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Nazir 61b

נזיר ס״א ע״ב

Learn Nazir 61b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

Why a גוי cannot become a נזיר: the answers from טומאה, from רב אחא בר יעקב, and from רבא's reading of 'בני ישראל' and 'איש'.

Overview

The גמרא explains why a גוי cannot become a נזיר, even though the word 'איש' does include a גוי in the laws of ערכין. The first answer is that a נזיר's laws are about טומאה, and a גוי cannot become טמא. This is proven from 'מתוך הקהל', from 'והזה הטהור על הטמא', and from the pairing of 'יטמא' with 'יתחטא'. רב אחא בר יעקב gives a different reason: only someone who can pass on a נחלה counts for טומאה. That answer falls, because עבדים would then be left out too. רבא explains instead that in ערכין, 'בני ישראל' only stops a גוי from making the vow, and 'איש' lets him be valued. In נזירות, 'בני ישראל' cannot just be about the קרבן, because 'לעולה' already teaches that, so it removes a גוי from נזירות completely. The גמרא then tries other small details that 'בני ישראל' might exclude: נזירות עולם, and a father making his son a נזיר. Each one is rejected. A third try, about a son using his father's נזירות קרבנות, continues on the next עמוד.

Opening lines

יָצָא גּוֹי שֶׁאֵין לוֹ טוּמְאָה.

This excludes a gentile, who has no impurity.

מְנָלַן דְּלֵית לְהוּ טוּמְאָה?

From where do we know that they have no impurity?

דְּאָמַר קְרָא: ״וְאִישׁ אֲשֶׁר יִטְמָא וְלֹא יִתְחַטָּא

For the verse says: 'But the man who becomes impure and does not purify himself,'

וְנִכְרְתָה הַנֶּפֶשׁ הָהִיא מִתּוֹךְ הַקָּהָל״,

'that soul shall be cut off from among the assembly.'

The steps (18)

  1. ResolutionA gentile is excluded because he cannot become impure
  2. QuestionWhere do we know gentiles cannot become impure?
  3. ResponseThe verse speaks of someone who belongs to the assembly
  4. ChallengeMaybe the verse only frees him from כרת
  5. ResolutionWhoever can become pure can become impure
  6. ChallengeMaybe he has impurity but no purity
  7. ResolutionThe verse ties impurity to purification
  8. Resolutionרב אחא בר יעקב gives a different reason
  9. ResolutionOnly someone who has inheritance has impurity
  10. ChallengeThen slaves should also be excluded
  11. ResolutionIn valuations, 'man' includes a gentile in just one part
  12. QuestionCould the same split work for a nazirite?
  13. RejectionThe offering is already excluded by another verse
  14. ChallengeMaybe 'בני ישראל' only excludes a גוי from נזירות עולם
  15. RejectionThe פסוק does not say 'נזיר עולם'
  16. ChallengeMaybe 'בני ישראל' only stops a גוי from making his son a נזיר
  17. RejectionA father's vow for his son is a הלכה, not a פסוק
  18. ChallengeMaybe 'בני ישראל' only stops a גוי from shaving with his father's קרבנות