Tosefta Shevu‘ot
3. R. Simeon used to say: Rendering the sanctuary and its holy things impure is more serious than all other transgressions listed in the Torah.
All other transgressions listed in the Torah are atoned for with one goat, but rendering the sanctuary and its holy things impure is atoned for with thirty-two goats.
All other transgressions listed in the Torah are atoned for once per year, but rendering the sanctuary and its holy things impure is atoned for once a month, as it is said: Therefore, as I live, said the Lord God, since you have rendered My sanctuary impure with all your detestable things and with all your abominations, so I will cut you down: My eye will not spare, and I will have no pity (Ezekiel 5:11), [meaning,] the detestable things and abominations that you did were serious but more serious than all of them was rendering the sanctuary impure.
4. A story of two brothers, priests who were of equal rank, who were racing up the ramp [in a competition to be able to officiate over the sacrifice of] a sheep. One of them got within four cubits of the altar before the other one did, took the [sacrificial] knife, and drove it into his [i.e., the other priest’s] heart.
R. Tsadok came and stood on the steps of the platform of the Temple mount and said, “Listen to me, we are all brothers, house of Israel! Behold, it [scripture] says: If a corpse is found in a field in the land that the Lord your God is giving you [and it is not known who struck him], your elders and judges go forth and measure [the distance] to the cities surrounding the corpse. [And the elders of the town that is nearest to the corpse shall take a heifer . . .] (Deuteronomy 21:1–3). But in our case, from where should we measure? To the sanctuary or the courtyard?”
All the people cried in agony and wept after his speech.
Afterward, the father of the child [the priest who had been injured] came and said, “We are all brothers. I [will be] your atonement! My son is still writhing, and so the knife has not yet contracted [corpse] impurity!” This teaches you that they were more concerned about the impurity of the knife than the spilling of blood, and so scripture says: And also Manasseh shed so much innocent blood [that he filled all of Jerusalem from one end to the other] (2 Kings 21:16).
From here, it is said that it was because of the sin of bloodshed that the shekhinah [the in-dwelling divine presence] departed, and the Temple was defiled.
Translated by Christine Hayes.
Published in: The Posen Library of Jewish Culture and Civilization, vol. 2: Emerging Judaism.
You may also like
Tosefta Bava Kamma
Tosefta Avodah Zarah
The Tosefta also contains independent narratives, such as this story from t. Shevu‘ot 1:4, which mocks the misplaced priorities and moral obtuseness of the Temple priests. When one young priest stabs another in the heart during a race to serve at the altar, the priestly R. Tsadok puzzles over technical aspects of the law applied in the case of a discovered corpse, and the injured man’s father reassures the assembled company that the knife has not yet contracted corpse impurity because his son is still writhing on the ground. Following on the heels of R. Simeon’s declaration (1:3) that defiling the sanctuary and its holy things is more serious than all the commandments in the Torah, this story is a voice of protest.
