Commento su Shevu'ot 2:5
רַבִּי אֱלִיעֶזֶר אוֹמֵר, הַשֶּׁרֶץ וְגוֹ' וְנֶעְלַם מִמֶּנּוּ (ויקרא ה), עַל הֶעְלֵם שֶׁרֶץ חַיָּב, וְאֵינוֹ חַיָּב עַל הֶעְלֵם מִקְדָּשׁ. רַבִּי עֲקִיבָא אוֹמֵר, וְנֶעְלַם מִמֶּנּוּ וְהוּא טָמֵא (שם), עַל הֶעְלֵם טֻמְאָה חַיָּב, וְאֵינוֹ חַיָּב עַל הֶעְלֵם מִקְדָּשׁ. רַבִּי יִשְׁמָעֵאל אוֹמֵר, וְנֶעְלַם וְנֶעְלַם שְׁתֵּי פְעָמִים, לְחַיֵּב עַל הֶעְלֵם טֻמְאָה וְעַל הֶעְלֵם מִקְדָּשׁ:
R. Eliezer dice (Levitico 5: 2): "... cosa strisciante (sheretz) ... e si nasconde da lui": è responsabile della "nascosta" cosa strisciante, e non è responsabile della nascondenza del santuario. [È scritto: "... o (se tocca) la carcassa di una cosa strisciante sporca e gli si nasconde". Questo è un verso superfluo, poiché sopra è scritto: "O se un'anima tocca qualcosa di impuro" e "sheretz" è incluso in "cosa impura". Questo per informarci che se avesse saputo per certo di essere diventato impuro, ma non sapeva se attraverso uno sheretz o attraverso una carogna (neveilah), non sarebbe responsabile di un'offerta se avesse mangiato cibo santificato; deve sapere attraverso il quale è diventato impuro.] R. Akiva dice: "... ed è nascosto da lui ed è impuro": È responsabile per la nascondenza di impurità, ma non è responsabile per la occultazione del santuario. R. Yishmael dice: "ed essere nascosto" è scritto due volte (versetti 2 e 3), per renderlo responsabile per la nascondenza di impurità e per la occultazione del santuario. [R. Akiva sostiene che da quando sapeva per certo che era diventato impuro, anche se il tipo specifico di impurità— sheretz o neveilah —non gli è noto, è responsabile. Ed entrambi (R. Eliezer e R. Akiva) lo esentano per il nascondiglio del santuario, e R. Yishmael lo ritiene responsabile. L'halachah è conforme a R. Yishmael.]
Bartenura on Mishnah Shevuot
English Explanation of Mishnah Shevuot
Rabbi Akiba said: “[Scripture says:] ‘and it be hidden from him that he is impure’: when his impurity is unknown to him, he is liable; but he is not liable, when the [fact that he is in the] Temple is unknown to him.”
Rabbi Ishmael said: “[Scripture] twice [says:] ‘and it be hidden from him’, in order to make him liable both for the forgetfulness of the impurity and the forgetfulness of the Temple.”
Mishnah five conclude the discussion of a person who enters the Temple while not realizing that he is impure. It contains a midrashic discussion which took place between Rabbis Eliezer, Akiba, and Ishmael.
As we have explained throughout this chapter, in order to be obligated to bring a sliding scale sacrifice one must have known something and then forgotten it and then remembered it later on. In both mishnah one and mishnah three of this chapter we assumed that what was known and forgotten was either the fact that he was impure or the fact that he was in the Temple or both. This is the opinion of Rabbi Yishmael in section three. His opinion is the dominant opinion in this chapter of mishnah.
Rabbi Eliezer holds that what was known and then forgotten was specifically the source of the impurity, be it an impure creeping thing or other source of impurity mentioned in Leviticus 5:2 (carcasses of pure animals). If he forgot that he was in the Temple he is not obligated to bring a sliding scale sacrifice. Likewise if never knew that he had been made impure by an impure creepy thing, but merely knew that he was impure, he is not obligated.
Rabbi Akiva holds that what was forgotten was the fact of impurity but not the fact that he was in the Temple. Unlike Rabbi Eliezer, Rabbi Akiva does not limit the knowledge and subsequent forgetfulness to the source of the impurity. Even if he never knew what the source of the impurity was, but knew only that he was impure and then forgot, he will be obligated to bring a sliding scale sacrifice. Rabbi Akiva disagrees with Rabbi Yishmael in that the latter holds that being aware and then forgetting that one was in the Temple also makes him obligated for bringing a sliding scale sacrifice, whereas Rabbi Akiva (and Rabbi Eliezer) believe that it does not.