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Nazir 56a

נזיר נ״ו ע״א

Learn Nazir 56a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

A נזיר in double doubt (maybe טמא, maybe a confirmed מצורע), and whether days of צרעת count toward נזירות, as a challenge to רב חסדא.

Overview

The amud opens in the middle of a משנה about a נזיר whose status is doubly uncertain: he may be טמא from a dead body, or he may be a confirmed מצורע. Because he must cover every possibility with separate shavings, he may eat קדשים only after sixty days, and he may drink wine and become טמא to the dead only after 120 days. The תוספתא adds that with a year-long נזירות these times become two years and four years. The גמרא uses that four-year figure against רב חסדא. If the days of צרעת counted toward נזירות, three years and thirty days would be enough. רב אשי then brings a second challenge from a ברייתא that assumes the days of confirmed צרעת (ימי חלוטו) do not count and looks for the source. A comparison to days of טומאה is rejected, and a קל וחומר from a נזיר who vowed in a graveyard proves the point instead. The ברייתא then asks how we know that the days of counting toward purification (ימי ספרו) also do not count, and it begins a logical proof that continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

אוֹכֵל בְּקָדָשִׁים לְאַחַר שִׁשִּׁים יוֹם,

He eats sacrificial food after sixty days,

וְשׁוֹתֶה יַיִן וּמִיטַּמֵּא לְמֵתִים

and he drinks wine and becomes impure for the dead

לְאַחַר מֵאָה וְעֶשְׂרִים יוֹם.

after one hundred and twenty days.

וְתָנֵי עֲלַהּ:

And it was taught about it:

The steps (8)

  1. StatementSixty days for קדשים, 120 days for wine and טומאה
  2. StatementFor a year-long נזירות, the numbers become two and four years
  3. ChallengeIf the days counted, three years and thirty days would be enough
  4. Challengeרב אשי brings a ברייתא about the days of confirmed צרעת
  5. ProofA first proof: comparing צרעת to טומאה
  6. RejectionThe comparison fails: טומאה cancels earlier days, צרעת does not
  7. ProofA קל וחומר from a נזיר in a graveyard
  8. QuestionWhat about his days of counting toward purification?