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Week 76 - Friday - 11 May 2001

NAZIR: CHAPTER 5: MISHNAH 7

If he saw a koy and said, "I am a nazir that this is a wild animal"; "I am a nazir that this is not a wild animal"; "I am a nazir that this is a domesticated animal"; "I am a nazir that this is not a domesticated animal"; "I am a nazir that this is a wild animal and a domesticated animal"; "I am a nazir that this is neither a wild animal nor a domesticated animal"; "I am a nazir that one of you is a nazir"; "I am a nazir that not one of you is a nazir"; "I am a nazir that all of you are nezirim" - then all of them are nezirim.

Kehati

The koy is an animal which was extant during mishnaic times, and it was unclear whether it was defined as a hayah, an undomesticated animal, or a behernah, a domesticated animal. The Gemara states, 'the koy is a wild ram" (Hul. 80a). According to another opinion, this animal is the issue of the offspring of a male goat and a hind; according to Rabbi Yose, it is a distinct species, and the Sages did not decide whether it is a hayah or a behernah; it is taught, "The koy has characteristics of a hayah, and it has characteristics of a behernah, and it has characteristics of a behemah and of a hayah, and it has characteristics neither of a behernah nor of a hayah" (Bik.2:8).

If he saw a koy - a group of nine people was on a journey, and saw a koy from a distance, and - one of them - said, "I am a nazir that - if - this is a wild animal"; and the second one said, "I am a nazir that this is not a wild animal"; and the third one said, "I am a nazir that this is a domesticated animal"; and the fourth one said, "I am a nazir that this is not a domesticated animal"; and the fifth one said, "I am a nazir that this is a wild animal and a domesticated animal"; and the sixth one said, "I am a nazir that this is neither a wild animal nor a domesticated animal"; and the seventh one said to the first six people, "I am a nazir that one of you is a nazir"; and the eighth one said to them, "I am a nazir that not one of you is a nazir"; and the ninth one said, "I am a nazir that all of you are nezirim" - according to one opinion, initially there was a group of six people who saw the koy, and then the other three joined them, then all of them are nezirim - according to Bet Shammai, all are definite nezirim, for an erroneous nezirut is valid, while according to Bet Hillel, as was taught in the preceding mishnah according to Rabbi Shimon, they are nezirim out of doubt. Rambam states that even according to Bet Hillel all of them are definite nezirim since the koy has characteristics of a hayah, and characteristics of a behemah, and it has characteristics of both a behemah and a hayah, and it has characteristics belonging neither to a behemah nor to a hayah, as was mentioned above, hence the words of each one of them were fulfilled.

NAZIR: CHAPTER 6: MISHNAH 1

Three matters are forbidden to a nazir: uncleanness and shaving and that which comes from the grapevine, and everything that comes from the grapevine combines together. And he is not liable until he eats a kazayit of the grapes; an early Mishnah, until he drinks a revi'it of wine. Rabbi Akiva says, Even if he soaked his bread in wine, and there is in it enough to add up to a kazayit - he is liable.

Kehati

Three matters are forbidden - three types of prohibitions apply - to a nazir: uncleanness he is forbidden to defile himself with a corpse related uncleanness, as it is written, "All the days that he consecrates himself unto the Lord he shall not approach a dead body" (Num. 6:6); and shaving - he is forbidden to shave the hair of his head, as it is written, "All the days of his vow of nezirut no razor shall pass over his head" (Num. 6:5); and that which comes from the grapevine - he is forbidden to eat or drink anything that comes from the grapevine, as it is written, "He shall abstain from wine and strong drink; he may not drink wine vinegar, or aged vinegar, nor may he drink anything in which grapes have been soaked, nor eat moist or dried grapes. All the days of his nezirut from anything made of the grapevine, from the seeds to the skin" (Num. 6:34), and everything that comes from the grapevine -such as grapes, grapeseeds, and grapeskins, combines together - if he ate from all of them together an amount equivalent to a kazayit, he is liable to lashes. And he is not liable - to lashes - until he eats a kazayit of the grapes - and the same applies to grapeseeds and the grapeskins, i.e., the amount for which he is liable to lashes is a kazayit; and according to an early Mishnah - which was taught prior to our mishnah, a nazir who drank wine is not liable to lashes - until - unless - he drinks a revi'it - a revi'it (one-fourth) of a log, c. one-eighth of a liter, of wine.

Rabbi Akiva says, Even if he soaked his bread in wine, and there is in it enough to add up to a kazayit - he is liable - Rabbi Akiva disagrees with the early Mishnah, and holds that even regarding drinking wine, the amount for which a nazir is liable to lashes is a kazayit, which is the amount displaced from a full cup of wine when an olive [zayit] is placed within it; therefore, edibles combine with drink to make up the amount of a kazayit. Furthermore, even permissible things combine with prohibited things to make up the amount of a kazayit; and this is the meaning of that which was taught in the mishnah: "Even if he soaked his bread in wine" and if the bread and the wine combined together make up the amount of a kazayit, he is liable to lashes (Tosafot). According to Bartenura, the First Tanna holds like Rabbi Akiva, that we learn drinking from eating: just as the amount for eating is a kazayit, so also is the amount for drinking a kazayit; whereas the early Mishnah holds the opposite, that the principal measure regarding a nazir is that for drinking, and we learn eating from drinking: just as the measure for drinking is a revi'it, so also is it for eating a revi'it. Hameiri writes that these two amounts, a kazayit for eating and a revi'it for drinking, are equivalent amounts, for a revi'it of wine when jellied constitutes a kazayit, and this is the meaning of Rabbi Akiva's statement, "Even if he soaked his bread in wine, and there was enough to add up to a kazayit" - i.e., if the amount of wine which was absorbed in a piece of bread totals a kazayit, e.g., a revi'it of wine was absorbed in this piece of bread, whoever eats the bread at one time is liable to receive lashes.

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