Talmud for Parah 5:4

שְׁפוֹפֶרֶת שֶׁחֲתָכָהּ לְחַטָּאת, רַבִּי אֱלִיעֶזֶר אוֹמֵר, יַטְבִּיל מִיָּד. רַבִּי יְהוֹשֻׁעַ אוֹמֵר, יְטַמֵּא וְיַטְבִּיל. הַכֹּל כְּשֵׁרִים לְקַדֵּשׁ, חוּץ מֵחֵרֵשׁ שׁוֹטֶה וְקָטָן. רַבִּי יְהוּדָה מַכְשִׁיר בְּקָטָן, וּפוֹסֵל בְּאִשָּׁה וּבְאַנְדְּרוֹגִינוֹס:

A tube which was cut for the <i>chatat</i> [as a vessel in which to sanctify the water with the ashes], Rabbi Eliezer says: it should be immersed immediately; Rabbi Yehoshua says: it should be made impure [first] and then immersed. [The intention here is to specifically go against the opinion of the Sadducees who held that the red heifer ritual requires a level of purity reached once the sun has set after the immersion, whereas the rabbis held that a sufficient purity is reached immediately after the immersion; this is discussed in chapter 3, Mishnah 5 with regard to people, and in this Mishnah it is extended to vessels as well.] Everyone is valid to sanctify [the water for the ritual, by mixing it with the ashes] except for a deaf-mute, a cognitively disabled individual, and a minor. Rabbi Yehuda validates with a minor and invalidates with a woman or an androgynous person.

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