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Week 74 - Monday - 23 April 2001

NAZIR: CHAPTER 1: MISHNAH 2

"I am a nazir from seeds, and from the grape-skins, and from haircut, and from uncleanness" - he is a nazir, and all the details of nezirut apply to him. "I will be like Samson," "like the son of Manoah," "like the husband of Delilah," "like he who tore out the doors of Gaza," "like he whose eyes were gouged out by the Philistines," - he is a Samsonian nazir. What is between a permanent nazir and a Samsonian nazir? The permanent nazir, if his hair became heavy, he may lighten it with a razor, and he brings three animals; and if he became unclean, he brings the sacrifice for uncleanness. A Samsonian nazir, if his hair became heavy, may not lighten it; and if he became unclean, he does not bring the sacrifice for uncleanness.

Kehati

This mishnah discusses three categories of nazirs:
(1) A nazir for a fixed duration of time, e.g., a person said (without specifying), "I am a nazir," in which case nezirut takes effect for thirty days, or, e.g., he stated specifically, "I am a nazir for such-and-such a period of time." The laws of this type of nezirut are specified in the Torah (Num. 6:1-21), as was already quoted in the introduction to the previous mishnah; (2) A Samsonian nazir, e.g., a person said, "I am a nazir like Samson," for Samson was a nazir from the time he was in his mother's womb, in accordance with the words of the angel of the Lord, as it is written, "And an angel of the Lord appeared unto the woman, and said to her: 'Behold now, you are barren, and have not borne; and you shall conceive, and bear a son. Therefore beware now, I entreat you, and do not drink wine or strong drink, and do not eat any unclean thing. Because you shall conceive and bear a son; and no razor shall come upon his head; for the lad shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb" (Jud. 13:3-5), and the law of a Samsonian nazir is that he is a nazir for life; (3) A permanent nazir, e.g., a person said, "I am a lifelong nazir," or, " I am a nazir all the days of my life"; the Gemara states that Absalom, the son of David, was a permanent nazir.

This mishnah teaches the difference between the three categories of nazirs, and especially the differences between a permanent nazir and a Samsonian nazir.

If a person says, " I am a nazir from seeds," and - or, "I am a nazir from the grape-skins" - for it is written in the Torah section about the nazir, "from the seeds even to the skin" (Num. 6:4), and - or if he says, " I am a nazir - from haircuts" - for it is written, "All the days of his vow of nezirut no razor shall come over his head" (ibid., v.5), and - or if he says, "I am a nazir - from uncleanness" - as it is written, "All the days that he keeps himself a nazir unto the Lord he may not approach a dead body. Even to his father, or mother, to his brother, or for sister, he may not contaminate himself upon their death" (ibid., vs. 6-7), i.e., he mentioned in his nezirut vow one of the detailed laws stated in the Torah about the nazir, - he is a nazir - as if he had stated, without specification, "I am a nazir," and all the details of nezirut apply to him - he is subject to all the details of nezirut stated in the Torah, even though he mentioned only one of them in his vow, for whoever undertakes one part of nezirut becomes a complete nazir.

"I am like Samson," "like the son of Manoah," "like the husband of Delilah," "like he who tore out the doors of Gaza," "like he whose eyes were gouged out by the Philistines" - one who accepted Samsonian nezirut with one of the following expressions, e.g., he says, ''I am like Samson” or, ''I am like the son of Manoah," or, "I am like the husband of Delilah," or, "I am like he who tore out the doors of Gaza," etc. (Rambam; Hameiri); others explain that this refers to a case in which one says, "I am like Samson the son of Manoah," and adds one of the descriptions mentioned after this, e.g., "I am like Samson the son of Manoah, the husband of Delilah," or, "I am like Samson the son of Manoah, who tore out the doors of Gaza," etc - in such a case, it is clear that he is referring to Samson the nazir (Tosafot), he is a Samsonian nazir - and a Samsonian nezirut applies to him, and he is a nazir for all the days of his life. And similarly, if one says, "I am a lifelong nazir," then he is a nazir for all the days of his life.

If this is so, then What is - the difference - between a permanent nazir and a Samsonian nazir? The permanent nazir, if his hair became heavy - his hair had grown long and was a burden, he may lighten - it with a razor - by cutting part of it with a razor at twelve month intervals, as it is written about Absalom, who was a permanent nazir, "And when he shaved his head - it was at yearly intervals that he cut it; because the hair was heavy on him, so he shaved it" (II Sam. 14:26), and he brings - on the day that he lightens his hair, three animals - three sacrifices, viz. a hatat, an olah, and a shelamim, as is the law regarding a nazir for a fixed duration of time, "when his nezirut period is completed," when he shaves his head (see Num. 6:13-18).

