Nazir 34b

נזיר ל״ד ע״ב

Learn Nazir 34b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

The amounts and parts of the grape forbidden to a נזיר, and the dispute between רבי אלעזר and the רבנן over leaves and tendrils

Overview

The משנה first brings an older ruling: a נזיר is liable only for drinking a רביעית of wine. רבי עקיבא says a כזית is enough, even of bread soaked in wine. He adds that wine, grapes, חרצנים and זגים each carry a separate liability. רבי אלעזר בן עזריה requires two חרצנים and one זג, and רבי יהודה and רבי יוסי argue over which part of the grape each word means. The גמרא shows that the משנה limits the prohibition to the fruit of the vine, unlike רבי אלעזר, who forbids even leaves and tendrils. It explains that רבי אלעזר reads the פסוקים with ריבויי ומיעוטי, which forbids everything except the branches. The רבנן read them with כללי ופרטי: detail, general phrase, detail, so only fruit and fruit waste are forbidden. The גמרא then explains what that adds (unripe grapes, wormy grapes, and the part between seeds and skin) and why the second detail 'from pits to skin' is needed. That explanation continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

The steps (35)

1. StatementThe earlier version: liable only for a quarter-log of wine
2. Statementרבי עקיבא: an olive-bulk of bread and wine together is enough
3. StatementA separate liability for each kind of grape product
4. Statementרבי אלעזר בן עזריה: two חרצנים and one זג
5. QuestionWhat exactly are חרצנים and זגים?
6. Responseרבי יהודה: חרצנים are outside, זגים are inside
7. Statementרבי יוסי: the opposite, remembered by an animal's bell
8. StatementOnly what grows out of the vine is forbidden, not the vine itself
9. ConclusionThe משנה does not follow רבי אלעזר
10. StatementA second version: the inference comes from the later line about eating grapes
11. ConclusionIn this version too, the משנה does not follow רבי אלעזר
12. QuestionWhat is the basis of their disagreement?
13. ResponseTwo different methods of reading the תורה
14. StatementHow רבי אלעזר reads the פסוקים
15. StatementA limit followed by a broadening includes everything
16. ConclusionEverything from the vine is included except the branches
17. StatementThe רבנן read the verses as detail, general phrase, detail
18. ConclusionOnly fruit and fruit waste are included
19. ChallengeWhy not limit it to complete fruit only?
20. ResolutionThen the general phrase would add nothing
21. ConclusionGo with the first reading, fruit and fruit waste
22. QuestionWhy does the verse need 'from seeds to skin'?
23. ResponseA detail followed by a general phrase is not limited to the detail
24. ConclusionThe general phrase adds to the detail unless a second detail follows, as with the נזיר
25. StatementQuoting the rule: everything forbidden is fruit or fruit waste
26. ResponseFruit means grapes, fruit waste means vinegar
27. ResponseThe general phrase adds unripe grapes
28. QuestionWhat fruit waste does the general phrase add?
29. Responseרב כהנא: it adds wormy grapes
30. Statementרבינא: 'until the skin' adds the part in between
31. StatementQuoting the second reading: only complete fruit
32. RejectionThe narrow reading would add nothing
33. ConclusionGo back to the first reading
34. QuestionWhy write 'from pits to skin'?
35. ResponseIn a פרט וכלל, the general phrase adds onto the detail