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Nazir 11a

נזיר י״א ע״א

Learn Nazir 11a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

A נזיר vow made over a cup of wine (including by a drunk person), and נזירות accepted with a condition or with a misunderstanding of its laws

Overview

The amud opens with a משנה: someone who is poured a cup of wine and says 'I am a נזיר from it' becomes a full נזיר. The משנה then tells of a drunk woman who said the same words, and the חכמים ruled she only meant to forbid that cup, like a קרבן. The גמרא asks how a story can contradict the rule. It answers with חסורי מיחסרא: a missing line says a drunk person is not a נזיר. He only used the word נזיר so people would stop pouring him more wine. A second משנה teaches that one who accepts נזירות 'on condition that I may drink wine and become impure from the dead' is a full נזיר. It also gives two cases of a person who misunderstood the laws of נזירות, where the חכמים and רבי שמעון disagree. רבי יהושע בן לוי says רבי שמעון also disagrees about the 'on condition' case. רבינא says he does not, because a condition against the Torah is cancelled, and a ברייתא supports רבינא. Finally, the גמרא asks why the opinions seem reversed in the משנה's last case. It answers by flipping the text, or by keeping it and explaining the difference, which continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

מַתְנִי׳

MISHNA:

מָזְגוּ לוֹ אֶת הַכּוֹס,

If they poured him the cup [of wine],

וְאָמַר ״הֲרֵינִי נָזִיר מִמֶּנּוּ״

and he said: "I am hereby a nazirite from it,"

— הֲרֵי זֶה נָזִיר.

he is a nazirite.

The steps (19)

  1. StatementA vow of נזירות made over a poured cup
  2. StatementThe story of the drunk woman
  3. ChallengeHow can a story contradict the rule?
  4. ResolutionThe משנה is missing a line about a drunk person
  5. ResponseWhy the drunk person is not a נזיר
  6. ChallengeThen why not say it plainly?
  7. ResolutionHe wanted words that would stop them from bringing more
  8. ConclusionThe woman's story now fits
  9. StatementA נזירות vow with a condition to drink wine and become impure
  10. StatementHe did not know a נזיר is forbidden to drink wine
  11. StatementHe knew the rules but thought the חכמים would excuse him
  12. ChallengeWhy doesn't רבי שמעון argue in the first clause too?
  13. Resolutionרבי יהושע בן לוי: he does argue there too
  14. Resolutionרבינא: a condition against the Torah is cancelled
  15. Resolutionרבי יהושע בן לוי: 'on condition' means 'except for'
  16. ProofA ברייתא supports רבינא
  17. ChallengeThe final case of the משנה seems to clash with the earlier case
  18. ResolutionChange the final case so it matches the earlier case
  19. ResolutionKeep the wording and distinguish the two cases