Nazir 5 – Shabbat January 28

ויליף ימים ימים מבתי ערי חומה מה התם שנים עשר חדש אף כאן שנים עשר חדש

And Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi derives the meaning of the term yamim stated with regard to Absalom based upon a verbal analogy from the word yamim that appears in the context of houses of walled cities, where it states: “For a full year [yamim] he shall have the right of redemption” (Leviticus 25:29). Just as there, in the case of walled cities, the term yamim means twelve months, as the verse states immediately afterward: “Within the space of a full year” (Leviticus 25:30), so too here, in the case of Absalom, the term yamim means twelve months.

רבי נהוראי אומר מגלח אחת לשלשים יום רבי יוסי אומר מגלח מערב שבת לערב שבת שכן מצינו בבני מלכים שמגלחים מערב שבת לערב שבת

Rabbi Nehorai says: Absalom cut his hair once every thirty days. Rabbi Yosei says: He cut his hair from one Shabbat eve to another Shabbat eve, as we find that the sons of kings cut their hair from one Shabbat eve to another Shabbat eve.

מאי טעמא דרבי יליף מבתי ערי חומה והא רבי הוא דאמר אין ימים פחותין משנים

The Gemara asks: What is the reasoning of Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi? He derives the meaning of the verse concerning Absalom from the verse concerning houses of walled cities. But isn’t it Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi himself who said that one may not redeem his house until it has been in the buyer’s possession for at least two days, as the word yamim does not refer to fewer than two days? This demonstrates that Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi understands the word yamim in the case of walled city houses as referring to a period of two days rather than a year. How then can he employ a verbal analogy from houses of walled cities to derive that the word yamim in the case of Absalom indicates a period of twelve months?

האי גזירה שוה משום כובד גמיר ובשני ימים ליכא כובד

The Gemara answers: He learned this verbal analogy because the verse states that Absalom would trim his hair due to its weight (II Samuel 14:26), and in two days there is no significant weight added to the hair. Consequently, the term yamim cannot be understood to mean two days in the case of Absalom.

ואימא שתי שנים דכתיב ויהי מקץ שנתים ימים דנין ימים שאין עמהן שנים מימים שאין עמהן שנים ואל יוכיח זה שיש עמו שנים

The Gemara asks: But say that yamim means two years, as it is written: “And it came to pass at the end of two years of days [yamim]” (Genesis 41:1). The Gemara rejects this: We derive the meaning of the term yamim in a case where it does not have the term years mentioned with it, as in the case of Absalom, from another usage of the term yamim that does not have the term years mentioned with it, i.e., the verse about houses of walled cities. And this usage of the term yamim that does have the term years mentioned with it will not prove otherwise.

ואימא שלשים יום דכתיב עד חדש ימים דנין ימים שאין עמהם חדשים מימים שאין עמהם חדשים ואל יוכיח זה שיש עמו חדשים

The Gemara asks: But say that yamim means thirty days, as it is written: “But a month of days [yamim]” (Numbers 11:20). The Gemara rejects this: We derive the meaning of the term yamim in a case where it does not have the term months mentioned with it from another usage of the term yamim that does not have the term months mentioned with it. And this usage of the term yamim that does have the term months mentioned with it will not prove otherwise.

ואימא מהכא מימים ימימה וגו׳ דנין ימים מימים ואין דנין ימים מימימה

The Gemara asks: But say that Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi should have derived the meaning of the term yamim from here: “The daughters of Israel went from time to time [yamim yamima] to lament the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite four days in a year” (Judges 11:40). This teaches that the daughters of Israel would go four times a year, each time for one day, to lament her, in which case yamim yamima means once every three months. The Gemara rejects this: We derive the meaning of the term yamim from another usage of the term yamim, and we do not derive the meaning of the term yamim from a case where the word yamim is used in conjunction with the term yamima.

ומאי נפקא מינה והא תנא דבי רבי ישמעאל ושב הכהן ובא הכהן זו היא שיבה זו היא ביאה

The Gemara raises a difficulty: And what is the difference between yamim and yamima? Didn’t the school of Rabbi Yishmael teach a verbal analogy with regard to leprosy of houses between the words “and the priest shall return [veshav]” (Leviticus 14:39) and the words “and the priest shall come [uva]” (Leviticus 14:44)? It is derived from this that just as this is the halakha with regard to returning, i.e., the priest returns after seven days, this is the halakha with regard to coming, which is also after seven days. Just as the Hebrew words veshav and uva can be used in a verbal analogy, certainly two words with a less pronounced variation, i.e., yamim and yamima, can be used to teach a verbal analogy.

הני מילי היכא דליכא דדמי ליה אבל היכא דאיכא דדמי ליה מדדמי ליה ילפינן

The Gemara responds: This applies only where there are no terms that are identical to it. However, where there are terms that are identical to it, we derive the meaning of a term from the usage of terms that are identical to it rather than from the usage of terms that are merely similar.

