The Tosefta on Conflict between Priests

There was an incident involving two priests who were running simultaneously up the ramp [to the altar]. One of them pushed the other [when he was] within four arms’ lengths [of the altar], and he took a knife and stuck it into his heart. R. Tsadok came and stood on the steps to the Temple entrance and said, “Hear me, house of Israel, our brothers! It says: When a corpse is found . . . and your elders and your judges measure (Deuteronomy 21:1–2). Come and measure: [On whom] is it incumbent to bring a heifer, the Temple or the courtyards?”¹ Everyone murmured after him, crying, and afterward the father of the child [i.e., the slain priest] came and said to them, “Our brothers, I am your atonement.” His son was still convulsing, so the knife was not yet impure—which teaches you that the impurity of a knife was more severe to Israel than bloodshed. Thus, it says: Moreover, Manasseh put so many innocent persons to death that he filled Jerusalem [with blood] from end to end (2 Kings 21:16). Based on this they said: For the sin of bloodshed, the divine presence departed, and the Temple was rendered impure.