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Nazir 59a

נזיר נ״ט ע״א

Learn Nazir 59a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

Removing armpit and pubic hair under 'לא ילבש גבר שמלת אשה', and related rulings and stories

Overview

The גמרא brings another version of רבי יוחנן's ruling: a man who removes armpit or pubic hair gets מלקות for breaking 'לא ילבש גבר שמלת אשה'. A ברייתא says this is only אסור מדרבנן, and the גמרא answers that רבי יוחנן follows a different תנא. The first תנא reads the פסוק as forbidding dressing like the other gender in order to sit among them. רבי אליעזר בן יעקב reads it as forbidding a woman to carry weapons to war and a man to adorn himself the way women do. רב נחמן permits removing this hair for a נזיר, but the הלכה does not follow him. רבי יוחנן's own lack of armpit hair is explained as hair loss from old age. רבי אמי spares a man from lashes because his unshaven armpit shows he is careful about מצוות. Finally, רבי חייא tells רב that shaving or rubbing off this hair is forbidden, and the גמרא ends with his rulings on rubbing through a garment.

Opening lines

אִיכָּא דְּאָמְרִי:

Some say:

אָמַר רַבִּי חִיָּיא בַּר אַבָּא אָמַר רַבִּי יוֹחָנָן:

Rabbi Ḥiyya bar Abba said that Rabbi Yoḥanan said:

הַמַּעֲבִיר בֵּית הַשֶּׁחִי וּבֵית הָעֶרְוָה

One who removes the hair of the armpit or the pubic area

לוֹקֶה מִשּׁוּם ״לֹא יִלְבַּשׁ גֶּבֶר שִׂמְלַת אִשָּׁה״.

is lashed because of 'A man shall not put on a woman's garment.'

The steps (21)

  1. StatementAnother version: רבי יוחנן says removing body hair earns lashes
  2. ChallengeA ברייתא says removing hair is only rabbinic
  3. Resolutionרבי יוחנן follows a different תנא
  4. QuestionHow does the first תנא use the פסוק?
  5. ResponseHe needs the פסוק for another ברייתא
  6. QuestionPlain cross-dressing is not a תועבה
  7. ResponseDressing as the other gender to mix with them
  8. Statementרבי אליעזר בן יעקב: weapons and adornments
  9. Statementרב נחמן permits it
  10. ConclusionThe הלכה does not follow רב נחמן
  11. ChallengeThe חכמים saw רבי יוחנן had no armpit hair
  12. ResolutionIt fell out from old age
  13. Proofרבי אמי lets off a man who did not shave his armpit
  14. Questionרב asks whether one may shave the armpit
  15. Responseרבי חייא: shaving is forbidden
  16. Challengeרב objects: but the hair keeps growing
  17. ResolutionThe hair falls out by itself
  18. ResponseRubbing the hair off by hand is forbidden
  19. ResponseRubbing through a garment is permitted
  20. StatementSecond version: rubbing with a garment during prayer is forbidden
  21. ConclusionThe הלכה is not like רבי חייא here