Nazir - Daf 34
- Which Tanna holds that a nezirus which remains a safek is not effective
The end of the previous Mishnah on Daf 32b taught: הרתיע לאחוריו אינו נזיר – If [the approaching person whose identity the six people were debating] suddenly turned back and remained unidentified, he is not a nazir (i.e., none of the six). The Gemara infers that this Tanna holds that if he did not turn back, then whoever was correct would be a nazir. Who is this Tanna? If it is Rebbe Tarfon, no one would be a nazir even if his identity became known, because he holds שלא נתנה נזירות אלא להפלאה – nezirus was only given for clear expression and must be known at the time of declaration. Rather, the Gemara says, it is Rebbe Yehudah, as a Baraisa teaches: הריני נזיר על מנת שיהא בכרי הזה מאה כור – One who said: “I am a nazir if this pile has one hundred kor of produce, והלך ומצאו שנגנב או שאבד – and he went and found that it had been stolen or lost and could not be measured, Rebbe Shimon says he must observe nezirus out of doubt, and Rebbe Yehudah says he does not. Rebbe Yehudah holds, as was taught on Daf 8, that a vower does not intend to accept any declaration where the safek imposes more stringencies than its certainty.
- The shiur for a nazir to be liable for eating and drinking
The sixth Perek begins: שלשה מינין אסורין בנזיר: הטומאה, והתגלחת, והיוצא מן הגפן – Three matters are forbidden for a nazir: tumah, shaving, and products of the grapevine. וכל היוצא מן הגפן מצטרפין זה עם זה – And all products of the grapevine combine with each other to the required shiur, to incur punishment. The Mishnah teaches the shiur for eating: ואין חייב עד שיאכל מן הענבים כזית – He is only liable after eating a kezayis of grapes etc. There is a machlokes regarding drinking. In the Mishnah Rishonah it was taught: עד שישתה רביעית יין – until he drinks a revi’is of wine, not a kezayis. Rebbe Akiva says: אפילו שרה פיתו ביין – Even if he soaked his bread in wine, ויש בה כדי לצרף כזית, חייב – and there is enough to combine to a kezayis, he is liable. Thus, in addition to saying that the shiur for drinking is also a kezayis, he teaches היתר מצטרף לאיסור - that permitted foodstuffs can combine with the prohibited matter to compose a shiur for malkos.
- Machlokes about eating the grapevine itself: כללי ופרטי vs. ריבויי ומיעוטי
Our Mishnah implies that only grapes and other grape products are forbidden to a nazir, but the grapevine itself is permitted. The Mishnah is thus in disagreement with Rebbe Elazer who says: אפילו עלין ולולבין במשמע – Even leaves and shoots of the grapevine are implied in the prohibition. They argue how to darshen exclusive phrases written near inclusive phrases. (In this case, מיין ושכר יזיר – from wine and intoxicating drink he shall abstain, is exclusive, מכל אשר יעשה מגפן היין – from anything produced by the grapevine, is inclusive, and מחרצנים ועד זג – from the seeds to the skin, is exclusive). Rebbe Elazar darshens such cases as ריבויי ומיעוטי – amplifications and limitations, where the מיעוט merely excludes from the ריבוי. The Rabbonon darshen them as כללי ופרטי – generalizations and specifications, where the פרט defines the extent of the כלל. Also, Rebbe Elazar does not consider the last exclusion extra, because he uses it to teach a different law. Thus, he says the ריבוי expands the prohibition to include everything produced by the grapevine, even its leaves, and from the מיעוט excludes only שבישתא – branches. The Rabbonon say the פרט וכלל ופרט includes anything which is כעין הפרט - similar to the פרט, which in this case is פרי ופסולת פרי – fruit and waste of the fruit (i.e., vinegar), as opposed to leaves (which are neither).
