Yoma

If he, in removing the coals [for the incense], had an unlawful intention — what then? Are preliminary1 means of a religious act to be considered as the act itself or not? — The question remains unsolved. The question was asked of R. Shesheth: If the blood was carried [to the altar] in the left hand, what is the law?2 R. Shesheth answered: You have learnt it: He took the pan of burning coals in his right hand and the ladle in his left .3 But he could have settled that point to them from what we have learnt:4 [He carried] the right hind-leg in the left hand with the inside of the skin outward?5 — If the argument were based on that I might have assumed this applies only to a carrying [of such things] which are not indispensable to atonement,5 but in the case of a carrying [of things] which are indispensable to atonement,6 [it would] not [apply], therefore he has to bring [the above reference].7 connection with the religious act in itself and so the incense is rendered invalidated. Another interpretation would limit the effects of his unlawful intention to the preliminary act, here to the embers.