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Week 74 - Thursday - 26 April 2001

NAZIR: CHAPTER 2: MISHNAH 1

"I am a nazir from dried figs and from fig-cake" - Bet Shammai say, Nazir; and Bet Hillel say, He is not a nazir. Rabbi Yehudah said, Even when Bet Shammai said, they said only regarding one who says, "They are on me korban."

Kehati

This mishnah discusses one who says, "I am a nazir from dried figs" and suchlike, i.e., he mentioned the expression nezirut regarding something which is not included in the prohibitions applying to nezirut, for dried figs are permitted to a nazir. The Tannaim disagree regarding one who expresses himself with such wording in that his last words contradict his first words: some hold, "A person does not make meaningless statements," i.e., everything that he says is valid, and therefore that which he said first is binding, for we say, "his first phrase is legally binding." Others hold, "His second phrase is legally binding," i.e., not everything that he says is valid, rather the conclusion of his words is binding, and we say, "the latter phrase is legally binding."

If one says, "I am a nazir from dried figs and from fig-cake" - a fig-cake is made of figs which have been pressed and stuck together as a round, and are not forbidden to a nazir, Bet Shammai say, he is a nazir - for Bet Shammai hold, "A person does not make meaningless statements," and since he said, "I am a nazir," nezirut applies to him as mandated by the Torah, and when he added, "from dried figs and from fig-cake," he merely retracted from his first statement, like one who changed his mind and asks about the revocation of nezirut and says that he intended to abstain only from dried figs and fig-cake. According to Bet Shammai, the inquiry or retraction does not apply to sacred property, for sanctification in error remains sanctified, and the same law applies to nezirut, for it is written, "it shall be holy" (Deut.6:5); hence his retraction is not effective at all, even though it was expressed in the same breath; he therefore is a nazir.

And Bet Hillel say, He is not a nazir - for they hold, "His last words are binding," and this is a case of a vow with its release, i.e., at the end of his statement he opens a door for understanding his vow, that he did not intend at all to be a nazir, and therefore he is not a nazir. And this does not constitute even a vow regarding the dried figs and the fig-cake, because he did not use the standard formula for taking a vow (Tosafot). According to another interpretation, Bet Hillel holds that the dried figs and the fig-cake are nevertheless forbidden to him by force of the vow (Rambam).

Rabbi Yehudah said, Even when Bet Shammai - who take into consideration the words of one who says, "I am a nazir from dried figs and from fig-cake," said, they said only regarding one who says, "They are on mekorban - in the case in which the one taking the vow says that he had in his mind to prohibit himself from eating dried figs and fig-cake, that they will be to him as a korban (sacrifice); he did not intend with his statement, "I am a nazir," to undertake nezirut, but rather that he would be separated and removed from dried figs and fig-cake from which he prohibited himself by vow, Bet Shammai say that in such a case he is prohibited from eating dried figs and fig-cake by force of his vow. Rabbi Yehudah disagrees with the First Tanna, and holds that Bet Shammai and Bet Hillel did not disagree regarding nezirut, for even Bet Shammai admit that one who says "I am a nazir from dried figs and from fig-cake" is not a nazir, but rather, according to Bet Shammai, dried figs and fig-cake are forbidden to him because of his vow, while Bet Hillel hold that his words are meaningless, and do not constitute even a vow (Hameiri; Bartenura; see Rambam, in his commentary on this mishnah, who interprets Rabbi Yehudah's statement differently; see also Tosefot Yom Tov).

NAZIR: CHAPTER 2: MISHNAH 2

If one said, "This cow said, 'I am a nezirah if I stand"'; "This door said, 'I am a nazir if I am opened"' - Bet Shammai say, Nazir, and Bet Hillel say, He is not a nazir. Rabbi Yehudah said, Even when Bet Shammai said, they said only regarding one who says, "This cow is on me korban if it stands."

Kehati

This mishnah mainly teaches that the disagreement between Bet Shammai and Bet Hillel, taught in the preceding mishnah, also applies when one says, "I am a nazir from the flesh of this cow," or "I am a nazir from this door." The mishnah exemplifies this by citing the wording of the vow in a strange form, in which the vower says that the cow or the door undertook to be a nazir; his intention, as explained in the Gemara, is to state in picturesque language, employing personification, the condition of the cow or of the door that led him to his vow. According to this interpretation, however, this example of the strange wording of the vow is not necessary regarding the halakhah taught by this mishnah (Tosafot), and indeed there are other interpretations of this mishnah. We, however, have explained it according to the opinion of the majority of the commentators, in accordance with the conclusion of the Gemara.

If one said - a cow was crouching before him, and he tried unsuccessfully to make it stand up, and he said, "This cow said, 'I am a nezirah if I stand" '- i.e., this cow thinks that I will make it stand up, and it seems as if it has undertaken nezirut if it will stand, and it therefore insists on remaining crouched, and I also say, "I am a nazir from its flesh if I will not make it stand up!"; or the door before him was shut and he tried unsuccessfully to open it, but it would not open, and he said, "This door said, 'I am a nazir if I am opened"' - i.e., this door said, "Behold, I am a nezirah if I am opened," it fears to be opened, as if it has undertaken nezirut if it will be opened, and I also say, "I am a nazir from it if I will not open it!" And indeed, the person taking the vow did not succeed in making his cow stand up or in opening his door, but the cow stood up by itself, or others made it stand up, and similarly, the door opened by itself or someone else opened it, Bet Shammai say, Then he is a Nazir, and Bet Hillel say, He is not a nazir - for one who says, "I am a nazir from the flesh of this cow," or "from this door," is as one who says, "I am a nazir from dried figs and fig-cake," and Bet Shammai and Bet Hillel disagree in this case, just as they disagreed in the preceding mishnah.

Rabbi Yehudah said, Even when Bet Shammai said - we take into account the words of one who says, "I am a nazir from the flesh of this cow, etc, " they said this only regarding one who says, "This cow is on me korban if it stands" - in the case where the vower says that he did not have in mind to undertake nezirut, but rather to be separated from the cow, that this cow will be forbidden to him just as a sacrifice if he will not make it stand up, but it will stand of its own accord, then Bet Shammai said, If he did not make the cow stand up, but it stood up of its own accord, the flesh of the cow is forbidden to him as is a sacrifice, because of his vow. Regarding nezirut, however, even Bet Shammai agree that he is not a nazir.

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