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Week 76 - Shabbat - 12 May 2001

NAZIR: CHAPTER 6: MISHNAH 2

And he is liable for the wine by itself, and for the grapes by themselves, and for the hartzanim by themselves, and for the zagim by themselves. Rabbi Eleazar ben Azaryah says, He is not liable until he eats two hartzanim and their zagim. Which are the hartzanim and which are the zagim? The hartzanim are the external ones, the zagim are the internal ones; the words of Rabbi Yehudah. Rabbi Yose says, That you should not err, like the zug of cattle: the external one is a zug, and the internal one is an inbal.

Kehati

This mishnah teaches details of the prohibition to the nazir of everything that comes forth from the grapevine. Four principal things are forbidden to a nazir: wine, grapes, hartzanim, and zagim; the Tannaim disagree in this mishnah on the definition of hartzanirn and of zagim.

And he is liable for the wine by itself, and for the grapes by themselves, and for the hartzanim by themselves, and for the zagim by themselves - if a person drank or ate the forbidden amount from only one type, he is liable to lashes, and similarly, if he ate them all together, i.e., he drank a revi'it of wine, and he ate a kazayit of grapes, and a kazayit of hartzanim, and a kazayit of zagim, he is liable to lashes separately for each type by itself. Rabbi Eleazar ben Azaryab says - But a nazir ate only hartzanim or only zagim, He is not liable - to lashes, until - unless - he eats - together - two hartzanim and their zagim - i.e., two seeds and their peel, as it is written, "from the seeds even to the skin" (Num. 6:4), and the minimal number of "seeds" is two. I.e., since the Torah writes "seeds" in the plural, and "skin" in the singular, we learn that he is not liable until he eats at least two seeds and their skin. Rabbi Eleazar holds like Rabbi Yose, who says in our mishnah, below, that the hartzanim are the seeds and the zag is the peel, for the Tannaim disagree as to the meaning of these words: Which are the hartzanim and which are the zagim? The hartzanim are the external ones - i.e., the skins, the zagim are the internal ones - i.e., the seeds; the words of Rabbi Yehudah. Rabbi Yose says - he disagrees with Rabbi Yehudah, and says the opposite, that the hartzanim are the seeds and the zagim are the peels, as was already mentioned above, and he provides a mnemonic device - That you should not err, like the zug of cattle - the bell hung around the neck of an animal: the external one - the external part of the bell, within which is the clapper, is - called - a zug, and the internal one - the internal part, i.e., the clapper which strikes, is - called - an inbal - and similarly, the zag is the external part of the grape.

NAZIR: CHAPTER 6: MISHNAH 3

An unspecified nezirut is for thirty days. If he shaved or robbers shaved him - he forfeits thirty days. If a nazir shaved, whether with scissors or with a razor, or plucked out anything - he is liable. A nazir may rub and scratch, but may not comb. Rabbi Yishmael says, He may not rub with earth, because it causes the hair to fall out.

Kehati

This mishnah teaches the detailed laws of the prohibition for the nazir to shave his hair. The prohibition of shaving contains an additional element which is not present in the prohibition of eating and drinking from that which comes from the vine: a nazir who eats or drinks from that which comes from the vine does not forfeit his period of nezirut; even if he ate or drank intentionally, and even over a period of several days, he does not forfeit any period of time at all. Whereas a nazir who transgressed and shaved the hair of his head during the period of his nezirut, may forfeit thirty days in certain cases, e.g., if he shaved most of his head, even unintentionally or under a circumstance beyond his control.

An unspecified nezirut is for thirty days - this law was already taught above (1:3), and is cited here to teach that a nazir must grow his hair for no less than thirty days; therefore - If he - the nazir, shaved - his hair during the period of nezirut, whether intentionally or, unintentionally, or robbers shaved him - even if they forcibly shaved him, i.e., a circumstance beyond his control, he forfeits thirty days - according to one interpretation, he forfeits until he has a thirty-day growth of hair when he comes to perform the obligatory shaving (tiglahat) after completing his period of nezirut, i.e., if there is less than thirty days from the time that he shaved until the end of his period of nezirut, e.g., in a case of a minimal period of nezirut, he must wait thirty days, but if he still has an additional thirty days, e.g., in a case of an extended period of nezirut, he does not forfeit at all, since he still has thirty days in which to grow his hair (Tosafot; Bartenura); according to another interpretation, in every case he forfeits thirty days, even in an extended period of nezirut, and all the laws of nezirut apply to him during these thirty days, but they are not credited to his count, and after these thirty days, he completes his period of nezirut, with all the time he counted before he shaved being credited to his count (Rambam; Hameiri).

If a nazir shaved - intentionally, whether with scissors (which contain a "pair" of knives) - or with a razor - a knife used for shaving, or plucked out - by hand, anything - even one hair from its root, he is liable - to lashes. The Gemara explains that in any instance in which hair is removed from the roots that the tip cannot be bent to the root, he is liable, as regards lashes, but regarding forfeiture, he only forfeits if he shaved most of his head. A nazir may rub - his hair with his hand; according to another interpretation, rub with soap or with sand, and scratch - his hair with his nails; according to another interpretation, he may separate his hairs one from the other, provided he does not intend to detach his hair; even though at times he causes his hair to fall out by his rubbing or scratching, he need not fear this, because it is permitted if it is unintentional, but may not comb - for combing will certainly detach hairs. Rabbi Yishmael says, He may not rub - his hairs - with earth - any of the types of earth with which people clean their hair, because it causes the hair to fall out -rubbing with earth also will certainly detach hairs.

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