And if he became unclean - by corpse related uncleanness, he brings the sacrifice for uncleanness - two turtledoves or two young pigeons, one for the hatat and one for the olah, as well as a one year old male lamb for the asham offering, as detailed in the Torah section regarding the nazir (ibid. vs. 9-12).

But - A Samsonian nazir, if his hair became heavy, he may not lighten it - for he is obligated to grow his hair all his lifetime, as it is written regarding Samson, "and no razor shall come upon his head" (Jud. 13:5); and if he became unclean - by a corpse related uncleanness, he does not bring the sacrifice for uncleanness - the Gemara explains that even ab initio he is permitted to have contact with a corpse, for we find with Samson that he killed the Philistines and stripped them of their garments. Hence he was permitted to become unclean by contact with the dead; the mishnah only uses the wording "and if he became unclean", implying post facto, following the wording used regarding the permanent nazir. Similarly, Rambam writes: "Samson was not a complete nazir, for he did not take the vow of nezirut, but rather the angel separated him from uncleanness. What was his status? He was prohibited from drinking wine, and he was prohibited from shaving, and he was permitted to become unclean with a corpse-related uncleanness. This is a law according to Tradition. Therefore, one who says, "I am a nazir like Samson" - is a permanent nazir regarding shaving and wine forever, and he may not shave at twelve month intervals as other permanent nezirim, and he is permitted with corpse related uncleanness" (Hil. nezirut 3:13-14).

NAZIR: CHAPTER 1: MISHNAH 3

An unspecified nezirut is for thirty days. If he said, "I am a nazir for one large," "I am a nazir for one small," even from now until the end of the world, he is a nazir for thirty days. "I am a nazir and one day," "I am a nazir and one hour," "I am a nazir for one and a half" - he is a nazir for two. "I am a nazir for thirty days and one hour" - nazir for thirty-one days, because one cannot extend nezirut by hours.

Kehati

This mishnah discusses a nazir for a fixed period of time. We have already mentioned that nezirut cannot be less than thirty days, i.e., whether he was indeterminate, just saying "I am a nazir," or whether he specified a period of less than thirty days, he is a nazir for thirty days. One may, however, undertake more than one period of nezirut, e.g., he said, "I am a nazir for two," or "I am a nazir for three"; in such a case he is obligated for two or for three periods of nezirut, each one of which is for thirty days, i.e., at the end of each thirty days he shaves his hair and brings his sacrifices, and begins to count the second period of nezirut. Similarly, a person may undertake one period of nezirut of more than thirty days, e.g., thirty-one days, forty days, etc.; in such a case, nezirut takes effect for the period specified in his vow. This mishnah discusses the duration of the nezirut, according to the wording of the person taking the vow.

An unspecified nezirut - if one was indeterminate and just said, "I am a nazir, and did not specify the duration, he is a nazir for thirty days - according to Rambam, "this is a law received by oral tradition"; the Sages, however, found textual support for this in the verse, "it shall be [yiheyeh] holy" (Num. 6:5), and the numerical value of yiheyeh is thirty (Gemara).

If he said, "I am a nazir for one large," or if he said, "I am a nazir for one small," even from now until the end of the world - i.e., even if he undertook a large period of nezirut extending from now until the end of the world, e.g., he said, "I am a nazir for one [period] from now until the end of the world, then he is a nazir for thirty days - since he did not specify the duration, but rather said a generalization, "large, or small," and even if he said, "from now until the end of the world," he observes only one thirty-day period of nezirut. The Gemara explains that when one says, "from now until the end of the world," he does not mean to specify the duration of nezirut, but rather he regards this nezirut as being extremely serious, and it seems to him to be as long as "from now until the end of the world."

If one says, "I am a nazir and one day," or if he says, "I am a nazir and one hour," or if he says, "I am a nazir for one - period of nezirut, and a half - period of nezirut" - he is a nazir for two - periods; he is obligated to observe two thirty-day periods of nezirut, as if he had said, "I am a nazir for one period of nezirut, and for an additional one-day, or one-hour, period of nezirut," or, "I am a nazir for one period of nezirut and an additional half a period of nezirut." Since the minimum period for nezirut is thirty days, he is obligated to observe an additional thirty-day period of nezirut, and is considered to have said "I am a nazir for two periods."

But if one says, "I am a nazir for thirty days and one hour" - he did not say, "I am a nazir and one hour," as in the preceding case, but rather said, "I am a nazir for thirty days and one hour," i.e., he undertook only one period, of thirty days and one hour, of nezirut, for a person may undertake one period of nezirut of more than thirty days' duration, as was explained in the introduction to this mishnah, above; in such a case, he is a nazir for thirty-one days - even though he said, thirty days and one hour," it is as if he had said, "thirty- one days," because one cannot extend nezirut by hours - as it is written, "the days of his nezirut" (Num. 6:8) - days, and not hours.

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