4,002. What It Means to Override Ritual Impurity

Hilchos Bias HaMikdash 4:11

Any sacrifice that was brought in impurity wasn’t eaten. Rather, those parts that were suitable to be offered on the altar were burned on the altar, while the parts that were normally eaten were burned the same way as those of other sacrifices that were rendered unclean.

Hilchos Bias HaMikdash 4:12

Overriding ritual impurity is as follows: If the time to offer a certain sacrifice arrives and most of those offering it were ritually unclean with corpse impurity, or if the people in general were ritually clean but the kohanim offering it were unclean with corpse impurity, or if both these and those were ritually clean but the service vessels were unclean with corpse impurity – in all of these cases, the offering is brought in ritual impurity, the clean and the unclean offering it together and entering the courtyard as necessary. However, those who were unclean for other reasons – such as a zav, a zavah,* a menstruant, a woman who has given birth, those unclean from dead vermin and animal carcasses, etc. – these are not involved in bringing offerings and they may not enter the courtyard even when sacrifices are brought in impurity. If someone violated the law and participated, or if he entered the courtyard, he is subject to kareis (spiritual excision) for entering the courtyard and to a divine death penalty for performing the service. This is because only corpse impurity is overridden.

*A zav and a zavah are, respectively, a man and a woman who have experienced particular genital discharges.