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Nazir 56b

נזיר נ״ו ע״ב

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

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Topic

Which צרעת days count toward נזירות; טומאה, shaving and entering the מקדש; and quoting a chain of tradition

Overview

The amud opens at the end of a ברייתא about a נזיר who became a מצורע. The days of counting (ימי ספרו) and of confirmed צרעת do not count toward his נזירות, but quarantine days and the days of a זב or זבה do count. The גמרא then uses a line from that ברייתא to show that confirmed צרעת days do not count even in a long נזירות, which refutes רב חסדא. A new משנה follows. רבי אליעזר, quoting רבי יהושע, teaches that liability for entering the מקדש with טומאת מת matches whether that טומאה makes a נזיר shave, and רבי מאיר objects from the case of a שרץ. The גמרא shows from a ברייתא that רבי אליעזר actually heard the rule through a middle person, רבי יהושע בר ממל. It learns that when a teaching passes through three people, we name only the first and the last. It supports this from נחום הלבלר's chain of tradition, which skips יהושע and כלב. Finally, רבי עקיבא offers a קל וחומר that a נזיר should shave for touching a רביעית דם, and רבי יהושע answers that the rule is a received הלכה, which logic cannot extend.

Opening lines

מָה יְמֵי חִלּוּטוֹ טָעוּן תִּגְלַחַת —

Just as the days of his confirmed leprosy require shaving,

אַף יְמֵי סְפָרוֹ.

so too the days of his counting require shaving.

וּמָה יְמֵי חִלּוּטוֹ

And just as the days of his confirmed leprosy

אֵין עוֹלִין לוֹ מִן הַמִּנְיָן —

do not count toward his tally of נזירות days,

The steps (19)

  1. StatementThe days of counting are treated like the days of confirmed leprosy
  2. ChallengeShould the quarantine days also not count?
  3. RejectionRejecting the comparison: quarantine needs no shaving or offering
  4. ConclusionFinal rule: which days count and which do not
  5. ChallengePulling a proof line from the ברייתא
  6. QuestionWhich kind of נזירות is the ברייתא talking about?
  7. ConclusionEven in a long נזירות, the צרעת days do not count
  8. Statementמשנה: Shaving for a טומאה and liability for entering the מקדש go together
  9. Challengeרבי מאיר: It can't be weaker than a שרץ
  10. ChallengeDid רבי אליעזר really hear this from רבי יהושע?
  11. ProofThe ברייתא: רבי אליעזר meets רבי מאיר
  12. Proofרבי אליעזר names רבי יהושע בר ממל as his source
  13. ConclusionSo he learned it through רבי יהושע בר ממל
  14. ResolutionWith three names, we say the first and the last
  15. ProofSupport from נחום הלבלר's chain of tradition
  16. Conclusionיהושע and כלב are left out, so the proof stands
  17. Statementרבי עקיבא's argument that blood should be like a small bone
  18. Rejectionרבי אליעזר refuses the logical argument
  19. Conclusionרבי יהושע explains that it is a received rule