Nazir - Daf 40

• The amount of hair required for malkos, shaving at completion of nezirus, and forfeiture

Rav Chisda said: ללקות באחת – for malkos, removing even one hair is sufficient. לעכב בשתים – To prevent fulfillment of the shaving at the completion of nezirus, two hairs left over are significant. לסתור אינו סותר אלא ברוב ראשו – To forfeit days because of an illegal shaving, he only forfeits if most of his head is shaved, ובתער – and these all apply to a removal with a razor, which the Gemara clarifies to mean that it was completely removed, similarly to a razor. A Baraisa supports Rav Chisda’s statement, and an opposing opinion is quoted there in the name of Rebbe Shimon, that just as two hairs are sufficient to prevent the concluding shaving from being fulfilled, two hairs are also sufficient to cause a forfeiture of days. The Rosh comments that these are all halachah leMoshe miSinai, and their reasons are unknown.

• The three shavings which are a mitzvah: nazir, metzora, and Leviim

The Gemara quotes a Mishnah: שלשה מגלחין ותגלחתן מצוה – There are three who shave, and their shaving is a mitzvah: נזיר, ומצורע, ולוים – A nazir at the end of his term, a metzora at the end of his purification, and the Leviim, when they were inaugurated by Moshe. וכולן שגילחו שלא בתער – And any of them who shaved without a razor, או ששיירו שתי שערות – or left over two hairs, לא עשו ולא כלום – have done nothing as far as their shaving obligation. The Gemara asks that although a razor is explicitly required in the cases of nazir and the Leviim, what is the source that a metzora’s shaving must be done with a razor? It cannot be derived from the Leviim, because they were also physically waved. It cannot be derived from a nazir, because his korban also requires bread. The Gemara suggests learning from both jointly with a צד השוה, but this too is rejected, because a metzora’s korban has a leniency in that it varies based on his poverty.

• “זקנו” – His beard - is coming to teach that a metzora shaves even his beard, which is done with a razor

The Gemara wonders about an internal contradiction in the Baraisa above, if a metzora’s requirement to shave with a razor is known before a nazir’s, or on the contrary, it is attempted (unsuccessfully) to be derived from nazir. Rava answers that this emerges from a machlokes Tannaim about the prohibition to cut the corners of one’s beard: The Rabbonon say: ואינו חייב עד שילקטנו בתער – He is not liable unless he removes the beard with a razor. Rebbe Eliezer says: אפילו ליקטו במלקט וברהיטני חייב – Even if he removed it with planes, he is liable. According to the Rabbonon, the requirement of a metzora to shave with a razor can be derived as taught in a Baraisa: "זקנו" מה תלמוד לומר – What is “his beard” coming to teach? Since the Torah stated that a metzora must shave all his hair, why did it specifically mention his beard? לפי שנאמר ופאת זקנם לא יגלחו – Because it is said about Kohanim, “And the corner of their beard they shall not shave,” יכול אפילו מצורע כן – one could think even a metzora would be similarly forbidden to shave his beard, תלמוד לומר "זקנו" – therefore it says, “his beard” to teach that a metzora shaves even his beard, which is normally forbidden. If the Torah had to allow the violation of cutting the beard, which the Rabbonon hold is only with a razor, for the shaving of a metzora, it must be that a metzora’s shaving likewise requires a razor. The Gemara analyzes this proof.