Karetot 19: When That We Sinned but not How We Sinned

Today we learn a Mishna that presents a new twist when considering the application of an asham taluey, provisional sacrifice.  What should be done when it is clear that a forbidden act has been performed but it is unclear what the forbidden act might be.  There are three cases:

• One does not know which one of the two forbidden foods was eaten, chelev, forbidden fats and notar, sacrificial meat that was not eaten when it should have been eaten
• One engaged in sexual relations with a woman in his house and he knows that it was his wife who was niddah, menstruating and thus off limits, or his sister
• Yom Kippur either preceded or followed Shabbat and one worked during the intervening twilight period but it is not clear on which day the work was performed

One note - how in the world would one not know whether he had sexual relations with his forbidden wife or his forbidden sister?  People have different bodies, energies, ways of moving, smells, and much more.  Could any person be so excessively inebriated or otherwise unaware that he could actually have intercourse with his sister?  Does this case example suggest that women would initiate intercourse with a man who is not able to make such a discernment?  This case is either completely theoretical or it is terribly insulting to all people involved.

Rabbi Eliezer requires a korban chatat, an ordinary sin offering, in such cases because it is clear that one performed a forbidden act.  Rabbi Yehoshua disagrees, arguing that in ordinary cases a person knows how s/he has sinned.

Rabbi Yehoshua believes that a korban chatat is not required but that one might be required to bring an asham taluey.  Usually one brings an asham taluey in situations of doubt, and these cases seem to be situations of doubt.  

In Vayikra (5:17) the Torah tells us, "And if anyone sin and do any of the commandments of the Lord that are not to be done, though he does not know it; yet is he guilty, and shall bear his iniquity."  Rabbi Yehuda teaches us that that Rabbi Yehoshua allows a sinner to walk away without even bringing an asham taluey.  Rabbi Shimon argues that in these cases, one has sinned in just the manner described in Vayikra (5:17).