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Nazir 21b

נזיר כ״א ע״ב

Learn Nazir 21b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

Tying נזירות to body parts, and whether a husband's הפרה uproots his wife's vow or only cuts it off

Overview

The גמרא first raises a contradiction from a ברייתא: tying נזירות to a body part that life does not depend on, like a hand or foot, means nothing. So how can 'my hair is like his hair' make someone a נזיר? רב יהודה answers that the speaker meant to take on the real rules of נזירות, no wine and no haircuts. The גמרא then quotes the משנה's case of a husband who says 'And I' to his wife's vow and can no longer cancel it. This leads to a big question: does a husband's הפרה uproot the vow from the start (מיעקר עקר), or only cut it off from now on (מיגז גייז)? The practical difference is a friend who joined the wife's vow. The גמרא tries three proofs: the 'And I' case, the woman's חטאת that must die, and the woman who gets lashes for breaking her נזירות. Each proof is pushed back with another explanation. The last rejection, about the wording of the משנה's next clause, finishes on the next amud.

Opening lines

וּרְמִינְהוּ:

And they raised a contradiction:

״יָדִי נְזִירָה״ וְ״רַגְלִי נְזִירָה״

"My hand is a nazirite" and "My foot is a nazirite"

לֹא אָמַר כְּלוּם,

he has not said anything;

״רֹאשִׁי נְזִירָה״, ״כְּבֵדִי נְזִירָה״

"My head is a nazirite," "My liver is a nazirite"

The steps (13)

  1. ChallengeA teaching about body parts seems to contradict the hair case
  2. ResolutionHe meant to take on the rules of wine and hair
  3. StatementThe משנה's case of a husband who says 'And I'
  4. QuestionDoes a husband's cancellation uproot the vow or cut it off?
  5. ResponseThe practical difference: a friend who said 'And I'
  6. ProofA proof from the 'And I' case that the husband uproots
  7. RejectionRejecting the proof: 'And I' counts as upholding the vow
  8. ProofA second source: the woman who set aside an animal
  9. ProofThe animal that must die proves the husband only cuts
  10. RejectionThe sin-offering dies for a different reason
  11. ProofA new source: the woman who broke her נזירות
  12. ProofThe lashes prove the husband only cuts
  13. RejectionThe wording comes from the next clause