Commentary for Yoma 3:6

מאי שנא צפונה מזרחה כיון דחטאת היא וחטאת טעונה צפונה וכתיב בה (במדבר יט, ד) אל נכח פני אהל מועד תקינו לה רבנן לשכה צפונה מזרחה כי היכי דלהוי לה היכירא

Since a tebul-yom<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Lit., 'one who has bathed in the daytime (but must wait for sunset to be perfectly clean) '. The Sadducees would exclude him from service at either ceremony until after sunset.');">⁹</span> was permitted to [perform the ceremony of] the heifer, as we have learnt:<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Parah III, 7.');">¹⁰</span> They [deliberately] rendered the priest ritually impure to remove [a false notion] from the minds of the Sadducees, who used to say: 'Only by those on whom the sun has set could it be performed', the Rabbis ordained that only vessels made of cobble-stones, stone, or earthenware which are immune to impurity - should be used in connection with the heifer, lest the ceremony thereof be treated slightly.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Due to the feeling that since a tebul-yom was admitted, its degree of sanctity may not be too high.');">¹¹</span>

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