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Nazir 8a

נזיר ח׳ ע״א

Learn Nazir 8a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

Vows of נזירות by comparison (hair, a basket, a distance, the solar year), and why the 'full basket' vow is counted by mustard seeds

Overview

This amud deals with people who take a נזירות vow using an image instead of a number of days. A person who vows 'like the hair of my head,' 'the dust of the earth,' or 'the sand of the sea' becomes a נזיר for life. The תנא קמא and רבי disagree about whether he shaves every thirty days. A person who vows 'the fill of the basket' is asked what he meant. If he had nothing specific in mind, we picture the basket full of tiny mustard seeds, and he is a נזיר for life. A vow 'from here to a certain place' is measured by the days of travel, and a vow 'like the days of the solar year' means 365 separate terms. The גמרא then asks why we picture mustard seeds and not big cucumbers that would give him a way out. חזקיה answers that the משנה follows רבי שמעון, who treats a doubtful נזירות strictly, as in the ברייתא about the lost grain pile. רבי יוחנן says that even רבי יהודה agrees here, because this man surely became a נזיר. The גמרא then challenges רבי יוחנן, and the discussion continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

<big><strong>מַתְנִי׳</strong></big>

MISHNA:

״הֲרֵינִי נָזִיר כִּשְׂעַר רֹאשִׁי״,

"I am hereby a nazir like the hair of my head,"

וְ״כַעֲפַר הָאָרֶץ״, וּ״כְחוֹל הַיָּם״

or "like the dust of the earth," or "like the sand of the sea"

— הֲרֵי זֶה נְזִיר עוֹלָם,

he is a nazir forever,

The steps (12)

  1. StatementVowing like hair, dust, or sand makes him a lifelong nazir
  2. Statementרבי says he does not shave every thirty days unless he said 'נזירות'
  3. StatementVowing 'the fill of the house or basket': we ask what he meant
  4. StatementVowing 'from here until a certain place': count the days of travel
  5. StatementA vow like the number of days in the solar year
  6. Statementרבי יהודה's story of the man who completed the vow
  7. ChallengeWhy picture the basket full of mustard seeds?
  8. Resolutionחזקיה: the משנה follows רבי שמעון
  9. ProofThe proof: the vow about the pile of grain
  10. Proofרבי יהודה's lenient side of the grain-pile case
  11. Resolutionרבי יוחנן: even רבי יהודה agrees in the basket case
  12. ChallengeWhy not count cucumbers and let him go?