ב׳:ג׳

MISHNAH: If one became impure in the Temple courtyard, then was oblivious about impurity but remembered the Sanctuary, [or] was oblivious about the Sanctuary but remembered impurity, [or] was oblivious of both. If he prostrated himself, or tarried that he could have prostrated himself, or left on a lengthy path, he is liable⁶⁰If somebody entered the Sanctuary area legitimately because he was pure and then became impure in the sacred precinct (e. g., a dead lizard was lying there and he accidentally touched it), no sin attaches to him if he leaves immediately on the shortest possible path. If he tarries or leaves on a longer path, he commits a sin for which he will be liable if the original awareness was followed by any forgetting.. But on the shortest path he is not liable; this is the positive commandment in the Sanctuary about which they are not liable⁶¹“They” are the members of the Supreme Court who do not have to offer a sacrifice for a wrong ruling in this matter (Mishnah Horaiot2:4)..

HALAKHAH: “If one became impure in the Temple courtyard,” etc. Rebbi Ḥizqiah, Rebbi Immi in the name of Rebbi Eleazar: One verse says, he defiled the dwelling place of the Eternal⁶²Num. 19:13., another verse says, he defiled the Sanctuary of the Eternal⁶³Num. 19:20. Why is this? To state a difference between one who became inside and one who became outside⁶⁴The two verses appear in the same Chapter. There must be a reason for the use of two synonyms. It is a hint that the rules are different for one who enters while impure and one who becomes impure inside. (There is another opinion, Sifry Num.126, that מִשְׁכָּן describes the movable Tabernacle and מִקְדָּשׁ the permanent Temple. The Babli 16b brings both opinions in the name of R. Eleazar.). If he became impure (inside)⁶⁵It is clear that the places of “inside” and “outside” have to be switched. A person already impure becomes guilty and eventually liable for a sacrifice at the moment his head and most of his body are inside the sacred precinct; one becomingimpure inside if he tarries long enough to prostrate himself. not unless he bring his head and most of his body inside; if he became impure (outside)⁶⁵It is clear that the places of “inside” and “outside” have to be switched. A person already impure becomes guilty and eventually liable for a sacrifice at the moment his head and most of his body are inside the sacred precinct; one becomingimpure inside if he tarries long enough to prostrate himself. not unless he stay for prostrating. If he became impure inside and entered further inside⁶⁶Do we say that if he became impure inside and moved his head and body further inside instead of towards the outside that he is guilty on two counts?? Let us hear from the following: “If he prostrated himself, or tarried that he could have prostrated himself.” If he tarried, is that not as if he brought his head and most of his body inside, but you are saying, “he tarried that he could have prostrated himself.” And here, not unless he tarried that he could have prostrated himself⁶⁷The Mishnah makes it clear that only the time elapsed inside the sacred precinct determines his liability, not the direction of his motion.. How is that? About which of them does he become liable? About the first or the last⁶⁸The moment he became impure or the moment he stayed longer than necessary.? The colleagues say, about the first. Rebbi Yose told them, one says to him, leave, and you say about the first? But we must hold about the last⁶⁹This essentially is a repetition of the previous argument: Not the fact that he became impure determines his guilt but the time he tarried inside. The argument is recast as introduction to the next paragraph..

There, we have stated: “They removed the cup and the censer for him”⁷⁰Mishnah Yoma.5:1. The reference really is to the end of that Mishnah: “The High Priest takes the censer in his right hand and the cup in the left hand.” In general there is a rule that all priestly service in the Temple has to be performed with the right hand only. The left hand has to be used here to make it possible for the High Priest to enter the Holiest of Holies only once. On that it is noted (Yoma5:2, 42b l. 52) that if he went twice, using only his right hand, the service is valid. Nevertheless, it is sinful to enter the Temple building more often than necessary. About this the paragraph here is then copied in Yoma.. About which of them does he become liable? About the first or the last? The colleagues say, about the last. Rebbi Yose told them, one says to him, enter, and you say about the last? But we must hold about the first⁷¹Since the first entry is necessary in any case, the High Priest cannot be faulted for the first entry even if he only carries the censer..

The measure of prostrating is ten cubits⁷²If the time frame described in the Mishnah by “prostrating” is measured by the difference in length between a lengthy and a short path, since it cannot be made dependent on the speed of one’s body motions.. How is this? If the lengthy path was twenty but the short one ten. He went five. If he went in this direction, five, if in the other, fifteen⁷³The only thing that counts is the difference in the lengths of the paths, not the total lengths.. Rebbi Yose said, he never becomes liable unless the lengthy path exceed the short one by (ten)⁷⁴From the following it is clear that one has to read “twenty”.. How is that? If the lengthy path was thirty but the short one ten. He went five. If he went in this direction, five, if in the other, twenty-five. What is the duration of prostrating⁷⁵If one measures not by length but by time, still admitting differences between one person and the next.? Rebbi Simon in the name of Rebbi Joshua ben Levi: up to a greeting from one person to another⁷⁶The time frame needed to speak the two words שָׁלוֹם עָלֶיךָ.. Abba bar Huna⁷⁷This is misspelling for Abba bar bar Ḥana; cf. his statement in Berakhot2:1, Note 51, Nazir4:1 Note 12. in the name of Rebbi Joḥanan: up to a greeting from a student to his teacher, “peace be with you, my teacher.⁷⁸The time frame allowing three words to be spoken, which in general is the definition of “immediately”. In the Babli 16b the time given is either the time needed to recite the entire verse 2Chr. 7:3 or at least half of it.”