איכא דאמרי מנא ידעינן דכל תלתא ירחין חד זימנא דילמא ארבעה זימני בשתא (אי נמי) ארבעה ירחין חד זימנא תרין ירחין בחד זימנא

Some say that the reason the halakha is not derived from yamim yamima is because the time period to which it refers is unclear: From where do we know that they would lament Jephthah’s daughter once every three months, at fixed intervals? Perhaps they would lament her four times a year, in irregular intervals. Alternatively, it might have taken place in regular but uneven intervals, e.g., after four months they would visit one time, and then after two months they would visit one time, and then they would visit again after a four-month interval and again after a two-month interval.

רבי נהוראי אומר מגלח אחת לשלשים יום מאי טעמא גבי כהנים משום דאיכא כובד הכא נמי איכא כובד

It was taught in the baraita that Rabbi Nehorai says that Absalom cut his hair once every thirty days. The Gemara explains the basis for this opinion: What is the reason that with regard to priests, the halakha is that they must cut their hair every thirty days? It is because after that interval there is noticeable weight to the hair. Here, too, in the case of Absalom, there is noticeable weight after this period of time has passed, and it is clear that Absalom cut his hair due to its weight, as it is stated: “Because the hair was heavy on him, therefore he polled it” (II Samuel 14:26).

רבי יוסי אומר מגלח מערב שבת לערב שבת מאי איכא ביניה לשאר אחוהי

It was taught in the baraita that Rabbi Yosei says: Absalom cut his hair from one Shabbat eve to another Shabbat eve, as the sons of kings would cut their hair every Shabbat eve. The Gemara asks: If so, what difference is there between Absalom, who was a nazirite, and the rest of his brothers, King David’s sons, who also cut their hair once a week?

יום טוב שחל להיות באמצע שבת דאחוהי מגלחין הוא לא מגלח אי נמי לגלוחי מן צפרא דמעלי שבתא אחוהי מגלחין איהו לא מגלח עד פניא

The Gemara answers: There is a difference between them with regard to a Festival that occurs in the middle of the week, as his brothers would cut their hair in honor of the Festival, whereas he would not cut his hair. Alternatively, the difference between them concerns cutting hair on the morning of Shabbat eve. His brothers would cut their hair at that hour, whereas he would not cut his hair until the evening, shortly before Shabbat.

הני ארבעים שנה מאי עבידתייהו רבי נהוראי אומר משום רבי יהושע לקץ ארבעים שנה ששאלו להן מלך תנא אותה שנה ששאלו להן מלך היא שנת עשר לשמואל הרמתי:

Having mentioned in 4b the verse “and it came to pass at the end of forty years, that Absalom said unto the king” (II Samuel 15:7), the Gemara asks: With regard to these forty years, what is their purpose in this discussion, i.e., to what time period do they refer? The Gemara answers: Rabbi Nehorai says in the name of Rabbi Yehoshua: It is referring to the end of forty years, since the Jewish people requested for themselves a king in the days of Samuel (see I Samuel, chapter 8). It was taught: That year when they requested for themselves a king was the tenth year of the leadership of Samuel the Ramathite.

מתני׳ סתם נזירות שלשים יום:

MISHNAH: In the case of unspecified naziriteship, where one does not state how long he wishes to be a nazirite, the term lasts for thirty days.

גמ׳ מנהני מילי אמר רב מתנא אמר קרא קדוש יהיה יהיה בגמטריא תלתין הוו

GEMARA: The Gemara asks: From where are these matters derived, that an unspecified naziriteship is thirty days? In answer to this question, Rav Mattana said: The verse states with regard to a nazirite: “He shall be [yihye] holy” (Numbers 6:5), and the numerical value [gimatriyya] of the letters of the word yihye is thirty.

בר פדא אמר כנגד נזיר נזרו האמורים בתורה שלשים חסר אחת

Bar Padda said: The number of days of an unspecified naziriteship corresponds to the number of appearances of the words “nazirite,” “his naziriteship,” and similar terms that are stated in the Torah in the chapter of naziriteship (Numbers, chapter 6): Thirty less one times. So too, an unspecified term of naziriteship is twenty-nine days.

ורב מתנא נמי נילף מנזיר נזרו

The Gemara asks: And Rav Mattana should also derive from the number of times that the words “nazirite” and “his naziriteship” appear, to conclude like bar Padda that an unspecified naziriteship lasts for twenty-nine days.

אמר לך ההוא לדרשה מיין ושכר יזיר לאסור יין מצוה כיין רשות כי יפלא לנדר נדר נזיר להזיר מלמד שהנזירות חלה על נזירות

The Gemara answers: Rav Mattana could have said to you: That word is needed for a specific exposition. The words: “He shall abstain [yazir] from wine and strong drink” (Numbers 6:3), comes to prohibit a nazirite from drinking wine that is consumed for a mitzva just as he is prohibited from drinking wine whose consumption is optional. Likewise, the words: “When either man or woman shall clearly utter a vow, the vow of a nazirite, to consecrate himself” (Numbers 6:2), teach that one vow of naziriteship takes effect where another vow of naziriteship already exists. For example, if one takes a vow by stating: I will be a nazirite today, and then repeats the vow, he must observe two periods of naziriteship. Consequently, since sometimes the word nazirite, in its different forms, appears in order to serve as the source of a particular exposition, the number of times it occurs does not indicate the length of an unspecified term of naziriteship.

