Shabbat 69: Unwitting Transgressions on Shabbat, What to Do When We Don't Know What Day it is

Should a person who unwittingly sins be punished with karet, cutting off their soul from their people?  Rabbi Yochanan says that one was unwitting regarding the fact that the punishment for the transgression is karet, even though one was aware of the transgressions and it was performed intentionally anyhow.  Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish, Reish Lakish ,says that the rabbis say one was unwitting until one was unintentional regarding both prohibition and karet.  

Shabbat has forty-less-one categories of prohibited labours.  Rabbi Yochanan explains that this teaches that if one performs all of the prohibited labours in the course of one lapse of awareness, one is liable for every single prohibition, or thirty-nine offerings.  This could only be possible if some of the actions were done without intention.

Rabbi Yochanan further explores the different ways that someone might not not be aware of one's prohibited behaviours.  Abaye looks at adding to Rabbi Yochanan's words, he is unable to add more useful information.  The Gemara says that since the obligation to bring a n offering regarding a broken oath is a novel halacha - throughout the entire Torah there is no punishment where one is liable to bring an offering and for whose intentional violation is not punishable by karet - one might always be liable to bring the offering.  Abaye notes that if someone know that taking their false oath is prohibited but they do not know whether or not one is liable to bring an offering for swearing falsely, one is liable to bring an offering for an unwitting transgression.  The Gemara rejects this; one is thought to have performed the transgression unwittingly.

It is noted that one who eats teruma and is not a priest is liable to death at the hand of heaven.  This is called "Death stands in place of karet".  Our daf also mentions one is liable to add a payment of one-fifth the value of teruma for eating it unwittingly if one is unwitting regarding its prohibition.

If a person were walking or in the desert and does not know which day is Shabbat, one should count six days from the day that one lost track and then serve a day as Shabbat.  Should Shabbat be occurred first, or should one wait six days and then observe Shabbat.  The rabbis consider what a person should do if they had a sense of which day they might have lost track of time.