ובר פדא אמר לך ליכא חד מינהון דלאו לדרשא אלא מדההוא למניינא כולהו נמי למניינא

And bar Padda could have said to you that although some of these verses are required for an exposition, is there not at least one of them that is not used for an exposition? Rather, since that usage of the term nazirite is stated to indicate the number of days in an unspecified term of naziriteship, all of the other usages of the term are also stated to indicate the number of days in an unspecified term of naziriteship in addition to the specific halakhot that are derived from them.

תנן סתם נזירות שלשים יום בשלמא לרב מתנא ניחא אלא לבר פדא קשיא

The Gemara analyzes the opinions of Rav Mattana and bar Padda in light of the mishna and relevant baraitot. We learned in the mishna: An unspecified naziriteship lasts for thirty days. Granted, according to Rav Mattana it works out well. However, according to bar Padda it is difficult, since in his opinion the mishna should have stated that an unspecified naziriteship lasts for twenty-nine days.

אמר לך בר פדא איידי דאיכא יום תלתין דמגלח ומביא קרבנותיו משום הכי תנא שלשים

The Gemara answers: Bar Padda could have said to you: The principal days of naziriteship are twenty-nine days. However, since there is the thirtieth day, when the nazirite shaves his hair and brings his offerings, and the prohibitions of naziriteship remain in effect on that day until he has brought these offerings, due to that reason the tanna teaches that an unspecified naziriteship lasts for thirty days.

תנן מי שאמר הריני נזיר מגלח יום שלשים ואחד בשלמא לרב מתנא ניחא אלא לבר פדא קשיא

The Gemara asks: We learned in a mishna (16a): One who said: I am hereby a nazirite, shaves his hair on the thirty-first day. Granted, according to Rav Mattana this works out well, since one must finish his term of naziriteship, which lasts for thirty days, before he can shave his hair. However, according to bar Padda, it is difficult. Why doesn’t he shave his hair on the thirtieth day?

אמר לך בר פדא אימא סיפא אם גילח ליום שלשים יצא אלא סיפא מסייעא ליה רישא נעשה כאומר שלימין

The Gemara answers: Bar Padda could have said to you in response: Say the latter clause of that mishna: If he shaved his hair on the thirtieth day, he has fulfilled his obligation. This indicates that the naziriteship itself lasts only twenty-nine days. Rather, the latter clause of that mishna certainly supports his opinion. As for the first clause, the reason a nazirite must wait until the thirty-first day in order to shave his hair ab initio is as follows: Since one who specifies that he is becoming a nazirite for thirty complete days may shave his hair only on the thirty-first day, the Sages ruled that even one who did not specify a time period becomes like one who said explicitly that he will be a nazirite for thirty complete days. Consequently, he may shave his hair ab initio only after thirty days have passed.

ולרב מתנא קשיא סיפא קסבר מקצת היום ככולו

The Gemara asks: And for Rav Mattana, the latter clause of the mishna is difficult, since it states that one who shaves his hair on the thirtieth day has fulfilled his obligation, whereas Rav Mattana claims that his naziriteship is not yet complete at that time. The Gemara answers: He holds that the legal status of part of the day is like that of an entire day. Although the term of naziriteship is thirty days, once the thirtieth day begins it is as though it has been completed, and a nazirite who shaves his hair on that day has fulfilled his obligation.

תנן הריני נזיר שלשים יום אם גילח יום שלשים לא יצא באומר שלימין

The Gemara asks further: We learned in that same mishna: In the case of one who says: I am hereby a nazirite for thirty days, if he shaved his hair on the thirtieth day, he has not fulfilled his obligation. This appears to contradict the opinion of Rav Mattana, who holds that part of the day is like an entire day. The Gemara answers: This is referring to one who says that he will be a nazirite for thirty complete days, in which case he certainly does not fulfill his obligation by shaving his hair on the thirtieth day itself.

תנן מי שנזר שתי נזירות מגלח את הראשונה יום שלשים ואחד והשניה ליום ששים ואחד בשלמא לרב מתנא ניחא

The Gemara asks further: We learned in that mishna: One who accepted two terms of naziriteship shaves his hair for the first naziriteship on the thirty-first day, and he shaves his hair for the second term on the sixty-first day. Granted, according to Rav Mattana this works out well, since he shaves his head for the first naziriteship after a full thirty days have passed. The second term of naziriteship then commences on that day, which is the thirty-first day since he took his vows. He then shaves for the second time on the thirty-first day of his second naziriteship, which is the sixty-first day since he took his vows.